ABSTRACT
When Malipiero first began to find his feet as a composer, the kingdom of Italy, which had as yet been united for only a few decades, was gradually becoming more prosperous with the belated partial industrialization of (especially) the northern part of the country. 2 The national musical culture was still predominantly operatic, in a way that increasingly reflected the tastes of the newly affluent bourgeoisie of the time, and was also strongly influenced by the commercial interests of two almost all-dominating Milanese publishing houses, Ricordi and Sonzogno. These two firms together had a control over composers’ public success which could be devastating for those who failed to find favour with one or other of them. 3 Ricordi had the advantage of publishing both Verdi (1813–1901) and Puccini (1858–1924); Sonzogno responded by taking on several other promising and easily saleable opera composers who first made their marks in the 1890s, including Mascagni (1863–1945), Leoncavallo (1857–1919), Giordano (1867–1948), Cilea (1866–1950) and Franchetti (1860–1942).
