Costa, Michael. (1808–1884). Important Archive of materials, including his Diary and Signed Will. . Papers of the conductor and composer, including a copy of his handwritten will on vellum, an original broadside for a Royal Italian Opera production of The Magic Flute conducted by Costa ( starring Grisi, Viardot, Mario, Ronconi!!), an original CDV photograph portrait, a diary for 1876 kept in a mixture of Italian and English, and a magnificent leather-bound Illuminated presentation to him by members of the Sacred Harmonia Society wishing him well in his last illness, 1882.
Meyerbeer, whose music for the 1862 exhibition Costa conducted, called him "the greatest chef d'orchestre in the world," and Costa lead many of London's leading musical organizations for a period of nearly 50 years. It was he who introduced authoritative conducting with a baton, where previously orchestras were chiefly led by the principal violinist or soloist. As conductor of the Italian opera at King's Theatre, "the press almost immediately praised the discipline and ensemble of his baton-conducted band and hailed the improved standard of the orchestral playing (deplored a few years before by Spohr, Fetis and Meyerbeer)....When he resigned from the theatre (now Her Majesty's) in 1846, Costa took 53 of its 80-member orchestra with him and founded the Royal Italian Opera in the following year at the newly renovated Covent Garden Theatre. In 1846 he also accepted the conductorship of the Philharmonic Society, stipulating absolute control over the orchestra....As conductor of the Sacred Harmonic Society from 1848 until its dissolution in 1882, he directed the first years of the mammoth triennial Handel Festivals at the Crystal Palace from 1847 to 1880, including the centenary festival." (Grove Online)
Meyerbeer, whose music for the 1862 exhibition Costa conducted, called him "the greatest chef d'orchestre in the world," and Costa lead many of London's leading musical organizations for a period of nearly 50 years. It was he who introduced authoritative conducting with a baton, where previously orchestras were chiefly led by the principal violinist or soloist. As conductor of the Italian opera at King's Theatre, "the press almost immediately praised the discipline and ensemble of his baton-conducted band and hailed the improved standard of the orchestral playing (deplored a few years before by Spohr, Fetis and Meyerbeer)....When he resigned from the theatre (now Her Majesty's) in 1846, Costa took 53 of its 80-member orchestra with him and founded the Royal Italian Opera in the following year at the newly renovated Covent Garden Theatre. In 1846 he also accepted the conductorship of the Philharmonic Society, stipulating absolute control over the orchestra....As conductor of the Sacred Harmonic Society from 1848 until its dissolution in 1882, he directed the first years of the mammoth triennial Handel Festivals at the Crystal Palace from 1847 to 1880, including the centenary festival." (Grove Online)
Costa, Michael. (1808–1884). Important Archive of materials, including his Diary and Signed Will. . Papers of the conductor and composer, including a copy of his handwritten will on vellum, an original broadside for a Royal Italian Opera production of The Magic Flute conducted by Costa ( starring Grisi, Viardot, Mario, Ronconi!!), an original CDV photograph portrait, a diary for 1876 kept in a mixture of Italian and English, and a magnificent leather-bound Illuminated presentation to him by members of the Sacred Harmonia Society wishing him well in his last illness, 1882.
Meyerbeer, whose music for the 1862 exhibition Costa conducted, called him "the greatest chef d'orchestre in the world," and Costa lead many of London's leading musical organizations for a period of nearly 50 years. It was he who introduced authoritative conducting with a baton, where previously orchestras were chiefly led by the principal violinist or soloist. As conductor of the Italian opera at King's Theatre, "the press almost immediately praised the discipline and ensemble of his baton-conducted band and hailed the improved standard of the orchestral playing (deplored a few years before by Spohr, Fetis and Meyerbeer)....When he resigned from the theatre (now Her Majesty's) in 1846, Costa took 53 of its 80-member orchestra with him and founded the Royal Italian Opera in the following year at the newly renovated Covent Garden Theatre. In 1846 he also accepted the conductorship of the Philharmonic Society, stipulating absolute control over the orchestra....As conductor of the Sacred Harmonic Society from 1848 until its dissolution in 1882, he directed the first years of the mammoth triennial Handel Festivals at the Crystal Palace from 1847 to 1880, including the centenary festival." (Grove Online)
Meyerbeer, whose music for the 1862 exhibition Costa conducted, called him "the greatest chef d'orchestre in the world," and Costa lead many of London's leading musical organizations for a period of nearly 50 years. It was he who introduced authoritative conducting with a baton, where previously orchestras were chiefly led by the principal violinist or soloist. As conductor of the Italian opera at King's Theatre, "the press almost immediately praised the discipline and ensemble of his baton-conducted band and hailed the improved standard of the orchestral playing (deplored a few years before by Spohr, Fetis and Meyerbeer)....When he resigned from the theatre (now Her Majesty's) in 1846, Costa took 53 of its 80-member orchestra with him and founded the Royal Italian Opera in the following year at the newly renovated Covent Garden Theatre. In 1846 he also accepted the conductorship of the Philharmonic Society, stipulating absolute control over the orchestra....As conductor of the Sacred Harmonic Society from 1848 until its dissolution in 1882, he directed the first years of the mammoth triennial Handel Festivals at the Crystal Palace from 1847 to 1880, including the centenary festival." (Grove Online)