Paris, 26/11/98

Franco Severi, an Italian collector and organizer of various
manifestations of mechanical music in Italy (a good festival at
Longiano, last September), has just written to me that he has founded
a collector's association in Italy.

He asked me to tell the MMD :

> IT WAS BORN!
> It was born, at the end! At the end, the first Association of
> Mechanical Musical Instruments was born in Italy. In this land, where
> oblivion and neglect seemed to have cancelled any recollection, an
> Association devoted to them was finally born.
>
> AMMI  associazione italiana Musica Meccanica
> Fondata a Cesena nel Novembre 98
> Presidente  Franco Severi
> Presidente onorario Antonio Latanza
> Quota associativa per anno Lire  50.000
>
> Severi, Franco,
> e-mail : fseveri@mbox.queen.it

Good luck to the new association !

(I did not put Franco's address and phone/fax number because I didn't
know if he wanted them on the net. So, if you are interested, send him
an e-mail.

He will be available till Dec 6th, then he is unavailable, because of
various travels for a few weeks, and then back again home.  Should I
add that Franco is a friend of mine and a very nice man, with a passion
for the mechanical pianos made by Racca (piano melodico), of which he
is becoming the best specialist.  Antonio Latanza is the well-known
curator of the large and beautiful Museum of Musical Instruments in
Rome, with a passion for good piano rolls. He has published several CDs.

Several other people are interested by mechanical music in Italy.
Amidst them is Mssimo Monaco, a good friend of mine for years now, who
makes performances with his barrel organ, singing in the "Morita[umlaut]t"
manner, depicting on painted panels he builds himself horrible stories
with a charming smile ... and even an incredible Robot who literally
pours out mechanical music from his belly, with lightning eyes, that he
showed in Les Gets Festival (France) last July. You should have a look
at his Web pages:

    http://www.musicameccanica.it/

Best regards,

Philippe

Philippe Rouille
(Paris, France)
rouille@cnam.fr
http://www.cnam.fr/museum/musica_mecanica/