Two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning Italian American composer (1911–2007) best known for such popular operas as The Consul, The Saint of Bleecker Street, and Amahl and the Night Visitors. TLS, one light blue onionskin page, 8 x 10, personal letterhead, October 8, 1976. Menotti writes to Ray Roberts of MacMillan and Co. in New York City. In full: “You may well wonder what happened to me and my biography. Alas, Since I was last in New York, hell broke loose over my Charleston project, threatening to swallow the whole Spoleto festival and me with it! I had to fight through a very labyrinth of intrigues and squabbles before regaining the peace of my studio—and it is only a week ago that I have been able to sit quietly at my desk and face some of the many tasks assigned to me. My annotations to the book should not take long now, as the days ahead are mine. By the middle of November I plan to be back in New York with my work done. Believe me, I shall be much relieved to entrust the manuscript once more to your loving care!” Menotti has written the “shall” in the text. In fine condition, with light wrinkling and a few creases. In 1976, Menotti released Landscapes and Remembrances, a 9-part cantata that served as an autobiographical statement of his 45 years of life in the United States. RRAuction COA.
