Ancient organs of Lugo:
Callido organ
Preserved in the Carmine church in Lugo, it was built in 1797 and is considered the most beautiful organ built by Gaetano Callido after that of the parish church of Candide in Cadore (Belluno)
The organ kept in the Carmine Church was built by Gaetano Callido and delivered “by 1797 in the good season”.
The precious instrument has been preserved practically unaltered up to the present day, as indicated in the original contract. It is regarded as the second most beautiful organ built by Gaetano Callido; the most beautiful one being the one of the Parish Church of Candide in Cadore (Belluno).
Placed in the “cornu Evangelii” (or Gospel side) choir, enclosed within a wooden case; the front section is flush with the wall and under a full-centre arch. Façade made up of 23 pipes arranged in cusp; keyboard with 62 keys; horizontal pedal board with 27 keys; the organ stops, which are operated by Venetian handles with tiratutti, are arranged on two columns to the right of the keyboard.
The organ was restored by Bartolomeo Formentelli from Pedemonte (Verona) between September 1967 and September 1968. In the autumn of 2008, its original character was restored, as specified in the documentation related to Luigi Malerbi’s notes; Malerbi was the church organist at that time. The works were performed by the Organ Workshop of Orto&Lanzini from Dormelletto (VA), which was hired for the annual regular maintenance.
(Address: Via Baracca 1 – Telephone: 0545 23216)
Gaetano Antonio Callido (Este, 14 January 1727 – Venice, 8 December 1813) was an Italian organ builder who made well over 430 organs in 44 years of activity.
His tireless work – Callido’s workshop averaged ten organs per year – was appreciated at his times.
The political events and social and economic changes that took place by the end of the 18th century, especially the Napoleonic decree by means of which the different religious orders were suppressed, do not seem to have affected his work that much, which continued with the same rhythm until 1806, when the organ building management was handed down to his sons, Antonio and Agostino. Afterwards, Callido’s organ workshop was bought out by the Bazzanis, who were former workers in his shop.
Callido’s works represent in the best possible way the typical neoclassical organ type, i.e. a particularly “logical” type of instrument from both the structural and sound points of view, particularly “manageable” and easy to use.
The pipes on the façade are almost always arranged following the classic pattern of a central cusp with side wings.
The Grand organ builder’s signature usually consists in a logo impressed with fire on different wood parts of the organ that contains letters “G+C” (the initials of his name and surname).
The sound of Gaetano Callido’s instruments is characterised by some unquestionable features such as the general crystalline and “spiccato” intonation.
Positive Organ Gatti
Preserved in the Oratory of Sant’Onofrio di Lugo, it is of the positive type, that is transportable, dates back to the mid-century XVIII and on the basis of the characteristics of the manufacture of the pipes has been attributed to the Gatti, family of Bolognese organ builders.
The organ of the Oratory of Sant’Onofrio is a positive organ, i.e. portable, dating back to the mid-18th century. Taking into account the building characteristics of the pipes, it has been attributed to the Gattis, a family of organ makers from Bologna. The instrument is made up of 45 keys, one pedal board with 8 keys in short octave and six stops. There are 204 pipes, and almost all of them are made of tin, a metal that favours tone brightness. It was purchased by Luigi Lotti for one hundred zecchini (Venetian gold coins) to be placed in the oratory; but it had to be modified in order to fit inside the building.
The organ was seriously damaged during the war, and it was only in the summer of 1970 when it was restored by organ builder Bartolomeo Formentelli from Verona. This is the organ where Rossini used to practise when he was young and lived in Lugo. He was a student at the Malerbis’ school. As rectors of the fraternity that managed the Oratory, the Malerbis had their building next to the place of worship.
(Address: Piazza Trisi – Contacts: 0545 299542 Minicipal Theatre or 0545 299441 – Email: urp@comune.lugo.ra.it Information Office)
Rasori organ
Preserved in the Church of the Suffragio in Lugo, it was built by Cesare and Quintino Rasori in 1844 and restored in 1999 by the Dell’Orto-Lanzini organ workshop in Dormelletto (NV).
The organ of the church of the Suffragio was built by Cesare and Quintino Rasori in 1844, restored in 1947 by Pasta Armando di Lodi after the bombing of 1940 and had a further restoration in 1999 by the organ maker Dell’Orto-Lanzini in Dormelletto (NV). Located in the choir loft above the entrance door within a painted and reconstructed fir box identical to the original (unfortunately the instrument had previously been moved behind the altar and deprived of the box).
Elevation of 25 spiked canes with wings, aligned mouths and upper lip in miter shape. In front of the façade pipes there are the registers of sopran trombe, bassoon bass and english horn. Keyboard of 52 keys C1-G5 with first short octave, diatonic in ebony, chromatic in black-stained wood with bone plate. Division between bass and sopranos fa-fa # 3. Pedalboard with 18 pedals C1-G # 2, The rolling, with first short octave constantly connected to the keyboard. Pull-up master wind chest in walnut, within the secretary as in the front panel above the keyboard we find the writing that attributes the work to the Rasori.
(Address: Via della Libertà 1-Telephone: 0545 23376)
Ancient organs of Conselice
Positive Organ
Preserved in the parish church of San Patrizio di Conselice, it is by an anonymous author dated to the second half of the 18th century and restored in 2014.
Inside the Parish Church of San Patrizio di Conselice, there is a positive organ dating back to the second half of the 18th century, which was restored in 2014 and brought back to its ancient splendour. The instrument was made by an anonymous organ builder in the second half of the 18th century, partly taking on the type of Venetian school organs (Nacchini, Callido, Dacci). Afterwards, in 1890, Raffaele Tubi from Bologna carried out an extension, by adding some stops at the bottom of the instrument, which resulted in a significant reduction in the amount of wind necessary to feed all the sound material.
On such occasion, the reed stops were eliminated from both the keyboard and the pedal. In addition, both the keyboard and the pedal board were remade, as well as the recording system with handles with relevant roller board (replacing the original one with knobs), on which there is no trace of the reed stops. New bass pedals were also made. In 1931 Vincenzo Di Pietro Callido (Teramo), restored and “reformed” the organ, eliminating the three original wedged bellows, the rests of which were used to make a lot of parts of the instrument, eliminating the additions introduced by Tubi, the handles and part of the stops table, the pedals related to stops and accessories. Instead of the Flute in XII°, an industrial Viola was included, in addition to the lantern bellow of fine workmanship. In 2014, organ builders Pierpaolo and Federico Bigi from Reggio Emilia were in charge of the last important restoration aimed at recovering, in as much as possible, its original conditions, mainly as regards the phonic part, but still keeping all the stratifications made over the years. The organ is placed in the cornu Evangelii choir on the presbytery.
(Address: Via Mameli 84 – San Patrizio di Conselice – Telephone: 0545 87015)
(Updated to 07/12/2023)