patrikpen: 1917 and Dante's 'Divine Comedy' in Music and Vision 4 luglio

1917 and Dante's 'Divine Comedy'

GIUSEPPE PENNISI samples the two themes
at this summer's Ravenna Festival

As I underlined two years ago (in 'An Imperial Festival', 11 June 2015), twenty eight years from its creation, the Ravenna Festival (25 May-22 July 2017) has become the Salzburg Festival's Italian rival. This year the Summer Festival features 160 performances from concerts with important conductors (ie Muti, Temirkanov, Bichkov, Valčuha and Dantone), ballet, old silent movies with new compositions to accompany them, experimental theatre and shows based on the Medieval approach of involving the whole city and its surrounding. The Summer Festival is followed in the Fall by a shorter manifestation called Symphony of the Autumn, three operas with the same director and a cast of young singers; this year the theme is verismo. In addition, in the beautiful Teatro Alighieri, there is a 'season' of operas and plays and in various settings, concerts often organized by the Byzantine Academy, which is known worldwide and has its headquarters in Ravenna. Ravenna is also home to museums and exhibits of figurative arts.

The Summer Festival always has a theme, but this year, two are intertwined. One is '1917', the year of the Russian Revolution, as seen by intellectuals and artists, initially enthusiastic about the new developments, but then in exile, in concentration camps or brought to commit suicide. The other is a six year program — one càntinca of the Divina Commedia per year — towards the seven hundredth anniversary of the death of Dante in Ravenna.

In the section dealing with the Russian Revolution, quite a sample of Russian 'futuristic' music theatre or movie theatre can be seen, including the first modern reconstruction of Aleksej Kručenych's opera Victory Over the Sun, shot in Finland in 1913, destroyed by the Soviets and patiently reconstructed through the joint effort of several Russian institutions in the last few years.

With such a large smorgasbord, I selected two sample performances, one from each of the two themes.

1917 is an atmosphere piece, seen and heard in the Teatro Alighieri on 28 June 2017. It is based on text by Majakovskij, Blok, Chlebnikov, Esenin, Gerśenzon and Pasternak, recited as a melologue by Agata Tomsic (author, with Davide Sacco, of the one act play).

A scene from '1917' at the Ravenna Festival. Photo © 2017 Zani Casadio

Meanwhile music by Shostakovich, Maćtet and de Geyter is played by the string quartet Noùs (Tiziano Baviera, Alberto Franchin, Sara Dambruoso and Tommaso Tesini).

Stylized animations (by Gianluca Sacco) are cast on the stage. This hour and a half show is expected to tour Italy. It provides a good picture of experimental and futuristic art in the very first phase of the Revolution. In the last scene, whilst the curtain falls, each and every author is shot by Stalin's police. The audience applauded and showed appreciation.

Inferno, seen on 29 June 2017, is the first part of a series on Dante's Divina Commedia. It was conceived by Marco Martinelli and Ermanna Montanari, who are also responsible for the stage direction. The music is by Luigi Ceccarelli, who worked in collaboration with the Conservatorio Latina. Sets are by Edoardo Sanchi and costumes by Paola Giorgi in collaboration with l'Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. There are about thirty performances, each for an audience of eighty. Music has a limited part in the play overall. There are a few professional actors but most are amateurs, selected through a public ban, to impersonate the huge number of characters Dante and his guide Virgilio meet during their travel to hell. Like a Medieval performance or a Majakovsky 'revolutionary play', the group meets at the monumental tomb of Dante and, in procession through the city center, recites the initial part of Dante's Inferno.

A scene from 'Inferno' at the Ravenna Festival. Photo © 2017 Silvia Lelli

When they reach the small Teatro Rasi, several episodes of Inferno are played, in various parts of the building, with the audience's participation. This is a fascinating experience, but also physically tiring.