Who was the Venetian music professor Ugo Bassani, to whom Liszt wrote two very nice letters published in La Mara’s Liszts Briefe (vol. II) of Liszt’s correspondence? This question triggered some research in the libraries and archives in Venice following the hypothesis that Liszt would hardly have addressed such flattering expressions to a mediocre man. The hypothesis proved correct. In fact, the library of the Conservatorio di musica “Benedetto Marcello” holds a remarkable amount of documents referring to the relationship between Bassani and Liszt. The existence of Liszt’s letters to Bassani, of Liszt’s manuscripts and portraits was known to a small circle of local musicologists, but their content is discussed here for the first time. The letters not published by La Mara confirm Liszt’s friendly attitude towards Bassani, his interest in the composition of some musicians active in Venice (in Giuseppe Contin and Ugo Erera in addition to Bassani) and in Milan (in Antonio Bazzini and Carlo Andreoli). They throw new light on some episodes of Liszt’s biography from 1880 to 1886.
The press reports of Liszt’s visits to Venice offer a lively picture of musical life in the music school and especially in the salons of the aristocracy in the late 19th century Venice.