Contact
Expertise Summary
My main research interests are in the history and theory of cultural policy and institutions.
I am currently completing the monograph The Battle for La Scala, a study of the relationship between politics and the music institution, with a focus on the period since the early 20th century.
Conference papers
'Public engagement: the case of La Scala', invited paper at the Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh, 18 August 2009.
'Operatic neoliberalism', invited paper at the two-day symposium Beyond utility and markets: Articulating the role of the humanities in the twenty-first century, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA, 25-26 June 2009.
'The price of reconciliation. The policy of musical reconstruction in post-Liberation Milan'. Research seminar paper, University of Nottingham, Centre for the Study of Post-Conflict Cultures, 22 October 2008.
'La Scala, cultural policy and the legacy of Fascism: 1945-48', paper at the symposium Music after Fascism: Cultural Rebuilding in post-war Europe, University of York, 12 July 2008.
'La Scala and the Milanese working classes, 1968-1972', invited paper at the international conference Die Gesellschaft der Oper. Kulturtransfers und Netzwerke des Musiktheaters in Europa (The Society of Opera. Cultural Transfers and Networks of Musical Theatre in Europe), Humboldt University and Berlin State Opera, Berlin, 22-24 May 2008.
'Analysing the politics of cultural institutions: a study of La Scala, Milan, 1945-2005'. Invited research seminar paper, University of Leicester, Department of Museums Studies, 21 November 2007.
'The policy and politics of privatisation: the case of La Scala, Milan', invited paper at the one-day public symposium Privatising Culture, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, 31 March 2007.
'Privatising the "temple of opera": the political battle over La Scala, Milan, 1990-2005', International Conference on the Arts in Society, University of Edinburgh (in association with the Edinburgh International Arts Festivals), 15-18 August 2006.
'Defascistisation, politics and culture in Italy, 1945-46: a Gramscian perspective on the case of La Scala', paper at the one-day seminar Gramsci in History, University of East Anglia, Norwich, 18 July 2006.
'Cultural leadership: a historical perspective', invited paper at a one-day seminar Management of Culture / Culture of Management organised by the London School of Economics and the Centre for Cultural Policy Studies of the University of Warwick within the ESRC / AHRB Cultural Industries Seminar Network, University of Warwick, 28 June 2006.
'Jacqueline du Pré: representations of the artist as a British musical icon', paper at the Annual Conference of the Social History Society, University of Reading, 31 March - 2 April 2006.
Invited discussant at the one-day seminar The Social Impact of the Arts, organised by the Arts Council England, London, 15 March 2006.
Selected Publications
MERLI, P., 2011. L’impegno per una socialità etico-politica del 'teatro di musica': gli anni della Scala, 1972-1976. In: FONTANA, C., ed., Paolo Grassi: una biografia tra teatro, cultura e società. Milano: Skira. 101-168.