Editing Maxim Berezovsky (section)

===Return to Italy===
[[File:Padre Martini 1.jpg|thumb|Giovanni Battista Martini, Berezovsky's instructor at the Bologna Academy of Music]]
In 1769, Berezovsky, by then in his late twenties, made a return trip to Italy. He travelled first to Vienna, as a courier to the ambassador [[Dmitry Mikhailovich Golitsyn the Younger|Dmytro Golitsyn]], as stated in a border crossing document dated 26 May. From there he went to [[Bologna]].{{sfn|Shumilina|2019}} There he studied with the composer [[Giovanni Battista Martini]] at the [[Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna]].{{sfn|Jaffé|2012|p=60}}{{sfn|Shumilina|2015|pp=80{{ndash}}81}} He stayed in Italy until 1773.{{sfn|Shulgina|2020|p=171}}

Berezovsky did not have the necessary letter of introduction for Martini. The letter was sent to Martini in February 1770 by the director of the Russian imperial theatres, [[Ivan Yelagin]], by which time Berezovsky was already in Bologna and had begun classes. Shumilina has proposed that the appearance of Berezovsky in Italy (at a time when Russia and the [[Ottoman Empire]] were at war) was not initially so that he could be taught by Martini, and that the Russian authorities used Berezovsky's tuition as a cover, so that he could act as a government agent.{{sfn|Shumilina|2019}}

In May 1771, Berezovsky formally requested to be allowed to take the graduation exam:{{sfn|Shumilina|2015|p=81}}{{refn|1="{{lang|it|15 Maggio 1771. Illustrimo Signor Principe e Accademici filarmonici...Massimo Beresovskoy detto Russo desiderando di essere aggregato in gualetà di Compositore e Maestro di Capella dell'Accademia Celeberrima de filarmonici, suplica in Signor Principe, et Accademia de filarmonici di ameterlo all esperimento, ad aggregazione dell'Accademia. Che della grazia qua deus.|italics=no}}"{{sfn|Shumilina|2015|p=81}}|group=note}}

{{Blockquote|text=May 15, 1771: Venerable Signor President and Professors of the Academy. Maxim Berezovsky, nicknamed The Russian, wishing to be admitted to the ranks of composers and conductors of the most famous Philharmonic Academy, asks the Signor President and members of the Philharmonic Academy to admit him to the exam for admission to the Academy. To the glory of the Lord.|author=Maxim Berezovsky}}

Along with fellow graduate [[Josef Mysliveček]],{{refn|1=By 1771, Josef Mysliveček had composed nine operas, more than 30 symphonies and [[overture]]s, three concerts, and many other chamber works.{{sfn|Karabits|2021|p=18}}|group=note}} Berezowsky had to compose a [[polyphonic]] work on a given theme. This was a similar exam to the one given to the 14-year-old [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] a year earlier.{{sfn|Jaffé|2012|p=60}} Academicians gathered to test the applicants, who assessed the candidates' examination pieces by secret ballot, using white and black balls to vote that the required standard had been reached.&nbsp;Unusually, both Mysliveček and Berezovsky received only white balls—which signified a positive vote—and so both became academicians. This brought them financial and social benefits.<ref name="keldysh1966"/><ref name="Per">{{cite news |last1=Perebijnis |first1=Olga |title=Йозеф Мислівечек та Максим Березовський: чех та українець, які підкорили музичну Італію |url=https://www.istpravda.com.ua/articles/2021/05/15/159491/ |access-date=13 October 2023 |work=[[Istorychna Pravda]] |date=15 May 2021 |page=|trans-title=Jozef Myslivecek and Maksym Berezovsky: a Czech and a Ukrainian who conquered musical Italy |language=uk}}</ref> Berezowsky's examination piece, {{lang|la|Hic vir despiciens}},{{sfn|Kuzma|2001}} signed "Massimo Berezovsky", is now kept by the academy.<ref name="Rud" /> Berezovsky's compositions in Italy include ''[[Demofonte (Berezovsky)|Demofonte]]'', a three-[[Act (drama)|act]] ''[[opera seria]]'', with an Italian libretto by [[Pietro Metastasio]]. It was staged in [[Livorno]] and premiered in February 1773.{{sfn|Jaffé|2012|p=60}} The music he composed in Italy had to be published in France, as during his lifetime, neither Russia or Italy regularly published printed music.{{sfn|Karabits|2021|p=24}} Berezovsky became the first Russian member of the Academia Filarmonica di Bologna.<ref name="keldysh1966"/>