The twenty-first edition of the Autumn Festival, created and directed by Antonietta Santacroceis ready for its big debut, celebrating the anniversary of 100 years of the death of Giacomo Pucciniwith a dense program that includes well seven events taking place from 3 to 5 October in Catanzaro, the 6th in Borgia.
We will start with “Turandot and the shadow of a smile”, the conference in-depth study on Turandot, edited by Marco CalabreseThat Thursday 3 October at 6 pm in the Concert Hall of Palazzo De Nobili, he will illustrate the work with listening, readings and anecdotes, to allow for more informed listening on 5 October.
We will continue the next day, Friday 4 October in the morning at 11 am, with the dress rehearsal of Turandot in the Politeama theater, open to students of the city schools, and in the afternoon at 6 pm, with the “Opera gala Homage to Puccini” dedicated to the most famous Puccini arias taken from “Madama Butterfly”, “Tosca”, “Bohème”, “Gianni Schicchi”. On stage with Giovanni Mazzuca – also author of the transcriptions of the music – on the pianoGiuseppe Arnaboldi on the violin, Sabina Fedele on viola, and two extraordinary voices, the soprano Giorgia Teodoro and the tenor Alessandro D’Acrissa.
The opera gala will then inaugurate the October 6 at 6pm Palazzo Mazza in Borgianew museum headquarters just opened to the public; While Sunday 20th will be staged at Santa Caterina Borgo in ancient Church of the SS. Annunziata recently restored.
Returning to the Catanzaro programming, Saturday 5 October we will move to the oldest district of the city, Grecìa, where the artisanal production of silk in Catanzaro was born in the early Middle Ages. In ancient times Carmine Oratory at 11 am,”The Pekins and the Silk Roads: from China to Catanzaro”, edited by the historian Oreste Sergi Pirrowhich will delve into the history of silk art in Catanzaro and in particular focusing on the very precious Pekins produced in the city and also present in the first 1924 staging of Puccini’s opera “Turandot”.
Silk is therefore the common thread of this day which, through the 3 scheduled events, will act as a trait d’union between the Catanzaro silk tradition and the Chinese one, protagonist at 6 pm of the homage to Marco Polo (“My journey to Beijing” ) and at 9 pm TurandotPuccini’s opera set “in China at the time of fairy tales”. On Saturday 5th, starting at 6 pm in the cloister of Palazzo De Nobili there will be the national premiere of “My journey to Beijing.
The love story of Marco Polo and Hao Dong”: an original musical work commissioned by the Festival ad Alessandro Meacci on the occasion of another important anniversary: the 700th anniversary of Marco Polo’s death. Alessandro Meacci on the piano together with the performer, singer and actress Erica Salbego and to the dancer Diana Neumannwill tell the love story between the traveler of the Serenissima Marco Polo and Hao Dong, the princess daughter of Emperor Kublai Khan, grandson of the infamous Genghis Khan. The lyrics and direction are by Erica Salbego.
Finally on the stage of Politeama Theatreat 9 pm the Autumn Festival – supported by the Calabria Region/Calabria Straordinaria; from the Chamber of Commerce of Catanzaro, Crotone and Vibo Valentia, from the Municipality of Catanzaro, from the Province of Catanzaro and from the Carical Foundation, as well as various private bodies – will propose Turandotthe three-act opera by Giacomo Puccini with a libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. It is the fairy tale of Princess Turandot who proposes unsolvable riddles to her suitors to avoid marriage, and of Prince Calaf who, to the general amazement, manages to solve them: the one to be staged in Catanzaro will be the original versioncomposed by Puccini who, as is known, died before finishing the opera, and as a tribute to the composer it was decided to have Turandot performed as far back as the maestro had composed it. All with grandiose choral scenes and broad involvement for the public, thanks to the presence of two important Italian realities: the Sicilian Lyric Choir directed by Francesco Costa and theOrchestra Philharmonic of Calabriadirected by Filippo Arlia. The role of the protagonist Turandot will be played by the Italian-French soprano Chrystelle Di Marco; the Spanish tenor Eduardo Sandoval will give voice to Prince Calaf; while the Bulgarian soprano will play the role of Liù Leonora Ilieva; Viacheslav Strelkov it will be Timur; Ping, Pang and Pong will be respectively interpreted by David Costa Garcia, Federico Parisi And Davide Benigno. The mise en espace is of Except Sweet.
«The Festival opens by paying homage to the extraordinary figure of one of the greatest Italian composers that the whole world envies us, Giacomo Puccini, on the centenary of his death, but does not forget the history of the City, starting from its oldest neighbourhood, Grecìa – stated the artistic director Antonietta Santacroce – In fact, it is here that the art of silk was born, which from the Middle Ages to the modern age made Catanzaro famous for the quality of the fiber and the refinement of the weaving. The noble families of Catanzaro have handed down the ancient damasks for generations which will be presented retracing their history and their characteristics. Silk is therefore the common thread that unites the history of Catanzaro with that of the legendary silk merchant Marco Polo, protagonist of an original production of the Festival, with the opera Turandot set as is known “in Beijing at the time of fairy tales”. An unmissable weekend in the oldest district of the city and in via Jannoni which, thanks to plays of light and special effects, transforms into the “Catanzaro Silk Road” along which, in an ideal journey through the centuries, the art of silk unites Catanzaro with Venice and China».