IartNET | “The ‘Antegnati’ Organ of Darfo: A Resource for the Territory”

CONFERENCE | CONCERT 

As part of the activities of IartNET – an international platform for artistic research and cultural heritage at Italian higher arts education institutions – the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera announces an international study day and a concert on the historic organ housed in the former Monastery Church of the Visitation in Darfo (Brescia), curated by the “Luca Marenzio” Conservatoire of Brescia.

The event, entitled The Antegnati Organ of Darfo: A Resource for the Territory, will open at 11:00 a.m. with a guided tour of the organ led by Marco Ruggeri at the small church of the former Convent (via Quarteroni 10).

In the afternoon, at 3:00 p.m., a conference dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the organ heritage of the Camonica Valley will take place at the “Margherita Biondi” Public Library. The conference, moderated by Paolo Cavallo, will feature contributions from Alberto Chiari, Daniele Dallapiccola, Matteo Lombardi, Marco Ruggeri, Oliviero Franzoni, Maurizio Isabella, Luca Scandali, Paolo Peretti, and Silvio Sorrentino. The presentations will offer a broad overview of restoration practices, historical developments, and strategies for the enhancement of the organ heritage of the Camonica Valley.

The day will conclude at 9:00 p.m. in the small church of the former Convent with an organ concert by Maestro Luca Scandali, featuring a program devoted to repertoire from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, with works by Frescobaldi, Rossi, Purcell, Ximenez, Praetorius, Storace, and Scarlatti.

Recent research and analyses on the instrument have made it possible to ascertain that it largely originates from the renowned Brescian organ-building workshop of the Antegnati family. In particular, about sixty percent of the pipes, as well as the slider chest and mechanical structures, show strong analogies with Antegnati organs from around 1580–1590.

The provenance of the instrument remains to be discovered, since both the church and the organ case date from the mid-eighteenth century, when the monastery was built. The organ, abandoned during the 1970s, was later restored by the Pedrini firm in 1988 for didactic use at the Conservatorio. On that occasion, the Antegnati material in the pipework was identified and recorded in the files of the competent heritage authority. However, neither this significant finding nor the musical use of the organ received further attention, leading to a gradual neglect of the instrument.

A minor maintenance intervention carried out in 2022 by the organ builder Pietro Corna, commissioned by the Conservatorio, served to inspect the ancient components and immediately highlighted the need for more in-depth investigation. These studies were conducted by the organologist Maurizio Isabella and have been published in detail in the prestigious journal L’Organo (Bologna, Ed. Patron, vol. LIV, 2025).

The organ collection of the Conservatorio of Darfo also includes another valuable instrument: the “Tamburini” organ (1980), a mechanical instrument with three manuals, located in the adjacent former choir of the church (now the Conservatorio Auditorium). Both instruments are currently playable, yet they would benefit from further technical refinement — the “Antegnati” organ to fully restore its distinctive sound qualities, and the “Tamburini” organ to adapt it more effectively to contemporary performance needs and acoustic spaces.

The full usability of these two instruments would place the Conservatorio of Darfo in a position of national excellence, with a strong cultural impact on the surrounding area, where more than two hundred historical organs are preserved — many of them abandoned or in need of restoration. 

As a university-level institution, the Conservatorio promotes initiatives that conceive culture as an international field of research and shared knowledge, while constantly nurturing interaction between academic activity and the cultural development of the local area.

Information:

Conservatoire “Luca Marenzio” of Brescia – Sezione di Darfo Boario Terme
www.consbs.it  ufficiostampa@consbs.it

PNRR IartNET 

https://www.accademiadibrera.milano.it/en/iartnet