Museum houses in Europe– Many artists in Europe and around the world have been given a space after their death to honour the memory of men and women who helped make the city more important. Especially when it comes to music there are many examples of museum houses.

The Beethoven case
This is the case of the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, Germany, a music museum dedicated to the composer of the same name. This place on Bonngasse 20 was the birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven in 1770. Over the years there have been significant changes and renovations of various kinds that have brought the house to its current state; of particular importance is the annexation to the museum in 1935 of the archive located in the nearby premises of Im Mohren.
Today, 150 original pieces can be seen in the Beethoven-Haus; unfortunately, there are no longer any original furnishings.
Anyone who knows the life of Beethoven knows that the great composer lived a good part of his life in the city of Vienna. The first meeting between the Austrian capital and the German musician took place in 1787 when Beethoven was planning to settle in Vienna to become a student of Mozart. Only five years later, however, the partnership between the artist and the city will become definitive.
Today, Beethoven’s apartment in Heiligenstadt, at 6 Probusgasse, has become a museum house of 265 square meters consisting of fourteen rooms.
There is a third Beethoven-Haus and it is located in Baden, spa town where the musician tried to cure himself. It seems that Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony owes a lot to this city: the Beethovenhaus Baden is known as the House of the Ninth. In one of the rooms of the house even the fourth movement is not only made to be heard but can also be “seen” and “read” by visitors. The piano on which Beethoven himself played is also present here.

Casa Brahms
It was the year 1865 when Johannes Brahms rented for the first time two rooms in the house of the widow Becker to spend the summer months in Baden; many others were the stays of the German composer until 1876; It is for this reason that today the Brahms House stands here, which hosts concerts and events open to the public.

The museum houses in the Iberian Peninsula
Moving to Spain, in Granada, we find the Casa Museo Manuel de Falla where the Spanish artist hosted the greatest artists of Granada. Also in the Iberian peninsula is the Pau Casals foundation in what was the summer residence of one of the greatest musicians of the twentieth century. The Victoria de los Ángeles Foundation is based in Barcelona.
Amàlia Rodrigues: when the house museum meets popular music
Very important and at the same time very close to what concerns us is the house museum dedicated to Amàlia Rodrigues, the voice of Portugal. After his death in 1999, three days of mourning were declared in the country due to the fame of the deceased artistic figure. The “Queen of Fado” has recorded more than one hundred and seventy albums in her lifetime and has clearly contributed to the spread of Portuguese musical heritage, of which she is recognized as one of the main ambassadors (if not the ambassador).

Murolo House Museum
This very popular figure gives us the opportunity to remember what happened a little less than a year ago when here in Naples, precisely at Galleria Toledo, our association Napulitanata hosted the final concert of a collaboration born after the victory of a European call (Sea and You). In fact, Napulitanata, together with Spanish and Portuguese artists, has combined the classic Neapolitan song – of which we are ambassadors in the world – with Fado and Flamenco. It is for this reason that the figure of Amàlia Rodrigues represents for us a reference point in the European and world music scene. In addition to this, we want to remember the great Portuguese artist also for his duets with Roberto Murolo, one of the greatest interpreters of the classic Neapolitan song, whose house was recently reopened and donated to the city of Naples to return some of the beauty that the master has given in the many years of his career, helping to give glory to our glorious city and our immense cultural heritage. A few weeks ago you can visit Casa Murolo in which the sofas that have hosted the greatest artists of the ‘900 still echo the poetry that, in those walls, made the history of Neapolitan music. We at Napulitanata, the first and only concert hall dedicated to the classical Neapolitan song in Naples, we are extremely proud and proud to contribute actively to the opening of this treasure chest to spread beauty on our territory. For visits to the Murolo Museum House, please refer to our site napulitanata.com and the site of the Murolo Foundation casamuseomurolo.it.

By Antonio Di Criscito