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ORCHESTRA ACCADEMICI DE LA FENICE
ORCHESTRA ACCADEMICI DE LA FENICE DI VENEZIA
CARLO PIAZZA,
Conductor
Music by L. van Beethoven, F.J. Haydn
FESTIVAL DI TORRECHIARA 2007
Continuing
the tradition of recent years, where instrumental groups representing
major Italian musical institutions (such as the Teatro alla Scala
and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino) grace its stage, tonight the festival
hosts the Orchestra Accademici de La Fenice di Venezia. This
orchestra was brought into being by the famous Venetian opera house
with the intention of playing the most important pieces in the symphonic-choral
and chamber repertoires at major concerts.
The ensemble consists of members of the Orchestra of La Fenice theatre
which, during the course of its glorious history, has been conducted
by renowned maestri like Vittorio Gui, Richard Strauss, Dimitri Mitropulos
and, in more recent times, Herbert von Karajan, Karl Böhm, Claudio
Abbado, Riccardo Muti and Georges Prêtre.
Under the baton of maestro Carlo Piazza, the orchestra will
perform Symphony no. 104 in D Major “London” by Franz Joseph Haydn
and Symphony no. 7 in A Major Op. 92 by Ludwig van Beethoven, great
classical works by composers in the full flood of their artistic maturity,
which have in common a dance-like motif that characterises movements
of both symphonies, in Haydn’s resolving in typical irony and playfulness
and assuming a more virile and majestic character in the Beethoven.
The Gran Teatro La Fenice is Venice’s principal opera house
and one of the most important and well-known world wide.
Inaugurated in 1792 La Fenice immediately became the official theatre
of Venetian aristocracy and assumed absolute pre-eminence in the lagoon
city, preserving for itself the most prestigious genre of that era,
opera seria.
During the following century the theatre was the venue for numerous
first performances of operas by the most important Italian composers,
including Tancredi (1813) and Semiramide (1823) by Rossini,
I Capuleti e i Montecchi (1830) and Beatrice di Tenda
(1833) by Bellini, Ernani (1843), Attila (1846),
Rigoletto (1851), La Traviata (1853) and Simon Boccanegra
(1857) by Verdi.
Throughout the 19th century a succession of superb voices were heard
on this Venetian stage: Isabella Colbran (Rossini’s wife), Carolina
Ungher, Giuseppina Strepponi (Verdi’s companion), Rosina Storchio,
Erminia Frezzolini, Francesco Tamagno, as well as the public’s favourite
prima donnas: Giuditta Grisi, Giuditta Pasta and Maria Malibran.
Outstanding voices continued to be heard in the early 20th century:
Mariano Stabile, Aureliano Pertile, Toti Dal Monte, Gina Cigna, Mafalda
Favero and Tito Schipa to mention just a few.
Following the Second World War Venice found itself playing the role
of grand international tourist destination and thus also a prestigious
world-class stage. Dominating the Fenice’s stage were Renata Tebaldi
and Maria Callas, as well as Giulietta Simionato, Boris Christoff,
Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, Sesto Bruscantini, Maria Caniglia, Magda Oliviero,
Franco Corelli, Alfredo Kraus, Giacomo Lauri-Volpi, Joan Sutherland,
Renata Scotto, Carlo Bergonzi, Fiorenza Cossotto, Gianni Raimondi,
Ruggero Raimondi, Leyla Gencer, Teresa Berganza, Luciano Pavarotti,
Monserrat Caballé, Mirella Freni, Katia Ricciarelli, Marilyn Horne
and Lella Cuberli. One of the most important artistic highlights since
the Biennial of 1930 has been the collaboration between La Fenice
and the International Festival of Contemporary Music. It is the connection
between these institutions that we have to thank for the presentation
of several works which are fundamental to the history of the second
half of the 20th century, including The rake’s progress (1951)
by Stravinsky, The Turn of the Screw (1954) by Britten,
The Angel of Fire (1955) by Prokofiev, Hyperion (1964)
by Maderna, Le metamorfosi di Bonaventura (1966) by Malipiero,
Intolleranza (1960) and Prometeo (1984) by Nono.
Like the
mythical bird from which it takes its name, the Gran Teatro La Fenice
has risen from the ashes several times: 13th December 1836 was the
first time it was devastated by a fire and reconstructed at great
speed. On 29th January 1996 arson destroyed the theatre yet again.
The whole world wept at the loss of one of its most beautiful theatres,
with its extraordinary acoustic and position as a major force in Italy’s,
indeed Europe’s, operatic, musical and cultural life.
The theatre was rebuilt in its former style in about eight years.
The grand re-opening took place on 14th December 2003 with a concert
conducted by Riccardo Muti and the celebrations lasted a week.
Opera returned to the Gran Teatro La Fenice in November 2004 with
La Traviata, the opera which was premiered at that very theatre
in 1853.
Translation
by Sarah J Hyde -
www.thelanguage.biz
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