The wonderful damasks hanging on the windows of the Oratory of Carmine were the symbol with which the day dedicated to silk opened last Saturday in the long inauguration weekend of the twenty-first Autumn Festival. In fact, the first weekend of programming wanted to pay homage to the great Tuscan composer Giacomo Puccini, whose one hundredth anniversary of his death was, and to intertwine his commemoration with the history of the city of Catanzaro, «I thought of exploring that “silk road” that linked Italy and in our case Catanzaro to the China of Marco Polo first and Turandot after – said the artistic director of the Festival, Antonietta Santacroce – It is no coincidence that for its first staging in 1926, the last opera composed by Puccini could count on costumes entirely made of silk, those Pekin which were the subject of the conference held for us by Oreste Sergi».
“The Pekins and the Silk Road in Catanzaro”. The “Silk Saturday”, as it was renamed, began in the morning with the silk activity, which over the centuries has become an identifying symbol of the city’s culture, and which was at the center of the scholar’s meeting Oreste Sergi Pirroentitled “The Pekins and the Silk Road in Catanzaro”. In an Oratory of Carmine full of spectators surrounded by hanging damasks, recalling the ancient custom of displaying precious blankets during processions, a demonstration of the richness of the dowry of noble women, Sergi Pirrò told, and above all documented, the story and the various types of fabric, including velvets, of which traces remain, jealously guarded in the sacristies of the churches. In fact, the sacred vestments were made of silk, used in functions and still kept today in churches and museum collections in Calabria. The speaker then focused in particular on Pekin, very particular fabrics characterized by «a unique technique to make the fabric elegant, refined» – with designs that proceeded in stripes, reaching actual lines, decorated with floral or in any case oriental motifs – with the reference to Beijing already in the name -, which were fashionable in the second half of the eighteenth century, and which our city had the pride of producing and exporting above all throughout the Kingdom of Naples, especially in Puglia. The ancient Catanzaro manufacturing industry – which has its roots in the Byzantine period and owes the improvement of its processing and dyeing to the Jews at the time of the Normans -, like that of other important cities such as Florence, Lucca and Venice, was forced to succumb with the industrialization that concentrated production in San Leucio in our area, and in Como, at a national level, while only the De Siena family managed to operate in Catanzaro until the Second World War.
“My journey to Beijing”. The ideal route traced by the Catanzaro “Silk Road” Autumn Festival unfolded in the ancient Grecìa neighborhood which hosts the Oratory, the Politeama Theater, and Palazzo De Nobili, location of the 3 events of this particular Saturday which also offered to the public the national premiere of “My journey to Beijing. The love story between Marco Polo and Hao Dong”. An original musical work on the tormented relationship between the Venetian silk merchant and explorer and the princess daughter of Kublai Khan, opposed by the Italian family who pushed the Chinese noblewoman to commit suicide. Produced by the Autumn Festival, which deliberately commissioned it on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the death of Marco Polo, with Alessandro Meacci on piano and electronic music, Erica Salbego as the narrator and the dancer Diana Neumannthe work moved following the canon of the theater within the theatre: Salbego, who wrote the texts and directed the direction, with small adjustments also in the costumes which evoked the East and the use of some Tibetan bells, told the difficult staging of the script that «it hurts, it leaves a sense of emptiness and injustice that is not easy to manage», she said, since in reality it talks about all the women who over the centuries and unfortunately even today are victims of injustice and abuse, revealing to the public a text that starts from a distant era but is tragically contextualized in the current affairs of today. In fact, the beautiful Dong followed the explorer from his arrival in China to his painful existence in Venice, alone with his love. With oriental sounds and melodies, which were reminiscent of that Silk Road that was talked about and therefore not only of Chinese inspiration, the music interpreted by Meacci was a set of new compositions, quotes and homages to the whole of the 20th century, performed on the piano and live electronics. To complete the magic of the representation, between refined, persuasive and nostalgic music and lyrics, the dancer Diana Neumann thought of it, with a unique elegance and beauty, who gracefully twirled and danced, emphasizing notes and words even more.
Turandot and the matinee for schools. Finally, in the evening, the pinnacle of the first weekend of the 2024 Autumn Festival, with the long-awaited Turandot on stage at the Politeama Theatre. The impressive staging, with 150 artists involved, born from the co-production of the Autumn Festival with the Teatri di Pietra Festival, obtained a wide response from critics and the public, welcoming the return of opera to the city with a beautiful and well-deserved sum out. The spectators’ enthusiasm translated into very long applause and a standing ovation for the entire cast – especially addressed to Chrystelle Di Marco in the role of Turandot, Eduardo Sandoval in those of Calaf e Leonora Ilieva in the part of Liù -, as well as for theOrchestra Philharmonic of Calabria directed by Filippo Arlia and the Sicilian lyric choir directed by Francesco Costa. Mise en espace of Except Sweet. Since the Festival has always pursued cultural dissemination among young people, the previous dayFriday 4, Turandot had been at the center of one matinee for school children citizens and otherwise. In order to introduce them to opera, which was almost unknown to them, a general rehearsal was dedicated to the students, during which the director Santacroce and the director Dolce told the children present – for all of them it was the first time – what opera is, what Puccini represented in Italian melodrama, the plot of Turandot, presenting the various roles one by one, but also behind the scenes and therefore how the characters are constructed with make-up and wigs directly on stage, how the orchestra is tuned, how the singers and choir warm up their voices, as do the stage movements. The enthusiastic response, but above all the maximum attention with which everyone present then followed the entire mise en espace confirmed how the choice was a good one and certainly worth repeating.
The Autumn Festival, supported by the Calabria Region/Calabria Straordinaria, through the 2014/20 Pac funds; by the Chamber of Commerce of Catanzaro, Crotone and Vibo Valentia, by the Municipality of Catanzaro, by the Carical Foundation as well as by various private bodies, continues vFriday 11 October, When at the Politema Theater there will be the national premiere of “Timba Jazz”, the new project by Aymée Nuviola. Saturday 12 instead there will be a tribute to “Chick Corea: a Spanish heart” al San Giovanni complexWhile at 9pm at Politeama will go on stage”Mater” with Trilok Gurtu, Omar Sosa And Maria Pia De Vito.