Taormina Film Festival, the “Proiezioni – Sounds and Words before the Film” review kicks off

John

By John

It starts today, July 13th “Projections – sounds and words before the film”a series of evening events preceding the 10pm screenings.

We start this evening with a very special tribute to Maria Callasan icon of the operatic world and the protagonist of films that have told the story of an artist with an unmistakable voice. And this voice will be the protagonist of “Vissi d’arte. Vissi d’amore”, on stage at 8.30pm at the Taormina Town Hall. The actor John Mancini will retrace, in the role of Maria’s personal butler, the salient moments of an extraordinary life, recalling memorable performances, from Casta Diva to Un bel dì vedremo, from La mamma morta to Vissi d’arte. And Callas’ voice will materialize as if the diva were alive, accompanied by the instrumental trio composed of Dino DePalma on the violin, Luciano Tarantino on the cello and Donated by the Sight at the piano.

It continues tomorrow July 14th at 9:00 pm at the Ancient Theatre with Omar Sosa, jazz pianist among the most appreciated and followed artists on the international jazz scene; Sosa will provide the soundtrack for the documentary “La montagne infidèle”, a suggestive reconstruction of a historic eruption of Etna in 1923.

It continues on 1July 5th at 8:30 pm at Villa Comunale with “Tosca – The sexual blackmail”. On the centenary of Giacomo Puccini’s death, Taormina Arte Sicilia dedicates a summer evening to a masterpiece by the Lucchese composer and does so in an original way, telling it from a particular perspective, that of psychological violence against a woman and the consequent murder.

A Puccini postcard painted in fiery red: the red of blood, of passion, of anger, of hate. The theme of violence against women, both physical and psychological, and that of gender equality are the core of the narrative engine in this work.. All this in a setting in which a romance like “Vissi d’arte” becomes the counterpart of violence: a prayer that slows down time and keeps evil away. Leading us through the plots of the story is the narrative voice of Gianna Fratta, an internationally renowned musician and conductor, who has conducted the title many times around the world and who follows the artistic direction of these events, the voices of the soprano Mary Tomassian eclectic artist whose repertoire ranges from ancient music to opera, sacred, chamber and contemporary music, of the prodigious international tenor Max Jota and of the baritone Elia Fabbianone of the most interesting baritones of his generation. The whole thing is embellished by the notes of the piano of Davide Dellisanti.

Day 1On July 6th we return to the Teatro Antico at 9.00 pm with “Veniamo a quel paese”, in the presence of Salvo Ficarra, Valentino Picone and Carlo Crivelli, author of the music for the films Seven and Eight, Andiamo a quel paese, L’ora legale and Il primo Natale. On stage theOrchestra of the “Vittorio Emanuele” Theater of Messina conducted by Eliseo Castrignanò with four suites dedicated to these films. The orchestra’s notes will alternate with interventions by Crivelli and the duo Ficarra and Picone, who will tell anecdotes and stories about these cinematographic works and the relationship with the music that comments on them.

On July 17th at 8.30 pm at Villa Comunale it will be the turn of “Note di celluloid”an exciting show that sees cinema and the soundtrack as the absolute protagonists. The ensemble Sounds of the South will musically accompany the screenings of images from Italian films that have made the history of cinema Federico Fellini, Sergio Leone framed by the unforgettable melodies of Nino Rota and Ennio Morricone; films such as The Adventures of Pinocchio, Once Upon a Time in America, The Godfather, Life is Beautiful, The National Health Doctor, Divorce Italian Style, without forgetting the fantastic western films by Sergio Leone, such as Duck, You Sucker, A Fistful of Dollars, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and many others.

The event will close on July 19th at 9 pm at the Teatro Antico with “Ophelia’s Secret Love” by Steven Berkoff, directed by Luigi De Angelis and featuring actors Chiara Francini and Andrea Argentieri. Two actors rehearse Berkoff’s text from a distance: she is Ophelia and she imagined her Hamlet in a very different way from the one to which reality has confronted her. After an initial disappointment, however, the fascination for the text, with its spirals and sensual rhetorical convolutions, takes over and will force her (dramatically) to review her initial positions.