PARIS, NOVEMBER 6 – Antonio Carlos Gomes, who was the the first New World composer whose work was accepted by Europe, was among the 78 new nominations for the UNESCO Memory of the World International Register. Younger than Verdi but older than Puccini, Gomez was the only non-European who was successful as an opera composer in Italy, during the “golden age of opera”.
Gomes achieved his first major success in a time when the Italian audiences were eager for a new name to celebrate and Puccini had not yet officially started his career. After the successful premiere of Il Guarany, he was considered the most promising new composer. Verdi said his work was an expression of “true musical genius”. Liszt said that “it displays dense technical maturity, full of harmonic and orchestral maturity”.
While endorsing the recommendations, the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, stated, “It is my deep and firm conviction that the Memory of the World Programme should be guided in its work to preserve documentary heritage and memory for the benefit of present and future generations in the spirit of dialogue, international cooperation and mutual understanding, building peace in the minds of women and men.” (@OnuItalia)
