Luca Tittoto / Recenze

NOT A GRAPHIC DESIGNER, BUT A CONTEMPORARY ARTIST, TO SIGN THE COMMUNICATION OF THE TEATRO MASSIMO. NOT JUST ANY POSTERS, BUT VALUABLE PICTORIAL WORKS, TO ILLUSTRATE - AS WAS DONE IN THE PAST - THE CONTENTS OF A SEASON OF OPERAS AND BALLETS. GREAT QUALITY, ALWAYS, FOR THE HISTORIC PALERMO THEATER ORGANIZATION ... Thirty years ago one of the blackest pages in the history of Italy in the second half of the twentieth century was written. Sicily was the scene of an implacable war, in which judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino were killed , on the sidelines of a series of more or less excellent murders, from that of the Christian Democrat viceroy Salvo Lima to the plethora of fallen exponents of Cosa Nostra in the internal war for the conquest of power. An annus horribilis , 1992, in which the dialectic between the State and organized crime was declined through opaque, controversial ways, in the escalation of violence and in the desperate attempt to stop its fury. MASSIMO THEATER OF PALERMO, A SEASON OF REBIRTH The historic Teatro Massimo dedicates the 2022 season to the thirtieth anniversary of those massacres , sumptuous Liberty architecture designed by the Basiles , the largest opera house in Italy, third in Europe after the Opéra National in Paris and the Staatsoper in Vienna. A symbolic place of Palermo, scandalously closed between 1974 and 1997, annihilated by cultural management and a city administration that found daily fertilizer in the link between the mafia and politics. The Theater, over time, " with the city has experienced mortifications and glories, oblivion and redemption, misery and splendor, emblem of the city of Palermo ": these are the words of Leoluca Orlando , Mayor of Palermo and president of the Teatro Massimo Foundation, proud to remember how " after the darkness of the mafia massacres, thanks to the reaction of civil society, the theater found its light again, and in the same way, after the darkness caused by the pandemic crisis, it found the public again and a great international success. A season, therefore, dedicated to the ability to react, to face the most dramatic difficulties with determination. Massimo celebrates his rebirth and therefore that of the entire city as best he knows how to do, that is in music “. First show expected for January 20, 2022, with the signature of one of the most authentic, wild, passionate voices of contemporary Sicilian dramaturgy: Emma Dante stages Les vêpres siciliennes by Giuseppe Verdi , for the first time in Palermo in the original French version in five acts , conducted by Omer Meir Wellber .The opera, which will involve orchestra, choir and corps de ballet by the Palermo Theater, is co-produced with the San Carlo Theater in Naples, the Teatro Comunale in Bologna and the Teatro Real in Madrid. Then, until October 2022, works entitled to the relationship between art and politics, to stories of riots and civic claims, to stories of pride and popular rebellion, will parade on the imposing stage of the Teatro di Piazza Verdi: from the debut of Cenere (13 and 14 May) , the investigative work by Gery Palazzotto , with music by Marco Betta , Fabio Lannino and Diego Spitaleri ,which concludes the trilogy on the mysteries of the mafia massacres, up to some classics of opera such as Simon Boccanegra and Tosca . FROM THEATER TO PAINTING. ARTIST CAMPAIGN FOR THE MAXIMUM OF PALERMO To embellish this special year there is also the communication campaign, entrusted to the visionary talent of Francesco De Grandi(Palermo, 1968), a Sicilian artist who occupies a first-rate place on the scene of contemporary Italian painting: the task of to return the plot of stories, memories, metaphors and biographies that will come to life in front of the audience over the course of an entire year, becoming music, poetry, choreography. Every suggestion that De Grandi will have compared to a title, a libretto, a story, will be part of a single "concept novel", a new chapter of his personal pictorial theater: dozens of refined tables with a soft and restless line, pieces unique on paper destined to revive in different formats in the form of prints and illustrations. An important choice, by the direction of the Massimo, which with an intelligent cultural operation has on the one hand reawakened the tradition of the legendary artist posters - designed by giants of late 19th century painting for theaters and nightclubs, just before it was born art graphics - and on the other hand confirmed the desire to graft the power of contemporary research onto the authority of the great modern classics. In the same way, mixing languages, aesthetics, creative horizons.“ A rising 2022, the lions of Civiletti with their muses guardians of our beloved Theater stand out in the warm light ”, declared De Grandi in the official presentation of the project. " I tried to restore the energy of a theater that stands up proudly after a devastating period", he added , "a theater that has fought during this year of closure and interdiction to viewing in the presence of the shows, resisting and remaining close to its spectators. And it is still here, above the rubble, looking into the distance, against the backdrop of a new dawn ". And at Artribune he explains the nature of the designed works a little more closely: " They are mixed techniques on paper, they try to intercept a singularity of the work they represent. A character, a striking image, a phrase of an aria, a word that describes a subtrack. The images are then digitized and processed in digital collage, to make them adaptable to all formats and uses, posters, playbills, etc. ". And finally, “ The writings that flicker ”, she says, “ are from #ditosinistro ”. The reference is to his small irreverent, ironic, totally digital project, made up of quick sketches and words like lightning bolts, thrown on the net like scratches on the sidelines of the daily news. Thus, the Superintendent of the Massimo Theater Francesco Giambrone - who in recent years has carried out a high-profile work, including rigor, ingenuity and dedication - speaks of the " desire to develop a cultural narrative capable of multiple gazes of a high artistic level ", with all the intention of " enhancing internal forces del Teatro, preserving the level of employment and maintaining the commitments undertaken with the artists who have suffered the cancellation of productions during the period of closure and the health emergency ". Around the concept of "rebirth", almost two years after the outbreak of the pandemic, this important place sings its song of resistance and writes another piece of its history, sinking its roots in tradition and not ceasing to cultivate critical thinking, experimentation, gaze on the present. - Helga Marsala

Thirty years after the 1992 mafia massacres, the Teatro Massimo in Palermo dedicates the 2022 programming to the memory of the dramatic events that triggered a season of revolt and participation of civil society which generated among the many reactions also the reopening of the Massimo and the re-appropriation of city spaces such as the Zisa cultural sites and the Spasimo. The president of the Teatro Massimo Foundation, Leoluca Orlando , the superintendent Francesco Giambrone and the artistic director Marco Betta presented today in the Great Hall of the Teatro Massimo the 2022 season which will be inaugurated on January 20 with the new staging of Les vêpres siciliennes , grand-opéra by Giuseppe Verdi , for the first time in Palermo in the original French version in five acts , conducted by Omer Meir Wellber with the direction of Emma Dante . An international co-production with the San Carlo Theater in Naples, the Teatro Comunale in Bologna and the Teatro Real in Madrid, which will involve the Massimo Orchestra , Chorus and Corps de Ballet . After the inauguration with Les vêpres siciliennes , the Season continues until October 2022 with other works evocative of participation and civic collections and of the binomial art and politics, such as Simon Boccanegra (in the historic setting signed by Sylvano Bussotti recently deceased, to whom the opera is dedicated), Nabucco and Tosca, among others. And a program of activities is put in place in the month of May aimed at commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of the mafia massacres : Starting with Cenere , the investigative work by Gery Palazzotto to music by Marco Betta , Fabio Lannino and Diego Spitaleri , which debuts on 13 and 14 May and concludes after Le parole rubate and I traitori the trilogy dedicated to the mysteries of the mafia massacres the circle on betrayals and lies that led to "the greatest misdirection in Italian judicial history". The show is played by Gigi Borruso . On 23 May One minute of no silence a collective project that unites artists from all over the world in composing a minute of original music which, sent via the web, will compose a symphony of "minutes of no silence" in memory of the victims of the '92 massacres . And again on May 23 , the program will culminate with the performance of the Requiem Mass by Giuseppe Verdi, conducted by Omer Meir Wellber with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Massimo directed by Ciro Visco . Finally, on May 27th there will be the world premiere of Falcone and Borsellino at the Teatro Regio in Turin. The legacy of the righteous , a composition commissioned by Marco Tutino , in co-production with the Turin Culture Foundation - MITO Settembre Musica, the Teatro Regio in Turin, the Piccolo Teatro in Milan and the Teatro Massimo in Palermo , in collaboration with CCO - Crisis as an opportunity. The opera will be performed in Palermo on July 19 , at the Teatro di Verdura, on the day of the death of the magistrate Paolo Borsellino killed by the mafia. The dramaturgy is by Emanuela Giordano , staged by the actors of the Piccolo Teatro di Milano. In May there is also a happy anniversary, the 25th anniversary of the reopening of the Teatro Massimo (which took place in 1997) and to celebrate its anniversary, on May 12, Michele Mariotti , the next musical director of the Teatro dell'Opera di Rome, who will perform the Symphony n. 2 by Gustav Mahler " Resurrection ". "The Teatro Massimo is the emblem of the city of Palermo", declares Leoluca Orlando , president of the Teatro Massimo Foundation and mayor of Palermo. “And with the city he experienced mortifications and glories, oblivion and redemption, misery and splendor. He is the undisputed protagonist of that cultural change that is constantly evolving. This year, the 2022 programming is entirely dedicated to the memory of the 1992 mafia massacres, the thirtieth anniversary of which next year and which marked not only the history of our city but of the whole country. Since that 1992, however, a movement of rebellion and great civil commitment has started which, among other things, led in 1997 to the reopening of the Teatro Massimo, whose twenty-fifth anniversary will occur next year, and to the reconquest of others urban spaces that today constitute the heart and reference point of the city's cultural activity. So after the darkness of the mafia massacres, thanks to the reaction of civil society, the theater has rediscovered its light and in the same way, after the darkness caused by the pandemic crisis, it has rediscovered the public and a great international success. A season, therefore, dedicated to the ability to react, to face the most dramatic difficulties with determination. Massimo celebrates his rebirth and therefore that of the entire city as best he knows how to do, that is in music. " The 2022 programming - adds the superintendent of the Teatro Massimo Francesco Giambrone - with the reopening reconquers the desire to elaborate a cultural narrative capable of multiple glances of a high artistic level, enhancing the internal forces of the Theater, preserving the employment level and maintaining the commitments undertaken with the artists who have undergone the cancellation of their productions during the period of closure and the health emergency. We dedicate this new season to the ability to resist and react even in difficult situations, sometimes extreme, such as those in which the world of theater has found itself ". The complete program of operas, ballets and concerts of 2022 celebrates the reopening of the Theater, today as then, with a program that sees great protagonists of the contemporary scene alternate on the stage in Piazza Verdi and at the Verdura Theater. Among them: Placido Domingo, who sings for the first time at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Roberto Abbado , Kent Nagano also for the first time on the podium of the Teatro Massimo Orchestra, George Petean, Anna Pirozzi , the Mongolian baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat , Maria Agresta in her Italian debut in one of the most dramatic and intense roles of Donizetti's theater, in the role of Elizabeth I in Roberto Devereux . And again Ewa Plonka , Maria José Siri , Erwin Schrott John Osborn , Fabio Sartori , the young and talented conductor Michele Spotti , Maria Yakovleva , the étoile guest of Davide Bombana 's choreography Dangerous Liaisons and the duo of visual artists Masbedo . The graphic image of the communication project is new and high-profile , entrusted to a highly talented artist such as Francesco De Grandi who has created a pictorial concept that takes its cue from the titles scheduled to compose a large fresco of which each opera is a gusset. “A rising 2022 - writes De Grandi in his dedication - and the lion of Civiletti with his muse, guardian of our beloved Theater, which stands out in the warm light. I tried to restore the energy of a theater that stands up proudly after a devastating period, a theater that has fought during this year of closure and interdiction to viewing in the presence of the shows, resisting and remaining close to its spectators. And it is still here, above the rubble, looking into the distance, against the backdrop of a new dawn ". The theater production projects dedicated to schools will also restart in 2022 , with particular attention to the social aspects that saw the resumption of the activity of the Danisinni Choir in 2021 and which provide for new interventions in the districts at risk of the metropolitan city. As well as the collaborations already undertaken with some of the main musical institutions in the area: the Conservatory of Palermo , the Sicilian Symphony Orchestra , The Brass Group , the Friends of Music Association of Palermo, in addition to the Merz Foundation , ZACentrale , L'Academy of Fine Arts , the University of Palermo . The programming of the tours and with the artistic and technical ensembles of the Theater also resumes , starting with the one in Japan ( Tokyo, Hamamatsu, Otsu, Osaka and Nagoya ) in June 2022, with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Massimo, and two works: La bohème by Giacomo Puccini in the new specially created staging, directed by Mario Pontiggia and Fabrizio Maria Carminati on the podium; and Simon Boccanegra by Giuseppe Verdi in the historical staging of the Teatro Regio in Turin with direction, sets and costumes by Sylvano Bussotti and on the podium Francesco Ivan Ciampa. Cast of big names in both works: from Angela Gheorghiu and Desirée Rancatore for Bohème to Placido Domingo for Simon Boccanegra .