Name: Coincidenze
Start: 2021-09-05T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2021-09-05T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Teatro Mancinelli

Organization

Admin

Orvieto Festival della Piana del Cavaliere

Conductor

Hossein Pishkar

Orchestra

Orchestra Calamani

Narrating voice

Giovanni Drago

Singer

Narrator

Coincidenze

Orvieto

Italy

Teatro Mancinelli

Coincidenze: Simple Symphonie Op.4 Britten (+1 More)

Public

Concert

Simple Symphony, op. 4

Su spiri d’oro

Un dì si venne a me Malinconia

Delfina Gago

Approved

Narrating voice
Giovanni Drago
Scuola Ronconi del Piccolo Teatro di Milano

Project in collaboration with
Piccolo Teatro di Milano
Accademia Chigiana
Festival Impuls
Festival Gaudeamus

Orchestra Filarmonica Vittorio Calamani

Director
Hossein Pishkar

Program notes
The first three pieces of this program were requested by the Festival della Piana del Cavaliere on texts by Dante Alighieri and Leonardo Sciascia to mark the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death and the 100th anniversary of Sciascia’s birth.
This work was carried out in coproduction with the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, the Festival Impulse in Berlin and the Festival Gaudeamus in Utrecht, which selected three female composers to whom they entrusted these works.

Dante Alighieri
Ne li occhi porta la mia donna Amore
(Vita nuova, cap. XXI)

Ne li occhi porta la mia donna Amore,
per che si fa gentil ciò ch’ella mira;
ov’ella passa, ogn’om ver lei si gira,
e cui saluta fa tremar lo core,
sì che, bassando il viso, tutto smore,
e d’ogni suo difetto allor sospira:
fugge dinanzi a lei superbia ed ira.
Aiutatemi, donne, farle onore.
Ogne dolcezza, ogne pensero umile
nasce nel core a chi parlar la sente,
ond’è laudato chi prima la vide.
Quel ch’ella par quando un poco sorride,
non si pò dicer né tenere a mente,
sì è novo miracolo e gentile.

 

Un dì si venne a me Malinconia (Rime, LXXII)

Un dì si venne a me Malinconia
e disse: “Io voglio un poco stare teco”;
e parve a me ch’ella menasse seco
Dolore e Ira per sua compagnia.
E io le dissi: “Partiti, va via”;
ed ella mi rispose come un greco:
e ragionando a grande agio meco,
guardai e vidi Amore, che venia
vestito di novo d’un drappo nero,
e nel suo capo portava un cappello;
e certo lacrimava pur di vero.
Ed eo li dissi: “Che hai, cattivello?”.
Ed el rispose: “Eo ho guai e pensero,
ché nostra donna mor, dolce fratello”.

Leonardo Sciascia
In memoria (La Sicilia, il suo cuore)

L’inverno lungo improvviso si estenua
nel maggio sciroccoso: una gelida
nitida favola che ti porta, al suo finire,
la morte – così come i papaveri
accendono ora una fiorita di sangue.
E le prime rose son presso le tue mani esangui,
le prime rose sbocciate in questa valle
di zolfo e d’ulivi, lungo i morti binari,
vicino ad acque gialle di fango
che i greci dissero d’oro. E noi d’oro
diciamo la tua vita, la nostra
che ci rimane – mentre le rondini
tramano coi loro voli la sera,
questa mia triste sera che è tua.

 

Tratto da Dalle parti degli infedeli

Ma perché meravigliarci della causalità
della casualità, di tutti gli assortimenti,
i ritorni, le ripetizioni, le coincidenze,
le speculari rispondenze tra realtà
e fantasia, le indefettibili circolarità
di cui è fitta la vita e ogni vita:
se rappresentano – ormai lo sappiamo –
il solo ordine possibile?”

Simple Symphony op. 4
Simple Symphony op. 4 is one of the best-known pieces by the English composer Benjamin Britten. Composed in 1934, when the composer was only twenty years old, it brings together eight themes from some earlier works and assembles them organically within a larger composition. The result is a fresh and delightful piece, which wisely balances the liveliness and irreverence typical of Britten’s youth and his taste for timbral mixtures, which will be the main feature of his later compositions.

The term “simple” refers to the clarity of the structure of the composition, which is also highlighted by the precise references that accompany the headings of the four movements, and certainly not to the ease of performance. A sort of connection between the historical forms of the symphony and the suite, the Simple Symphony was so well appreciated by the public and the critics right from its first public performance by an orchestra of amateurs in Norwich on 6 March 1934, conducted by the composer himself, that the piece found a permanent place in the concert programs of all the string orchestras in the world.

The Boisterous Bourrée is written in sonata form and is based on two themes taken from a piano suite of 1926 and a song of 1923. After four energetic “strappate” by the strings, two motifs intertwine in lively counterpoint: a descending scale of quavers (violins) and a ascending theme in semiquavers (cellos). The second theme, introduced by an obstinate pastoral rhythm, is a gentle, relaxed melody. An episode in pizzicato takes up and elaborates on the two previous motifs, then an orchestral crescendo leads to the Animato, in which the rhythm of the first theme is combined with the melody of the second theme. Afterwards, the discourse calms down and leads to a repeat of the first theme and a brief concluding coda.

The Playful Pizzicato, which is based on a Scherzo for piano from 1924 and a song from the same year, opens with a sort of continuous motion of sparkling quavers that flow happily from one section of the orchestra to the other, like a happy, carefree dance of elves. In the central Trio, the violas and basses set a heavy, regular rhythm, while the first and second violins display a motif with a purely countryside character. This is followed by a regular reprise of the first part and a brief concluding coda.

The next movement is the Sentimental Saraband, the main theme of which is taken from the third Suite for piano of 1925 and has almost the appearance of a sorrowful chorale performed by the entire orchestra. The second theme is taken from a piano waltz of 1923 and with its tender and delicate aspect contrasts strongly with the first theme. A dramatic reprise of the main theme, strong and with full orchestra, precedes an episode that breaks up the previous choral writing with wide steps in octave and ascending scales of quavers. The Coda, all in pianissimo, features the waltz theme for the last time.

The Frolicsome Finale features a rhythmic and vibrant first theme from the ninth piano sonata of 1926. The second theme is taken from a song of 1925. A development episode with a restless character precedes the regular reprise of the two themes and the coda Più presto.

English

Coincidenze by Britten, Scia, Beste Özçelebi, Livia Malossi, From (2021/2021), Conductor Hossein Pishkar, Teatro Mancinelli, Orvieto, Italy

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

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Programme, About & Synopsis

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