By Annalisa Coppolaro
A very fascinating composer, very well known for his Cavalleria Rusticana, but still with many precious sides to discover. Londra is tasting, thanks to the arrival of the Livorno Theatre Carlo Goldoni in the capital, some of the great arias and of the evocative, magical music by Pietro Mascagni (1863 –1945).
Le Donne di Mascagni, as this event at the Bottaccio in Grosvenor Place was called, has in fact attracted a large audience, not only Italian, for a different evening, spent discovering the maestro and also the theatre of Livorno, living today a new, exciting season.
The evening of November 14th started with a presentation of the Goldoni Theatre, whose directors told the story with the help of audiovisual material, showing the relation between the theatre and the town of Livorno. The figure of Pietro Mascagni was at the centre of this presentation, which was made both in Italian and in English, then the music started, with three important First Ladies of the theatre: two sopranos, Maria Billeri, winner of the International competition for Mascagni voices in 1985 and today a very appreciated singer, and Paola Cigna, a beautiful voice in the panorama of light-lyric repertoire. At the piano a young musician of the Fondazione Teatro Goldoni, Anna Cognetta.
The female soul has always been at the centre of Mascagni’s world, and his passionate, sensual, sometimes elegiac women are well-known to all those who like classical music of this period, the so-called verista time of Italian melodrama.
The program has started with the Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana and then, passing through pieces like the Aria della Piovra (from Iris), and Son Pochi Fiori from L’amico Fritz, ended with the extraordinary duet Atte-Egloge, where the two singers, Billeri and Cigna, have again shown their skills, verve and passion, always slightly ironical, in a musical period which still remains to be explored.
Mascagni’s work, which evolved from the intimism of the crepuscolari to the decadentism inspired by Gabriele D’Annunzio, then to Luigi Illica’s symbolism, then Verga’s naturalism, also included the fresh, light moods of operetta, and the large historical picture of Nerone (where the duet between the freed slave Atte and the dancer Egloge comes from).
Le Donne di Mascagni is part of a vast project dedicated to Mascagni, which started in the Nineties, to promote the life and works of the Tuscan composer. Last year, for example, a new production of Iris has received acclaim from audience and critics. It will be represented in many Italian theatres in 2008, with the direction of Federico Tiezzi and conduction of Lukas Karytinos.
The evening of November the 14th was, in fact, an occasion to meet Mascagni, but also an evening with fin-de-siècle atmosphere, with a touch of realism and Art nouveau, where the audience could savour good music, a taste of Livorno and also a good exotic buffet which was well appreciated by the many guests.
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