Musical Competition Culture in 19th Century Italy. The Concorso Basevi (Florence) and the Circolo Bonamici (Naples)

Musical competitions played an important function in Italian musical culture of the 19th century. Florence and Naples offer two interesting examples in this field. In the Tuscan city, Abramo Basevi (1818-1885) established an annual composition competition specially dedicated to chamber music, which reached great popularity throughout Europe; the “Concorso Basevi” took place six times starting from 1861. In Naples Ferdinando Bonamici (1827-1905) showed more varied interests and organized not only composition but also performance competitions between 1863 and 1865. Both experiences, based on individual or small group initiatives, were undoubtedly fragile, but they contributed significantly to support music in a period of major changes in Italian society and politics.