In compliance with the Prime Ministerial Decree of 24 October 2020, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna informs that all events open to the public are suspended until 24 November 2020. Therefore, the show “Bologna, history of a city from the Etruscans to today” by and with Giorgio Comaschi, scheduled in Sala Bibiena from 29 to 31 October, the meeting with Gabriele Lavia on 2 November entitled “Otello / Tradimenti” and the meeting with Debora Villa on 17 November entitled “The fables and the opera” scheduled in Foyer Rossini for the review “Parliamo d’Opera”, the new production of Verdi’s Otello directed by Gabriele Lavia and conducted by Asher Fisch, scheduled at PalaDozza from 11 to 18 November, and the symphonic concert on 22 November at PalaDozza, under the direction of Pinchas Steinberg and pianist Federico Colli, will be rescheduled to a later date.
HOSOKAVA | BEETHOVEN | ČAIKOVSKIJ
Pinchas Steinberg | Federico Colli, piano
Pinchas Steinberg
Critically acclaimed for his intense and profound interpretations of both operatic and symphonic repertoire, Pinchas Steinberg is one of the most important conductors performing today. He has distinguished himself for many years as a regular guest of the most prestigious opera houses and concert halls throughout Europe, and the United States.
Born in Brescia in 1988, Federico Colli studied at the Milan Conservatory, at the International Piano Academy of Imola and at the Mozarteum of Salzburg under the guidance of Sergio Marengoni, Konstantin Bogino, Boris Petrushansky and Pavel Gililov. In 2011 he received a ‘Grosso d’Argento’ from the mayor of his hometown of Brescia, in recognition of his artistic achievements. In 2014 Federico Colli was selected by International Piano Magazine as one of the “30 pianists under 30 who are likely to dominate the world stage in years to come”.
Program
TOSHIO HOSOKAWA
Erdbeben suite. Träume
New commission of the Royal Philharmonic Academy
First absolute performance
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Concerto for piano and orchestra n. 2 in B flat major op. 19
PËTR IL’IČ ČAIKOVSKIJ
Symphony n. 1 in G minor op. 13 “Winter dream”
ComposERS
Toshio Hosokawa
Erdbeben suite. Träume
New Commission of the Philharmonic Academy
First absolute performance
The libretto written by Marcel Beyer for the new work commissioned by the composer Toshio Hosokawa by Staatsoper Stuttgart is a present day adaptation from the novel Das Erdbeben in Chili by Heinrich von Kleist. The musical style of the work presents both oriental elements and typical Western compositional techniques, blended together creating an atmosphere of strong anguish. The result is a musical work of the highest level, able to engage and excite the listener.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Concerto for piano and orchestra n. 2 in B flat major op. 19
Year of composition: 1795
Movements:
- Allegro con brio
- Adagio
- Rondo: Molto allegro
The second concerto is a perfect testimony of music of the time, still affected by the influences of Haydn and Mozart. In the first half, the orchestra begins with a dense sound and a typically Mozartian theme. A few bars that serve as an introduction, leaving room for the strings with a constant succession of quatrains that create a compact base sound. The entire first half is malleable and almost waiting for a solution that is delayed by the piano, which dominates unchallenged. The driving force of the pianist and the drama of his solos in this concert is an explanation of the composer’s desire to create an intimate and not very incisive sound scaffold.
Pëtr Il'ič Čajkovskij
Symphony n. 1 in G minor op. 13 “Winter dream”
Year of composition: 1866/1868
First performance: Russian Music Society, Moscow, February 3, 1868
Movements:
- Allegro tranquillo
- Adagio cantabile ma non tanto
- Scherzo: Allegro scherzando, giocoso
- Finale: Andante lugubre
That of the Prima Sinfonia is a twenty-six-year-old Tchaikovsky, halfway between school education and the desire to fly with his own wings, so personal and nonconformist. Almost all of Tchaikovsky’s orchestral music seems guided by an internal narrative thread: the course of the music does not sound fragmentary, but guided by extramusical stimuli that alternate, contrasting, as in a drama of conscience. What Tchaikovsky gives us, however, in this case is a “climate” produced through the repeated citation of popular motifs, which for the Russian listener will evoke an air of familiarity, while for the listener they sound like a “winter dream”. The passions that unfold one after the other are without place and without time: purely human, divinely engaging.
ORCHESTRA OF THE TEATRO COMUNALE DI BOLOGNA
With its long-standing tradition, the Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna has been led by Musical Directors like Sergiu Celibidache, Zoltán Peskó, Vladimir Delman, Riccardo Chailly, Daniele Gatti, Michele Mariotti. Some of the conductors who have worked with the ensemble include Gary Bertini, Myung-Whun Chung, James Conlon, Pinchas Steinberg, Valery Gergiev, Eliau Inbal, Vladimir Jurowskij, Daniel Oren, Peter Maag, Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti, Mstislav Rostropovič, Esa Pekka Salonen, Georg Solti, Christian Thielemann, Charles Dutoit, Georges Prêtre. The Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale is often invited abroad (The Netherlands, Romania, Spain, France, and Switzerland) and has played in many prestigious festivals (Amsterdam 1987, Parma 1990, Wiesbaden 1994, Santander 2004 and 2008, Aix en Provence 2005, Savonlinna 2006, Macao 2013, Muscat 2015, Guanajuato in Mexico 2017, Paris 2018). A special connection with Japan has brought to several tours, including the tour in June 2019 in Osaka, Tokyo, Yokohama, Fukuoka, with performances of Rigoletto directed by Alessio Pizzech, and of Il Barbiere di Siviglia directed by Federico Grazzini.
Its numerous recordings include La Favorite conducted by Richard Bonynge; Oberto Conte di San Bonifacio conduted by Zoltán Peskó, Il Barbiere di Siviglia conducted by Giuseppe Patané, La Fille du Régiment conducted by Bruno Campanella, Le Maschere and La Bohème conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti, La Scala di Seta conducted by Gabriele Ferro, Macbeth, Manon Lescaut, Rigoletto, La Cenerentola, Messa Solenne, and the video production of Vespri siciliani and Giovanna d’Arco and Werther conducted by Riccardo Chailly, Armide conducted by Daniele Gatti, Simon Boccanegra conducted by Michele Mariotti.
The Orchestra, conducted by Michele Mariotti, has recorded a CD under the label Decca with sacred arias sung by Juan Diego Flórez, and an album under Sony with Romantic arias sung by Nino Machaidze. Under Deutsche Grammophon the Orchestra recorded Le Comte Ory with Flórez, and La Nuit de Mai – a selection or arias and songs by Leoncavallo – with Placido Domingo. Under the label PENTATONE it recently released a CD containing overtures by Rossini, to celebrate 150 years since the death of the composer.
In March 2013 the artistic ensembles of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, led by Michele Mariotti, opened the IV International Festival Mstislav Rostropovich in Moscow, where they performed Verdi’s Messa da Requiem. In October 2015, again with Michele Mariotti on the podium, they opened the Lingotto Music Festival at the Auditorium Giovanni Agnelli in Turin, where they performed Stabat Mater by Rossini, and his Overture and Ballet Music from Guillaume Tell.
After working with the Rossini Opera Festival for nearly thirty years (from 1988 to 2016), the year 2017 brought new collaborations between the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and the Verdi Festival in Parma, where the Orchestra performed, among other productions, the Stiffelio directed by Graham Vick. Staged at the Teatro Farnese, the show was highly appreciated by audience and critics alike and was granted the Special Prize at the 37th edition of the “Franco Abbiati” Critics award. The Orchestra’s engagements with the Verdi Festival for the Fall of 2019 include Luisa Miller at the Chiesa di San Francesco del Prato in Parma, and Aida at the Teatro Verdi in Busseto.
The Teatro Comunale’s 2018 production of La Bohème staged by Graham Vick received the Abbiati Award as best show.