La Bottega, an international workshop for young singers and musicians directed by Peter Maag, was set up by the Civic Theatre of Treviso in 1989. The Theatre Corporation wished, in fact, to give true substance to the Swiss conductor's idea of offering young talent a frame of reference for a debut and the incipient direction of a career.  
In truth, La Bottega is not an educational initiative but a true and proper "theatre workshop" in which young singers, orchestra conductors and concertmasters are placed directly inside the reality of a theatre production. In recent years, in fact, La Bottega has been addressed to those musicians in need of team organisation so as to develop their talent in a harmonic manner. Instrumentalists are not included in this group, because they have available to them a well-established cycle of studies and specialisation courses that can form the basis for undertaking a career.  
There participate in La Bottega the winners of the "Toti Dal Monte" International Competition for Singers, together with all the other artists (already launched upon a career) who are coping with especially demanding roles for the very first time. At their side appear young orchestra conductors and concertmasters chosen by way of competitive elimination.  
A staff of "maestri" supervises the youngsters in their debut. In addition to the precious contribution Peter Maag has made to La Bottega over the eight years of its existence, other priceless help has been offered by Leyla Gencer, Regina Resnik and Dame Joan Sutherland (for voice), Marina Dolfin (for diction), Enza Ferrari (for the musical co-ordination), Sandra Mingardo (for the choreography) and the directors of the individual operas.  
During its 9 years of life, La Bottega has seen the presentation of 19 stage productions: the curtains opened under the spell of a Mozart trilogy (The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così Fan Tutte), followed by The Magic Flute and Il Ratto dal Serraglio. Next came Verdi (Falstaff, Rigoletto, Un Ballo in Maschera), Donizetti (Lucia di Lammermoor), Bellini (Sleeping Beauty and I Capuleti e i Montecchi) Rossini (Il Turco in Italia and Sigismondo), Wolf-Ferrari (I Quattro Rusteghi), Bizet (Carmen), two rarely-performed Goldonian farces (Pamela Nubile by Generali and Pamela Maritata by Farinelli), Cimarosa's Il Matrimonio Segreto and Offenbach's Les Conte d'Hoffmann. Alternating on the podium have been Peter Maag, Richard Bonynge, Evelino Pidò, Donato Renzetti, Patrick Fournillier, Zoltàn Peskò and Nicola Samale.  
The presentations -- entrusted to the experience of such directors as Gianfranco de Bosio, Virginio Puecher, Hugo de Ana, Ferruccio Soleri, Filippo Crivelli and Paolo Trevisi, or to such young talents as Susanna Attendoli, Mattia Testi, Stefano Vizioli, Italo Nunziata,  Ivan Stefanutti, Gabriele Vacis,  Franco Ripa di Meana and Massimo Scaglione -- have seen performances by a vast number of artists, singers, directors and concertmasters, many of whom made their debut on the stage of the Theatre of Treviso and have since gone on to successful careers throughout the world. 

COMPETITIONS RULES 

Article 1 
In 1998, the Civic Theatre of Treviso will sponsor BOTTEGA, an International Workshop for Young Musicians.  

Article 2  
Young Conductors and Répétiteurs of any nationality whatsoever may participate in the BOTTEGA competition.  

Article 3  
All musicians born after 31 December 1964 may participate in BOTTEGA.  
The Conductors who wish to participate in BOTTEGA must have attended a basic course in orchestra conducting. The Répétiteurs must have a diploma in piano.  

Article 4  
BOTTEGA will accept up to a maximum of four musicians (two for Orchestra Conducting, two for Répétiteurs) admitted in accordance with the conditions specified in Articles 5 and 6 below.  
  

Article 5  
In order to be admitted to the competition, a candidate must:  
- complete the enclosed application form;  
- enclose his or her birth certificate (or some similar document;  
- bearing proof that the signature thereon is authentic);  
- enclose his or her birth certificate (or some similar document bearing proof that the signature thereon is authentic);  
- enclose a photocopy of the receipt for payment of one hundred thousand (100,000) Italian lire, free of all postal charges, in the form of a check, postal money order payable to: Teatro Comunale via A. Diaz, 7 - 31100 Treviso - Italy. This application fee will not be refunded should the candidate fail to appear at the competition or should his or her credentials fail to meet the requirements stated herein;  
- enclose a document (or documents) certifying the studies completed.  

Article 6  
The application for admission, including the documents indicated in Article 5 above, must be sent by registered mail no later than 15 June 1998 (the postmark will attest to compliance with this deadline) to the following address: Teatro Comunale - via A. Diaz, no. 7 - 31100 Treviso - Italy.  
The Secretarial Office will not consider applications lacking any of the documentation indicated in Art. 5, nor will it accept applications submitted after the official deadline.  
  
Article 7  
After having examined the applications, the BOTTEGA Admissions Committee (formed as specified in Article 16 below) will examine all those candidates deemed worthy of participation in the auditions - to be held at the Civic Theatre of Treviso - with the following timetable:  
Conductors:  
- piano audition on 7 July 1998;  
- orchestra audition (for those who have  
passed the piano examination) on 8 July 1998.  
Répétiteurs:  
-  a single piano audition on 9 July 1998.  
No advance notice will be sent regarding a contestant's appearance at these auditions.  

Article 8  
Piano auditions for Conductors (for whom a minimum of piano skills is required) will be based on the following programme:  
- C. Gounod: "Faust" (Choudens Recording Company, represented in Italy by Casa Musicale Sonzogno, Milan) in the original language;  
- an opera from the 18th or 19th century, as chosen by the candidate;  
- a sight-reading.  
For those Conductors admitted to auditions with the Orchestra, the programme will be the following:  
- C. Gounod: "Faust" (Choudens Recording Company, represented in Italy by Casa Musicale Sonzogno, Milan) in the original language;  
- L.v. Beethoven: Symphony no. 5 in C minor, opus 67;  
- W.A. Mozart: Symphony no. 35 in D major, K. 385 ("Haffner");  
- I. Stravinski: Divertimento da "Il bacio della fata".  

Article 9  
Auditions for Répétiteurs will be based on the following programme:  
- C. Gounod: "Faust" (Choudens Recording Company, represented in Italy by Casa Musicale Sonzogno, Milan) in the original language;  
- G. Verdi: "Il Trovatore";  
- an opera from the 18th or 19th century, as chosen by the candidate;  
- a sight-reading.  

Article 10  
The musicians judged suitable will participate in the BOTTEGA sessions.  
Each of the participants will receive an award for study purposes and professional training in the total of four million (4,000,000) Italian lire, to be presented in two equal payments, one at the beginning of the course and the other at the end.  
All BOTTEGA participants (Conductors and Répétiteurs) shall be required to take part in each of the presentations arranged within the context of BOTTEGA and shall do so without further reimbursement beyond those sums stipulated in the announcement at hand.  

Article 11  
An award for study purposes and profes-  
sional training has been set up in the total of one million five hundred thousand (1,500,000) Italian lire. This award has been offered by Friends and Relatives of Maestro Gianni Beltrami on the occasion of the seventh anniversary of his death. This award, which cannot be shared, will be given to the RŽpŽtiteur who, by the end of the Bottega 1998 production, will have proven to possess those special talents commensurate with a career in this profession.  

Article 12  
The Director, Chief Instructor, and Official in charge of BOTTEGA is Maestro Peter Maag.  

Article 13  
BOTTEGA will take the form of a single continuous session and will be held at the Civic Theatre of Treviso, with the co-operation of the Veneto Philharmonic Orchestra and the Theatre management itself. BOTTEGA will concentrate on the study, preparation, orchestration and presentation of C. Gounod's "Faust" and may extend to other productions. The musicians admitted to BOTTEGA will actively participate in all phases of this opera's presentation and in all its various aspects (preparation of the singers, direction, scenery, costumes, stagecraft, etc.), while being properly instructed and followed by those in charge of the individual areas. (Peter Maag will likewise offer lecture-conversations on matters of interpretation, staging, etc.).  
The BOTTEGA work period will span as follows:  
- 1 September - 15 November 1998 (approximately).  
The young Conductors may also prepare, under the supervision of Peter Maag and in the period indicated above, one or more concert programmes to be held at the Civic Theatre of Treviso and elsewhere. RŽpŽtiteurs as well as Winners of and Finalists in the XXX "Toti Dal Monte" International Singing Competition for 1998 may also participate in these concert programmes.  

Article 14  
The Musicians taking regular part in the  
BOTTEGA programme will receive a certificate attesting to their participation.  

Article 15  
Throughout the activities of the BOTTEGA programme, the Committee has the incontestable right to exclude students whose performance is deemed unsatisfactory.  

Article 16  
The BOTTEGA Admissions Committee is to be composed of Peter Maag (Chairman), the Artistic Consultant of the Civic Theatre of Treviso and the Musical Coordinator for BOTTEGA.  
  

Treviso, January 1998 
  

Co-ordinator Special Managing Committee  

Dott. Giancarlo Gentilini 
  
 

WINNERS OF PREVIOUS EDITION