Elia Andrea Corazza, Kluge Fellow. Scholar Elia Andrea Corazza arrived at the Library of Congress in fall 2014 to conduct research on legendary Italian composer Ottorino Respighi. In particular, Corazza wished to know more about Respighi's collaboration with Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev, founder of the Ballets Russes, after World War I, in order to shed light on this period of music history and on Respighi's life and career.

Corazza was well-suited for the task. A trained musicologist and musician from Bologna, Corazza earned his Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Bologna. Prior, he earned three separate master's degrees in composition, orchestral conducting and pianoforte. He has conducted numerous orchestras and has composed his own pieces. Corazza relied on the personal papers of Diaghilev held by the Library of Congress. Diaghilev's Ballets Russes toured across Europe, the U.S. and South America, and collaborated with numerous artists, incorporating European operas into the performances, especially Italian ones. Diaghilev met Respighi in Rome in early 1917 and the pair discussed the production of a ballet based on a selection of little-known piano pieces composed by Gioacchino Rossini while in Paris at the end of the 19th century. 

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Source: http://blogs.loc.gov/