Fondazione Azzurra

Sunday October 16, 2011
3-6 pm

This intimate salon at the home of Randi and Harlan Steinberger will investigate Italian “melodrama”—perhaps best known today through such composers as Verdi. Melodrama was a mirror of the cultural, historical and social context of Italy’s Risorgimento, in the period surrounding unification in 1851.

Italy had been characterized by linguistic and political division for centuries, and the theater served as a unifying activity—a hub of social and public life, and of cultural unity. The genre of opera contributed decisively to the Italian unification process.

Libiamo will feature a talk by Ignazio Terrasi, Music Assistant Conductor at LA Opera, introducing the history of Melodrama, the social and political context of opera, and a live vocal performance by Valentina Fleer (Soprano), Alexey Sayapin (Tenor), and Nino Sanikidze (Piano).
 

Program:

3:00 Welcome Aperitivo
3:30 Lecture and Concert
5:00 Light Buffet by Obikà Mozzarella Bar
in collaboration with Grom and diSaronno

Music Program:

from La Traviata, Giuseppe Verdi: “Sempre Libera” (Soprano)
from Rigoletto, Giuseppe Verdi: “Parmi veder le lagrime” (Tenore)
from Lucia di Lammermoor, Gaetano Donizetti: “Duetto I Atto Lucia” (Duetto)
from Il Turco in Italia, Gioachino Rossini: “Turco in Italia Aria” (Soprano)
from La Bohème, Giacomo Puccini: “O Soave Fanciulla” (Duetto)
Vincenzo Bellini: “Vaga Luna che Inargenti” (Tenore)

Introduction By M° Ignazio Terrasi

In the Italy of the nineteenth century where the majority of the population was illiterate (80%), the novel and poetry were inevitably locked in a tight circle. The only artistic and immediate way to disseminate ideas was the theater. It constituted the most direct contact with the public and the most powerful way to influence society. In due proportion, the role of melodrama in the nineteenth century corresponds to that of  cinema in the first part of ‘twentieth-century, and to that of television today.

In the turbulent years in the middle of the 19th century, some aspects of cultural life, extend beyond the narrow scope of the regional or even national: in particular, the Opera House and the melodrama managed to speak to the entire peninsula and its different reality ‘with a common and potentially national language ‘ in Milan or Turin, as in Rome, Naples or Palermo.

Opera absorbed the atmosphere of the time regarding  the Risorgimento and soon became a vehicle for patriotic messages. Not all authors were willing to express explicit sympathy with the new Italian nationalism nonetheless the public of the nineteenth century was quick to seize upon any patriotic hint, whether hidden in a choir of “Norma”, or discovered in the ancient Babylon of  “Nabucco.”

It is  possible to show how the ideas of the Risorgimento shared among intellectuals through books and newspapers, were diffused at a popular level especially in opera an art form that celebrated patriotism in  the libretto and  the music itself.

The parallel development of a network of salons, clubs and lounges in Europe and then in Italy from the late eighteenth century onwards encouraged discussion and debate of political issues and the “Italian problem,” and it also favored the promotion of art, literature and music as vehicles for igniting patriotism.

The living room in the nineteenth century was a far richer environment than it generally is today:  it functioned like a great newspaper, where events of the day (in the news, politics, culture, painting, literature and music) were analyzed, discussed, debated. Very often this was done by the protagonists of the events themselves. At Maffei’s home one found all of  the leading figures of the time, from  Alessandro Manzoni to  Verdi, Mazzini, to Franz Liszt. These discussions favored the circulation of ideas and styles that had as common subject  the fate ‘of Italy.

Just as for France the Revolution of 1789 signaled the birth of modern France, so the “Italian Risorgimento” marked, the birth of modern Italy. From the beginning of the nineteenth century until the creation of a unitary state in 1861, the various literary musical and figurative languages  contributed decisively to the development of a national consciousness.

During the celebration of 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy, it seems appropriate to reflect on how music helped to delineate the character of the nation and encourage the tortuous process of forming a distinctively Italian identity.

Music and Italian Unification
by Cristiano Chiarot, Superintendent La Fenice Theater

Celebrations for the 150th anniversary of Italian Unification were moments of great reflection on Italian melodrama as the country’s sole unifying theatrical expression.
Even before the peninsula was politically united, no other type of spectacle managed to forge such a tight bond from north to south, east to west. One could even say that Italy has been united since the 1600s—by composers, singers, stage designers and musicians who created something new and original, whose operas, dances, and poetic texts achieved critical acclaim.  Exported abroad and imitated, even if subsequently overshadowed by the emergence of various nationalist operas, they nonetheless marked the starting point.

At the heart of this movement were the renowned theaters of Venice, the best in Europe and the ideal settings for the renewal of musical opera, even in unitary terms. Giambattista Selva’s great La Fenice Theatre (1792), although the last in line of the most important Venetian theatres, carried on this grand tradition.
When we revisit the famous patriotic scenes in Luchino Visconti’s film Senso, (based on the short story by Camillo Boito) we must not forget how the realities of actual history intertwined with artistic imagination in La Fenice’s contribution to national unity.
In fact, many of La Fenice’s artists contributed to Italian Unification through their sacrifices. Two in particular, General Secretary Guglielmo Brenna, arrested and imprisoned at the Spielberg prison in 1861 by the Austrians for his nationalist beliefs, and Francesco Maria Piave, Verdi’s great librettist who was exiled from Venice.

Furthermore, the theatre itself paid a high price for its support of national unity. From 1859 to 1866 La Fenice remained closed for 7 years, its longest period of inactivity, reopening only on November 8, 1866 for the reception of King Victor Emanuel II and once again to host Giuseppe Garibaldi on February 28, 1867.
However, La Fenice hosted five notable premieres (Ernani in 1844, Attila in 1846, Rigoletto in 1851, La Traviata in 1853 and Simon Boccanegra in 1857) of Giuseppe Verdi, the author who, more than any other, embodied the essential artist of the Italian Risorgimento. The operas he created for the Venetian stage followed one of two trajectories: either they encountered rigorous Austrian censorship (Rigoletto and La Traviata) or they triggered ample calls for insurrection (Ernani, Attila, Simone).
Verdi arrived at La Fenice shortly after his first success with Nabucco, performed in 1842 at La Scala in Milan. This opera established him not only as the new face in Italian musical composition but also as the artist/ symbol of unity for the Peninsula. The dramas written over the following sixteen years (the so-called “prison years”) helped boost his fame: through unforgettable melodies Verdi understood how to incarnate the sentiments and emotions of both individuals and the oppressed and miserable masses in need of liberation and redemption.

Verdi commandingly renewed popular topics to be set to music. Although he turned to common sources of French and German dramas, in addition to Shakespeare, he shaped the tales so as to sharply highlight the tragic struggle of an individual or a minority against an unjust and oppressive authority. Aware that the libertarian and patriotic aspects of his dramas played no small role in his success, he dedicated himself to the challenge of confronting the veto power of severe and relentless censorship.
Thanks to the power of his seductive melodies and musical selections (starting with Nabucco), Verdi gave a voice to the cry for national unification. His melodies unexpectedly at once gave credence to the literary text while simultaneously inscribing themselves in the audience’s memory and fooling the censors who had not anticipated such an “effect.”

The first sign of Verdi’s patriotic fervor goes back to 1848, on the occasion of the Five Days of Milan, when he wrote the following note to his librettist Francesco Maria Piave: Honor to these brave men! Honor to the whole of Italy which is truly great in this moment! The time has come for its liberation. The people want it: and when the people want it no absolutist power can stop it. [...] Yes, yes just a few more years or maybe just a few months and Italy will be one, free, a republic. [...] There is and there should only be one type of music beholden to Italian ears in 1848: the sound of the canon!

Verdi’s role as catalyst of ideals by means of his creative work was clear to everyone who came into contact with the foremost Italian musician.  To inaugurate the premiere of Un ballo in maschera in February of 1859, the walls of Rome were covered with the revolutionary acronym “Viva V.E.R.DI.” (an allusion to Victor Emanuel King [re] of Italy).
In November of 1859 the musician acted decisively in support of the independence movement, paying for 172 rifles out of his own pocket for the National Guard of Busseto, his native town. Over the years Verdi increasingly identified with Cavour’s political thought, leading Cavour to campaign for him to be elected senator to the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, a position Verdi confronted with reluctance and unease.

Italians are also indebted to Giuseppe Verdi for the selection of the national anthem. In 1862 he was asked to fine tune an Anthem of Nations to perform at the International Exhibition in London. The composer chose Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) also known as Il canto degli italiani (The Song of the Italians), composed in 1847 by two young Genovese men, Goffredo Mameli, poet, and Michele Novaro, musician to be played alongside God Save the Queen and the Marseillaise, thereby entrusting to this piece the charge of symbolizing the Italian homeland. It was only natural that at the end of the Second World War Fratelli d’Italia  became the anthem of the Italian Republic.

Ignazio Terrasi

A graduate of the Conservatory of Music (Giuseppe Verdi) of Milan where his focus was composition and music conducting. Mr. Terrasi began his career in Milan as conductor of the Pierluigi da Palestrina Orchestra and The Symphonic Orchestra (Milano Classica). He polished his conducting skills while building a repertoire that includes music from the Baroque period, through the music of the 20^th century and continuing to what would be considered contemporary music.

His education as a conductor continued under the guidance of Maestro Julius Kalmar and Maestro Sandro Gorli, each well-respected conductors working with the Divertimento Ensemble. It was at this time that he was offered to be the guest conductor of this well-known orchestra of contemporary music.

During the same period he met and served under the tutelage of Maestro James Conlon at the Opera National de Paris. This experience allowed him the opportunity to perform as an assistant conductor throughout Europe. A few of the many venues in which he has performed are The Communal Theatre of Florence with The Orchestra of the Musical May of Florence, The Theatre (alla Scala) in Milan, and with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome. His experience then took him to the United States where he performed at The Metropolitan Opera in New York City and at the Cincinnati May Festival. At this time in his career he was given the opportunity to collaborate with Maestro David Golub as an associate conductor for the 25^th and 26^th annual Festival of the Itria Valley in Martina Franca.

In September of 2000 Mr. Terrasi settled in Paris where was hired as a permanent musical assistant to The Opera National de Paris. It was here that he was able to work with some of the most relevant lyrical artists of the day including Rene Fleming, Placido Domingo, Leo Nucci, Angela Gheorghiu, Carol Vannesse, Joseph Van Dam, and Natalie Dessay. In addition to his work with The National Opera of Paris he found time to conduct various concerts with a well-known chamber orchestra in Paris.

In 2004 he acted as the principal conductor of various contemporary opera productions including the interactive opera Alma Sola, an opera produced in Paris in collaboration with IRCAM-Centre Pompidou and performed regularly in Paris and Ile-de-France.  In 2005 he was named principal conductor of The Paris Classique Orchestra.

Mr. Terrasi’s recording credentials include Le Rossignal and Renard for EMI Records, music that was recorded with The Opera National de Paris Orchestra, A. Zelinsky’s Der Traumgorge recorded with The Koln Philharmonic Orchestra, La fedelta premiate with the Padova Symphony Orchestra, and St Stanislaus with The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Ignazio Terrasi, since 2006 is a permanent resident of the United States and the principal assistant to Maestro James Conlon at The Los Angeles Opera Theatre. In 2008 he worked on the Los Angeles Opera production of The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahogany, a work that won a Grammy award for Best Classical Album and Great Performances.

Valentina Fleer, Soprano

Russian born soprano Valentina Fleer is in her first year of LA Opera’s Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program, where she will sing the roles of Barbarina (Le nozze di Figaro) under the baton of Plácido Domingo and Countess Ceprano (Rigoletto) under the baton of James Conlon, as well as cover the roles of Beatrice (Il Postino, cond. Grant Gershon), and Gilda (Rigoletto), Donna Fiorilla (Il Turco in Italia), and Miss Jessel (The Turn of the Screw) conducted by James Conlon.

Ms. Fleer is a recipient of a 2009 Sara Tucker Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. Most recently, she was invited to participate in the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera where she sang Adina in L’Elisir D’Amore.

In 2009-2010 Valentina sang the role of Anna Gomez in Menotti’s The Consul at Glimmerglass Opera, Catherine in Bolcom’s A View from the Bridge with the Vertical Player Repertory, and was a featured soloist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere of Alla Borzova’s Songs for Lada, conducted by Leonard Slatkin. She sang Gilda in Rigoletto with the New York Lyric Opera Theatre at Carnegie Hall (Weill) and Symphony Space. She also made her Carnegie Hall (Stern Auditorium) debut as Young Mary in the world premiere of Oh My Son, a contemporary work by composer Marcos Galvany.

In 2008 Valentina covered and performed the roles of Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi at Glimmerglass Opera, Sylvia in L’Isola Disabitata with Gotham Chamber Opera (directed by Mark Morris), and Marfa in The Tsar’s Bride with the Opera Orchestra of New York. She also appeared in a public master class with world-renowned director Jonathan Miller, portraying the role of Violetta in the last act of Verdi’s La Traviata.

Born in Moscow, Russia, Valentina she received both her Master’s Degree and Professional Studies Certificate from the Manhattan School of Music. In addition to being a Sara Tucker Grant recipient, she is also the second place winner of the 2009 Metropolitan Opera National Council Eastern Region, a winner of the 2009 Sullivan Foundation Encouragement Award, and a recipient of the 2008 and 2009 Career Bridges Grants.

Alexey Sayapin, Tenor

Russian tenor Alexey Sayapin is in his first year of the Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program of LA Opera.
Mr. Sayapin began his musical studies as an accordion student. In 2002, he won a scholarship at Saratov University to study psychology, although he remained very active with the Students Club as an amateur singer.

In 2003, Mr. Sayapin entered into the Saratov Conservatory of Music where he studied voice, initially as part of a two year preparatory course, and then subsequently as a full-time voice student.

The recipient of numerous awards, Mr. Sayapin was a semi- finalist in Plácido Domingo’s 2009 Operalia World Opera Competition and has received, among other prizes, Third Prize in the Elena Obraztsova International Competition of Young Opera Singers (2007, St. Petersburg); Second Prize in the Galina Vishnevskaya II International Opera Singing Competition (2008, Moscow); and First Prize in The International Competition of Tenors in Memory of Luciano Pavarotti (2008, St. Petersburg).

His repertoire includes, among many other roles, Alfredo in La Traviata, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Lensky in Eugene Onegin, and Vladimir in Prince Igor.

Nino Sanikidze, Pianist

Georgian pianist Nino Sanikidze has held the position of a Head Coach for the Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Pro- gram at Los Angeles Opera since the Programs’ inaugural 2006-07 season. She is the winner of several awards including the Marilyn Horne Foundation award for Excellence in Vocal Accompanying.

Dr. Sanikidze is an official pianist for Placido Domingo’s World opera Competition “Operalia” and has served as a panelist of the Classical Singer Convention and Spotlight Awards. Since summer 2004 she has been on the music staff of Bard Summerscape – a summer residency of the American Symphony Orchestra. She has also appeared with such prestigious festivals and Opera houses as Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Italy, Washington National Opera, Aspen Opera Center, Music Academy of the West, Wichita Grand Opera, Cleveland Art Song Festival and Songfest and has served as a Principal Guest Coach for USC Thornton School of Music.

Nino Sanikidze received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Maryland, College Park and is an alumna of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program at Washington National Opera.

Generous support for the event was kindly provided by: