"Stravinsky's 'Mavra' and Puccini's 'Gianni Schicchi' in Florence
Elio on tour with 'When a Musician Laughs' and also pianist Beatrice Rana with her cellist sister Ludovica
3' min read
3' min read
A week of not-so-frequent music of great interest. Like in Florence, where we see a short comic opera by Stravinsky from Pushkin; followed by Puccini's similarly comic 'Gianni Schicchi'. Or the works for cello and piano by the likes of Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Wieck Schumann. The sign of comedy returns in the concert-show that Elio brings to the Italian tour.
Florence
On 15-18-20-22 at the Teatro del Maggio good opportunity to see Stravinsky's comic opera 'Mavra', with a libretto by Boris Kochno, based on a novella by Pushkin. Staged at the Paris Opéra in 1922, it is a perfect 20th century opera buffa, with the nostalgia of the closed number, but also with the deforming lens that rests on the events. And the lens is represented above all by the sneering of the orchestra, while the closed numbers by the multi-point expansion of the protagonists' singing. Here are varied sound materials - jazzy cues, Russian and Gypsy motifs - and contrasts between the traditional vocal line and the orchestral writing with harsh timbres. Stravinsky deliberately chose an unusual instrumental ensemble, in which wind instruments outnumber strings, to recreate the sound of a band rather than an orchestra. New staging.
In the second part of the evening, another comic one-act play from the same period (1918), Puccini's 'Gianni Schicchi', also written in the twentieth century and among the Tuscan composer's greatest achievements. It tells the story of the title character, a Florentine rascal remembered by Dante in the 'Divine Comedy' for forging a will. The action takes place in Florence in 1299.
Conducted by Lanzillotta, directed by Krief. 45 minutes before each performance there will be listening guides. And during the performances on the 15th and 22nd there will be workshops for children to experience the opera creatively: play, storytelling and plot creation - while parents can watch the performance. The performance on the 20th (8 pm) will be broadcast live on Rai Radio3.
Civitanova Marche
On the 10th at Teatro Rossini "Quando un musicista ride", a new concert-show by Elio and his band, dramaturgy and direction by Giorgio Gallione. They will make us listen to that seriously comic repertoire on the borderline between song and disenchantment that, especially around the 1960s, ran through Italian music, song, cabaret and theatre. From Fo to Gaber, from Jannacci to Cochi and Renato, from I Gufi to Felice Andreasi, plus many others, a generation of eccentric and counter-current artists who surprised and amused everyone. The tour continues touching numerous regions, concluding on 23 March in Pesaro.
