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4 Creative workshops that connect learning with production
CHIGIANA OPERALAB
In 2024, ChigianaOperaLab will produce two new productions:
DON PASQUALE by Gaetano Donizetti, as part of the Orchestra Conducting course dedicated to musical theater development led by Daniele Gatti, in collaboration with the Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, directed by Lorenzo Mariani (July 20 and 22, Teatro dei Rinnovati); and THE TURN OF THE SCREW by Benjamin Britten, with the students of the Singing course under William Matteuzzi. The opera will be staged with the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg, conducted by Kai Röhrig, and directed by Florentine Klepper (August 9 and 10, Teatro dei Rozzi).
The Chigiana OperaLab created within the scope of the Orchestral Conducting and Voice courses is a workshop dedicated to opera production thanks to the collaboration of Daniele Gatti and William Matteuzzi. The lab is geared towards young singers, conductors, directors e scenic designers, enabling them to work with ensembles and professionals in the field, with the goal of giving the students first-hand experience on stage. Chigiana OperaLab is an extraordinary work experience that unites educational goals with on-stage performance within the context of the Chigiana International Festival & Summer Academy.
Following the pilot experiences carried out in from 2018-2020 with the production of Il Trionfo del tempo e del disinganno by Händel, Il barbiere di Siviglia by Paisiello and La serva padrona by Pergolesi, starting in 2021 the Accademia Chigiana activated Chigiana OperaLab, to sustain the development of the activities dedicated to the production of opera within the courses of the Summer Academy.
The Chigiana OperaLab, born from the synergy between the Singing course held by William Matteuzzi and the Orchestra Conducting course led by Daniele Gatti with Luciano Acocella, involves the participation of prominent professionals in the field for the scenic part. Among them are director Lorenzo Mariani, set designer William Orlandi, light designers Roberto Venturi and Fabio Barettin, as well as young collaborators from the Verona Opera Academy and from the Accademia delle Belle Arti di Brera. The Chigiana OperaLab collaborates with the Orchestra Senzaspine di Bologna, a young orchestra in residence for the Orchestral Conducting course.
In 2021 the Chigiana OperaLab produced L’occasione fa il ladro, ovvero lo scambio della valigia by Gioachino Rossini. The opera was performed at the Teatro dei Rozzi on 6 and 7 August 2021, with two different casts and conducted by two students from the Orchestral Conducting course held by Daniele Gatti.
For the 2022 edition of the Chigiana International Festival & Summer Academy, Chigiana OperaLab produced Il Signor Bruschino, ossia il figlio per azzardo by Gioachino Rossini, a farce in one act with the libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa, taken from the comedy Le fils par hasard, ou Ruse et folie by Alissan de Chazet and Maurice Ourry, with the same artistic team as the previous year. The production will be staged again this year at the Teatro Duse in Bologna.
In 2023, Chigiana Opera Lab will produce two stagings with different opera labs: the first, within the Orchestral Conducting course, in collaboration with the Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, will be centered on works by Giuseppe Verdi (“La traviata”, “Rigoletto” e “Falstaff”, with performances on 31 July and 1 August at the Teatro dei Rinnovati), directed by Lorenzo Mariani. The second, within the Voice course held by William Matteuzzi, will engage the students of the course and culminate in the performance of Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda by Claudio Monteverdi and the farce Il campanello by Gaetano Donizetti (29 July, Teatro dei Rozzi), a partially staged representation directed by Cesare Scarton.
BAROQUELAB
BaroqueLab is a workshop dedicated to a production using period instruments in collaboration withithe Department of Early Music at the Mozarteum University Salzburg within the “Chigiana-Mozarteum Baroque Program”.
In 2021 the “Chigiana-Mozarteum Baroque Program” was launched as part of the advanced-level specialization courses of the Summer Academy at the Accademia Chigiana, an entire program dedicated to the study of the Baroque repertoire, the deepening of historically informed performance practice and the technical aspects of performance on period instruments. 5 courses: Singing, Harpsichord and basso continuo, Traverso, Oboe and Viola da gamba held by Andreas Scholl, Florian Birsak, Marcello Gatti, Alfredo Bernardini e Vittorio Ghielmi.
The2022 editionof the“Chigiana-Mozarteum Baroque Program” increases the number of courses to 8, adding courses in Violino, Violoncello e Recorder, held by Hiro Kurosaki, Marco Testori and Dorothée Oberlinger.
In 2022 BaroqueLab was launched with the performance of the Baroque opera La Senna festeggiante, Serenata a tre voci e orchestra by Antonio Vivaldi.
The Chigiana BaroqueOperaLab extends participation to other fields, such as direction, set design and costumes, and the various creative and technical skills (light designers, stage technicians …), collaborating with the Department of Opera and Musical Theater of the Mozarteum University of Salzburg and with guest professionals, in addition to the teachers already present.
COMPOSITION WORKSHOP
The composition workshop is geared toward students enrolled in the Composition course held by Salvatore Sciarrino. The workshop is a collaboration with the ensemble and artists in residence, the Quartetto Prometeo, Matteo Cesari, flute/flute in G and Paolo Ravaglia, clarinet/bass clarinet. At the end of the workshop selected original compositions created by the students will be performed in concert during the Chigiana International Festival & Summer Academy. A high-quality recording of the concert will be made.
LIVE ELECTRONICS WORKSHOP
The Creative workshop with Live electronics, dedicated to new intermedia languages, is geared towards students enrolled in the Live electronics. Sound & music computingcourse, held by Alvise Vidolin and Nicola Bernardini, in collaboration with the Laboratorio SaMPL at the Conservatorio di Musica “Cesare Pollini” di Padova. The workshop is for composers who intend to deepen their creative abilities working with live electronics in concert. The goal of the workshop is to create original compositions for solo instrumentalists with live electronics: the electronic part is created during the lessons and performed live by the students in concert, the instrumental or vocal part will be performed by the students of the courses of the Summer Academy at the Accademia Chigiana. In addition to the execution of the electronic parts, the problems of recording, processing and the spatialisation of live sounds will also be addressed as a function of the documentation work to be carried out in post production.