An all-female band, a revelation in recent years, makes its international debut with the most beloved and illustrious Italian music. Already protagonist of the tribute to Dalla «Futura. Donne per Lucio” and the “Give peace a chance” tour, a few days before the concert «Women On Fire – Rock Legends» at the Barock Festival in Piazza Armerina, today the Women Orchestra will perform at the Italian National Day, promoted by the Consulate General of Italy in Hong Kong, headed by the Messina consul Carmelo Ficarra.
On the stage of the Hong Kong City Hall, the Palermo orchestra, led by the conductor Alessandra Pipitonefrom Trapani from Petrosino, and with the voice of a soprano Maria Francesca Mazzara will offer masterpieces by Puccini, Mascagni, Cuticchio and Bacalov. But the main focus will be on the great soundtracks of Ennio Morricone and the opening on the notes of the Italian and Chinese national anthems, to establish the union between the two countries.
It was Lorenzo Antonio Iosco, first bass clarinet of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, to propose the Sicilian ensemble to the consulate for its specific peculiarities. «When they asked us to propose a set list of Italian music we decided to bring one of our flagships – says Pipitone – namely the repertoire of Maestro Morricone, arranged by Alberto Maniaci, together with other pieces by famous composers who represent excellence Italian in the world, the distant past and the recent one, and it will be exciting to listen to the two national anthems. The Chinese one in particular will be performed with the local soprano LouiseKwong”.
What did Morricone represent in national culture?
«Morricone is one of the true excellences at an international level and no one can represent us better than him in China, where among other things he is very well known. His music reaches the heart, he has excellent writing and reaches any type of audience. We will first propose “Nuovo Cinema Paradiso” and, to follow, all the other significant pieces from his repertoire.”
At your side another international excellence, the Palermo soprano Maria Francesca Mazzara…
«A few years ago with Maria Francesca we did Verdi's “La Traviata” at the Teatro Antico in Taormina, where she played Violetta. Finding her again is a source of great pride and happiness, because she is an exceptional and complete artist.”
Do these additional female presences with your training demonstrate that today excellence is also female in entertainment?
“Absolutely yes. We are experiencing a moment of awareness on the importance of the female role in every sector, testimony to the fact that fulfillment at work is just as important as anything else in a woman's life. The spotlight has finally been put on the feminine and, although we still don't talk about it enough, we are in the presence of a real revolution. There are women who are also covering important roles in our environment, such as, for example, the first permanent conductors of orchestras in the most important theaters in the world, roles once reserved only for men. The female figure has therefore been valorised in the artistic environment and we hope that it will continue to be so in the years to come.”
