“Love is fire that burns inside me. Choose fire, my heart, do not fear the sea water.” The words of the poem by Museo from the 5th century AD summarize the choice of love of a man towards his beloved. A principle that inspired the verses that accompany “Horai. The Four Seasons”, the show that Giuliano Peparini he created to tell the seasons of love: a love that comes to life, lights up, blossoms in desire, blazes in passion, a love that freezes. Open-scene applause for the show that debuted on Friday and was repeated last night at the Greek theater in Syracuse. The theater was packed for the only two Syracuse dates, which will be followed by a tour abroad between France and the United Arab Emirates.
Ovation for the protagonists: Eleonora Abbagnato, director of the Ballet Corps and the Dance School of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, enchants for the first time in the ancient cavea, with her expressive force: four seasons for four dresses made by Maison Dior. Next to her is Michele Satriano, principal dancer of the Opera di Roma. Giuseppe Sartori also lends himself to various dance steps – a much-loved actor in Syracuse, where he was Orestes, Odysseus and a sensational Oedipus – who has the task of telling the story of love through the verses of classical Greek and Latin poets chosen by Francesco Morosi: epigrams by Paul the Silentiary, a poet from the 6th century AD, and then Catullus, Lucretius, Horace and Aristophanes.
In a room, Sartori relives in a dream the four seasons rich in images, while the choreographies retrace all the stages of the love relationship: “Two lovers move pushed by the wind, among snowflakes, flowers, leaves and trees that from bare become lush. Each season is a chapter in the love story of discovering the other.” And so in spring the discovery, in summer the height of passion, in autumn the fervor subsides leaving room for boredom, then the frost of winter. And the cycle repeats itself, “celebrating the resilience of love.”
Also on stage are Gabriele Beddoni and Matteo Uboldi (Loro) and then the soloists who give paintings that tell emotions: Matteo Aprile, Mirko Aiello, Jhonmirco Baluyot Cruz, Luca Callà, Marta Castelletta, Giordana Cascioli, Antonietta Dalmini, Maria Diletta Della Martira, Federica Feudo, Simone Galante, Gian Maria Giuliattini, Luca Gori, Mattia Marzi, Carlo Padulano, Federico Pietrucci, Giulia Pizzuto Viola Rango, Andrea Raqa, Giuseppe Savino, Virginia Vorraro. They dance to the music of Vivaldi and Scarlatti, pieces by George Gershwin, Jimmy Van Heusen and Phil Silvers.
The images of the seasons scroll across the three large screens while the soundtrack is also enriched by Franca Raimondi with her «Aprite le finestre» from 1956. «Don’t hope for things that last forever», thunders a voice off-screen and the embrace, this time real, between Sartori and Abbagnato closes a dream called love.
The cast is completed by the always excellent students of the Academy of Ancient Drama: Andrea Bassoli, Alberto Carbone, Davide Carella, Giovanni Costamagna, Christian D’Agostino, Tancredi Di Marco, Carlo Denoyè, Lorenzo Ficara, Ferdinando Iebba, Marco Maggio, Carlo Marrubini Bouland, Moreno Pio Mondì, Matteo Nigi, Carloandrea Pecori Donizetti, Giuseppe Oricchio, Francesco Ruggiero, Davide Sgamma, Stefano Stagno, Giovanni Taddeucci, Massimiliano Serino. The scenes were created by the Inda Foundation’s scenography laboratory, the costumes are by Valentina Davoli and Silvia Oliviero, the choir direction is by Elena Polic Greco, the ideation of the sung choirs is by Simonetta Cartia. «Horai. The Four Seasons» is the fourth production this year by the Inda Foundation for the 59th season of classical performances.
