PICTURES

INFORMATION

DATE:
6 JULY 2005
 

TIME: 21,15

PLACE:
Courtyard of Honour, Torrechiara Castle

PROGRAMME

B. BARTOK
(1881-1945)
Romanian Folk Dances

O. RESPIGHI
(1879-1936)
Ancient Dances & Airs for Lute - Suite n. 3

I. Italiana - II. Arie di corte
III. Siciliana - IV. Passacaglia

N. ROTA
(1911-1979)
Concerto for Strings

I. Preludio. Allegro ben moderato e cantabile
II. Scherzo. Allegretto comodo
III. Aria. Andante quasi adagio
IV. Finale. Allegrissimo
 

P.I. TCHAIKOVSKY

(1840-1893)

Serenade for strings Op. 48

I. Pezzo in forma di sonatina

II. Walzer - III. Elegia

IV. Finale (tema russo)

THE MAGGIO MUSICALE FIORENTINO STRINGS

Conductor: CARLO PIAZZA
Music by P.I. Tchaikovsky, N. Rota, O. Respighi, B. Bartok
 
FESTIVAL DI TORRECHIARA 2005

In the immensely wealthy artistic life of Florence music has always played a fundamental role, one only has to think of the first steps taken at the end of the 1500s in this very city in Tuscany towards the glorious tradition of melodrama in the work of the Camerata dei Bardi.
The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, is undoubtedly the cultural heart of music today, the oldest Italian Festival and one of the most prestigious in Europe, on a par with Bayreuth and Salzburg.
The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra, founded in 1928 by Vittorio Gui and from its inception in great demand for concerts and operas, is today one of the main European political institutions. Fundamental chapters in its history were the stable direction by Riccardo Muti between 1969 and 1981 and that of Zubin Mehta, principle conductor since 1985 and still in post. Working with conductors of such a high calibre has allowed the orchestra to consolidate its quality and flexibility so that it now enjoys a well deserved prestige comparable in Italy only to that of La Scala, Milan. In addition the Maggio Orchestra has established relationships with some of the major conductors on the world stage like Myung-Whun Chung and Semyon Bychkov, principal guest conductors in 1987 and 1992 respectively.
Known and appreciated internationally the Maggio’s Orchestra has, in the course of its history, been guided by some of the best conductors such as: Victor De Sabata, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Tullio Serafin, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Walter, Otto Klemperer, Erich and Carlos Kleiber, Artur Rodzinski, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Herbert Von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein, Thomas Schippers, Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, Carlo Maria Giulini, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Georges Prêtre, Georg Solti, Riccardo Chailly, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Seiji Ozawa.
Legendary artists like Maria Callas and “our” Renata Tebaldi (to whom the inaugural evening of the 68th Maggio Musicale will be dedicated with Puccini’s Tosca conducted by Zubin Mehta) as well as exceptional producers and designers such as Max Reinhardt and Gustav Gründgens, Giorgio De Chirico and Oskar Kokoschka, Luchino Visconti and Franco Zeffirelli, Luca Ronconi and Bob Wilson. Illustrious composers like Richard Strauss, Pietro Mascagni, Ildebrando Pizzetti, Paul Hindemith, Igor Stravinskij, Goffredo Petrassi, Luigi Dallapiccola, Luigi Nono, Krzysztof Penderecki and Luciano Berio have conducted their own works, often as world premieres, with the Maggio’s Orchestra.
From the Fifties on the Orchestra’s recordings have won many awards including Grammies, radio and television awards.
The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Strings is the initiative of several principal players from sections of the main orchestra to develop their chamber music activity and as such they’ve participated in numerous important national musical events.
This formation has enabled the members to understand how to deepen and, if possible, expand the important musical experience which has matured during years of playing within one of the most prestigious orchestral teams in the world. For their concert at Torrechiara Castle the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Strings will be conducted by Maestro Carlo Piazza and will perform a programme comprising several pieces which may be numbered among the masterpieces of music for strings from the 19th and 20th centuries.
 

Translation by Sarah J Hyde - www.thelanguage.biz
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