Review: BELLINIANA in Catania, celebrated the 182nd anniversary of Vincenzo Bellini's death in the theater named after him.
By Natalia Di Bartolo –
Vincenzo Bellini was beautiful, we know, but few portraits worthily convey his delicate features permeated by genius. The unpublished portrait painted by the Catanese engraver and painter Francesco Di Bartolo (1826-1913) is one of these, but until now it had remained practically unknown to the people of Catania.
So seeing it stand out in the posters and in the background of the stage of the Teatro Massimo Bellini on 23 September 2017, as an identifying image of the Bellini Festival, was for many a discovery, for others the pleasant rediscovery of a certainty.
Two great people from Catania who fate wanted would ideally meet again on the occasion of the concert celebrating the 182nd anniversary of the musician's death in the theater named after him, an event which had been given the evocative title of "Belliniana".
The concert was promoted and organized by the Teatro Massimo Bellini with the support of MiBACT -Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism and Sicilian region.
The audience of enthusiasts, tourists and neophytes crowded the theater, attending, indeed with many expectations, the concert directed by Maestro Carmen Failla, leading the permanent orchestra of the theater and the choir, directed by Gea Garatti.
The musical event was structured to ideally celebrate the entire process of Bellini's production, starting with Symphony No. 4 in D major/minor, then moving on from La Sonnambula, to Il Pirata, to La Straniera, to I Capuleti e i Montecchi and I Puritani, ending with Norma's famous symphony.
The process, therefore, was neither short nor easy, since it touched on very well-known pieces, both symphonic and choral, which constitute a considerable testing ground for any production. Even more so if it is staged in the theater named after the Swan of Catania, with a large turnout of audiences, including foreign ones, also made up of many young people who were probably approaching great opera music for the first time.
We are certain, then, that Maestro Failla will take advantage of the difficult difficulties encountered by her, as by all conductors who try their hand at conducting Bellini, in simultaneously controlling tempos and dynamics, orchestral sections and overwhelming percussion, orchestra and choir. , which require a robust wrist and experience, not only feminine elegance and taste for an "accelerated" Bellini according to today's current standards.
The same goes for the Choir, from which, under the new direction of M° Garatti, it is desirable to hear appropriate colours, adequate volume and precision in the attacks.
All this even more so because the evening, which we hope will be followed by many others in the same vein, was intended to be a great party in honor of Bellini, rightly rich in famous music and not in archive refinements, in which even the the aforementioned young people could approach the genius' production thanks also to the low cost of the ticket, with a view to developing music in the area and opening up to private sponsors, strongly pursued by the management of the Catania theatre.
Quality matters as much as, if not more than, quantity and this is the objective we aspire to, combining management needs with the value of the product offered to the vast public that we intend to finally win over to great music in a great theatre. of tradition.
© Natalia Dantas
PHOTOS Giacomo Orlando, Gaetano Di Bartolo