The historical performances of the Teatro alla Scala through literature, criticism and the press
With this exhibition Pier Luigi Pizzi aims to demonstrate how much the intellectual elite’s thought has influenced every melodrama, as well as the collective perception of an era.
The great opera composers have always drawn their inspiration from the written word, whether it is literary, critical, or journalistic, because the result of their work is inseparable from the cultural, social and political context. In a similar way, from the post-war period onwards, even directors, choreographers, set designers and costume designers have begun to question themselves more and more about the relevance of the work to be staged, opening a cultural debate that in many cases has changed it forever. In fact, it is precisely the discussion process that shapes the taste of an era: the history of La Scala is also the history of this debate. An assiduous, stimulating and fruitful confrontation, born in the salons frequented by the greatest intellectuals of our country, continued in the press through the work of musicologists and journalists, to finally reach the stage of the theater which for centuries has served as a catalyst for these issues.
Exhibition curated by Pier Luigi Pizzi.
Gli spettacoli storici del Teatro alla Scala attraverso la letteratura, la critica e la stampa
Dopo aver illustrato con le due mostre precedenti la storia architettonica della Scala e la sua storia sociale – dalle grandi famiglie aristocratiche proprietarie dei palchi a quelle più recenti della grande borghesia industriale –, questa mostra a cura di Pier Luigi Pizzi riporta l’attenzione sul palcoscenico per raccontare come dietro a ogni melodramma si celi il pensiero dell’élite intellettuale, oltre che la coscienza collettiva di un’epoca.
Da sempre i grandi compositori d’opera attingono l’ispirazione dalla parola scritta, che sia letteraria, critica, o giornalistica, perché il frutto del loro lavoro è inseparabile dal contesto culturale, sociale e politico. In maniera analoga, dal dopoguerra in avanti, anche registi, coreografi, scenografi e costumisti hanno iniziato a interrogarsi sempre di più in merito all’attualità dell’opera da mettere in scena, aprendo un dibattito culturale che in molti casi ne ha cambiato per sempre la percezione.
Mostra a cura di Pier Luigi Pizzi.
Gallery
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