MIMO - Musical Instruments Museums Online

MIMO - Musical Instruments Museums Online is an European project.
Eleven partner museums have photographed their musical instruments (including a large number of those never shown publicly), edited audio and video material and prepared their databases so to make their content available to the public.
It constitutes an impressive database of some 45 000 musical instruments.

They also propose a virtual exhibition called 'Explore the World of Musical Instruments' which shows a selection of instruments from all around the world and illustrates various styles and cultural uses.

Closure of the V&A Instrument Gallery

A major collection of historic musical instruments, that of the Victoria & Albert Museum (London), is to be permanently close on 22 February 2010, and the instruments dispached to various places.

It's a sad piece of news. When a collection is scattered that way, the chances for a future revival are scarse, if not completely jeopardized.

Read here.

Centre de Musique Romantique - Venice

Time abducting theTruth
by Sebastiano Ricci (1659-1734),
Palazetto Zane

Situated in Venice, Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française was created by the Bru Foundation with the object of promoting international recognition of the French musical repertoire of the nineteenth century - more precisely of the repertoire of the long Romantic period ranging from 1780 to 1920.
As well as being a lively workplace and a venue for artistic events, it will provide documentary resources and facilities for teaching and research and will also publish or sponsor the publication of scores and essays.
The inauguration will take place on October 3, 2009, date of opening of the 2009/2010 musical Season.

Today, at the Museum of the Army (Paris)

Reopening of the halls of the Modern department (from Louis XIV to Napoleon I), after three years of renovations.
Hôtel National des Invalides - Musée de l'Armée