Wagner and saw some value in the work of Richard Strauss, Debussy, Elgar, Mussorgsky, Glazunov and Sibelius. By contrast, the Italian symphony was dominated by opera in an "absurd and anti-musical form". The conservatories encouraged backwardness and mediocrity. The publishers perpetuated mediocrity and the domination of music by the "rickety and vulgar" operas of Puccini and Umberto Giordano. The only Italian Pratella could praise was his teacher Mascagni, because he had rebelled against the publishers and attempted innovation in opera, but even Mascagni was too traditional for Pratella's tastes. In the face of this mediocrity and conservatism, Pratella unfurled "the red flag of Futurism, calling to its flaming symbol such young composers as have hearts to love and fight, minds to conceive, and brows free of cowardice". He did so via several short manifestos, a key example of which was Musica futurista (Manifesto of Futurist Musicians), published in 1910. The main ideas of his musical manifestos were: for the young to keep away from conservatories and to study independently; the founding of a musical review, to be independent of academics and critics; abstention from any competition that was not completely open; liberation from the past and from "well-made" music; for the domination of singers to end, so that they became like any other member of the orchestra; for opera composers to write their own librettos, which were to be in free verse; to end all period settings, ballads, "nauseating Neapolitan songs and sacred music"; and to promote new work in preference to old. Style and influence The Italian futurist music manifestos, particularly Russolo's, have long been an inspiration to avant-garde musicians and continue to be so in the twenty-first century. However, mid-twentieth century scholars—among a small fraternity who had access to Pratella's long-forgotten compositions—were deeply critical of Pratella owing to a perceived streak of conservativism in his own music which, they felt, undermined the revolutionary spirit of his manifesti. As Benjamin Thorn put it, "[Pratella]'s compositions never quite lived up to the rhethoric." In Italy, however, Pratella's fortunes have been improving. Pianist Daniele Lombardi has recorded some of Pratella's futurist piano music, and in 1996 the La Scala opera house in Milan revived L'aviatore Dro for the first time in 75 years. The success of this production and other factors have helped to revitalize Pratella's futurist profile in his home country. Although he composed seven operas, Pratella was not a