In Peppino's Yurt or in bed with Aida
Many side events, from the cheerful Parade through the streets to the electronic version of the operas, to the confessional where the characters confide in each other, involving children, RSAs and prisons
3' min read
3' min read
And it is always Verdi Street Parade, on the 20th from 6 p.m., the party in music in the sign of Falstaff that opens the Festival and Verdi Off, invading the city streets from the Centre to Oltretorrente. More than a thousand artists, choral ensembles, bands, singers, actors, dancers, acrobats and visual artists will give life to a widespread spectacle, culminating in the videomapping on the Palazzo della Pilotta, until half past midnight, reworking the plots of the Battle of Legnano, Aida, Macbeth, Masnadieri in an electronic key.
But immediately, the next day at the Galleria San Ludovico, we delve into the dark heart of Macbeth with Il sonno uccidesti (warning to himself after stabbing the king of Scotland), an immersive project that can be visited every day, created by Damiano Michieletto and Paolo Fantin. At the centre of the space stands Macbeth, a hyper-realistic human figure that seems to sink into an abyss of black water, rippled by the vibrations of Verdi's music. The dark water that engulfs him is a nightmare in constant motion, fuelled by his boundless ambition. Above him, blades of mirrors threaten the fall of the world he had built.
On this first weekend, we can also pass by the Regio Theatre at 1 p.m. and listen tol Cucù Verdiano, Verdian arias with singers facing the Fornici, every day; and, for the little ones, enter Peppino's Yurta, the typical cylindrical-conical tent of the Kyrgyz and Mongolian peoples; for a month, Piazzale Picelli in the heart of Oltretorrente becomes the centre of workshops for schools, shows for children and families.
Two projects, these, that are representative of Verdi Off and are taken up, together with others, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the event, curated by Barbara Minghetti, who wanted to take the Verdi Festival out of the theatres towards the public, inviting everyone (including the Rsa and the prison) to share their emotions and passion for Verdi, spreading the greatness of the man and the artist, in a light, playful and open way. On the one hand, innovation, multidisciplinarity, contemporaneity, attention to young people and emerging creativity, and on the other hand, participation, inclusion, welcome and care.
Thus we will find ourselvesIn bed with Verdi or, more precisely, with his characters. Macbeth, for example, we will meet him in the flesh, one spectator at a time, in the room face to face. And also Lady and Violetta, Aida, Verdi himself: conceived and directed by Aldo Cassano, dramaturgy by Emilio Sala, the Compagnia Animanera transports us through the composer's characters and life itself, where love is plumbed in its most secret folds: from obsession to jealousy, from abandonment to passion, from dream to reality.
