Septenote

Celebrating islands: Ischia and Elba in jazz and classical music

The talent of Gino Negri in Spoleto, with three amusing one-acts from the 1950s

21 August 2025

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Islands in Festival, at this end of summer. On Ischia, the 16th edition of the Jazz Festival is being held, with three of Italy's greatest keyboard players playing in quick succession: Lorenzo Hengeller, here also a singer, with his Trio; Danilo Rea; and the grand finale with Stefano Bollani. There is also a keyboard in Elba: it is that of the queen of classical music, Martha Argerich, and with her other great performers. In Spoleto, on the other hand, we rediscover the musical and theatrical talent of Gino Negri (1919-1991).

Elba Island

From 29 August to 13 September the 29th Elba Isola Musicale d'Europa festival. Of particular note are pianist Martha Argerich on the 3rd in Portoferraio at the Vigilanti Theatre, in Schumann's Quintet op. 44 and Sostakovic's Concerto for piano, trumpet and strings, with I Solisti and the Festival Orchestra; cellist Mario Brunello on the 8th and 9th with two very fine programmes; and violinist Gidon Kremer on the 29th and 31st.

Isle of Ischia

On 27-28-29 Piano & Jazz Ischia, at the Auditorium Carriero in Lacco Ameno. Opening is the piano and voice of Lorenzo Hengeller, in trio; on the 28th the piano of Danilo Rea, in trio; and on the 29th the piano of Stefano Bollani.

Spoleto (PG)

From 28 to 31 at the Caio Melisso Theatre, a good opportunity to see Gino Negri's "Giorno di nozze", "Vieni qui Carla" and "Il tè delle tre", elegant and original one-act plays, characterised by the irresistible theatrical verve of the composer, who also edited the librettos. 'Wedding Day', from 1959, develops around the comic and bitter reflections of a single protagonist. Three years earlier is 'Vieni qui Carla', on a libretto taken from Alberto Moravia's 'Indifferenti' (Indifferent), where Negri's black humour is the expressive signature.

'Il tè delle tre', from 1958, is a farce dedicated to the absurd and the tragicomic. Directed by Marco Angius; directed, set and costumes by Pier Luigi Pizzi; with young singers from the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale di Spoleto 'A. Belli'. Negri deploys his talent between chamber theatre and cabaret, stage music, teaching, and advertising. As Pizzi notes, "his voice stands out for its originality in a period, the 1950s, of openness and freedom, in which each musician followed his own path, some recovering in his own way the glorious models of the past, others experimenting with new roads not yet traced by any ideological diktat."

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