From the screen on the sea, to the most famous opera arias performed from the balcony of Palazzo San Giorgio. The Reggio summer billboard raises the bar. The common thread that unites the various reviews is clarified by the councilor with responsibility for Culture, Filippo Quartuccio. His story is a journey back through the evenings, not yet concluded, of a season designed to spread a different perception of beauty, a sensitivity that art in its various exceptions can convey.
– Opera and cinema, two different artistic expressions to promote culture. What message has the administration chosen to launch in addition to that of entertainment?
“It was objectively a happy choice for us, an intuition that is due first of all to the mayor Falcomatà, who for some time had been asking to work on defined objectives for our cultural offering and which this year found expression in a Reggio summer organized for thematic festivals. Not only opera and cinema then. The administration, in my opinion, and the mayor first and foremost, must be recognized for having planned a Reggio summer with well-organized events, varied but homogeneous, designed in such a way that the proposed diversification could be harmonious as a whole and enjoyable for everyone.”
– How did the idea for the work on the balcony come about?
“The Serenade and the Opera al Balcone are part of the project presented by the cultural operator as part of the public notice promoted by the administration. The city has particularly appreciated this innovative way of performing and interpreting opera pieces. A new way that occurs in some European capitals and that has also been successful here”.
– The operation has educational implications, the event has managed to bring even citizens who do not frequent theaters closer to the world of opera. At the same time, it has made it possible to make young talents of the territory known. How did the city respond to these inputs?
“The city has shown that it appreciates all the events of the Festival. We were sure that an initiative of this type could find favor with the people of Reggio, but not to this extent. We are amazed by all the messages of appreciation that we have received and that push us to continue on this path. In the past years, opera had already shown that it worked, now it is getting better and better and our intention, as also stated by the mayor on the occasion of the concert at the Arena, is to do even more.