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L'ENSEMBLE DEGLI INTRIGATI IN GERMANIA PER IL PROGETTO "BEFREIUNG"
Nel 2025 l’Ensemble degli Intrigati sarà tra i protagonisti di Befreiung, un oratorio europeo per la pace ideato dal compositore Marc Sinan, in occasione dell’80° anniversario della fine della Seconda guerra mondiale. La Fondazione Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte, oltre ad aver reso possibile la nascita e supportato la crescita artistica dell'ensemble, è parte attiva del progetto attraverso il sostegno alla produzione e il coinvolgimento diretto di artisti del proprio territorio, consolidando così la propria vocazione europea e il dialogo culturale tra memoria e contemporaneità.
Il progetto, che coinvolge artisti e ensemble da sei Paesi, si fonda su testimonianze reali di sopravvissuti alla Shoah e riflessioni sul significato della liberazione. Le esecuzioni si terranno in alcune delle principali città tedesche – tra cui Amburgo e Berlino – in collaborazione con istituzioni culturali e memoriali dedicate alla storia del Novecento.
L’Ensemble degli Intrigati rappresenterà l’Italia accanto a realtà internazionali come Ensemble Reflektor (Germania), Ensemble C Barré (Francia), Społdzielnia Muzyczna (Polonia), Ensemble Metamorphosis (Serbia), Neue Vocalsolisten (Germania) e Marc Sinan Company, sotto la direzione musicale di Andrea Molino.
A cura di: Marc Sinan
Con Neue Vocalsolisten, Ensemble Reflektor (Germania), Ensemble C Barré (Francia), Ensemble degli Intrigati (Italia), Ensemble Metamorphosis (Serbia), Społdzielnia Muzyczna (Polonia), Marc Sinan Company (Germania)
Composizione e drammaturgia: Marc Sinan
Direzione musicale: Andrea Molino
Libretto: Khitam Hussein, Holger Kuhla, Mareike Lehne, Marc Sinan
Concept visivo: Johanna Diehl, Raphael Sbrzesny
Direzione coro: Anne Michael
Direzione del suono: Volker Greve
Produzione: YMUSIC
Assistenza musicale: Marc Ferrum
Assistenza al progetto: Oke Scheel
Finanziato dal Ministero della Cultura e dei Media di Amburgo e dalla Ilse and Dr. Horst Rusch Foundation.
Un progetto congiunto di Marc Sinan Company, Foundation of Hamburg Memorials and Learning Centres, St. Nikolai Memorial, Friedensfest Augsburg, Kampnagel e YMUSIC.
Una produzione di YMUSIC, in collaborazione con la Corale Poliziana, il Coro Giovanile della Valdichiana (diretto da Judy Diodato) e la Fondazione Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte di Montepulciano.
Ensemble degli Intrigati
L’Ensemble degli Intrigati, organico specializzato nel repertorio d’avanguardia, si è strutturato nell’ambito della residenza artistica Camere Contemporanee, finalizzata alla promozione dei nuovi linguaggi musicali, propiziata dalla Fondazione Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte in collaborazione con l’Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
Il suo nome trae origine dalla storica associazione culturale “Accademia degli Intrigati” di Montepulciano, il cui emblema e motto – “è il miglior ordine mio l’essere confuso” – è ancora impresso sulla facciata del Teatro Poliziano.
Dopo il debutto al 42° Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte, l’ensemble si è esibito al Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, ad Arezzo, presso l’Università di Siena, a Pistoia e nel 2019 a Bruxelles, all’Istituto Italiano di Cultura. Ha partecipato a progetti speciali come 8x8, con musiche ispirate alla mappatura delle architetture monumentali poliziane.
Nel 2021 ha vinto il primo premio al concorso “Residenzensemble für Neue Musik” della Musikakademie di Rheinsberg (Germania), diventando ensemble in residenza per la nuova musica. Nel 2022 si è aggiudicato il primo premio al Festival Atemporanea (Argentina) e ha debuttato al Festival “Nuova Consonanza” di Roma. Nel 2024 ha preso parte alla rassegna “Scatola Sonora” nell’ambito dei Concerti della Normale di Pisa.
Concepito come organico modulare e versatile, l’Ensemble promuove un repertorio che valorizza le molteplici declinazioni della musica contemporanea, alternando nuove commissioni a capolavori del Novecento. Dal 2024 il Direttore Musicale dell’Ensemble è Andrea Molino.
Crediti foto: ensembleintrigati.it
DAVID HORVITZ FIRMA IL MANIFESTO DEL 50° CANTIERE INTERNAZIONALE D'ARTE
L’artista californiano, esposto tra gli altri al MoMA di New York e alla Tate Modern di Londra, ha creato un’opera potente e simbolica in quest’anno straordinario, che afferma il prestigio culturale della manifestazione. Dall’11 al 27 luglio 2025, in tutto il territorio di Montepulciano e della Valdichiana senese, si articolerà il programma della prossima edizione del Cantiere è stato presentato durante la Conferenza Stampa di giovedì 17 aprile al Museo Teatrale alla Scala, alla presenza della Direttrice Artistica Mariangela Vacatello, la Presidente della Fondazione Cantiere Sonia Mazzini insieme alla delegazione del comune di Montepulciano formata dal sindaco Michele Angiolini e l'assessora Lara Pieri.
David Horvitz
Nato nel 1981 a Los Angeles, dove attualmente vive e lavora, David Horvitz è un artista concettuale che esplora con sensibilità e ironia i temi del tempo, della distanza, della comunicazione e del linguaggio. La sua pratica attraversa media diversi, dalla fotografia ai libri d’artista, dalle performance agli interventi digitali, dall’arte postale al suono ambientale1.
Ha studiato presso l’Università della California e la Waseda University di Tokyo, completando nel 2010 un Master of Fine Arts alla Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts del Bard College2. Le sue opere sono state presentate in prestigiose istituzioni internazionali, tra cui il Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) e il New Museum di New York, il Palais de Tokyo di Parigi, l’HangarBicocca di Milano, il San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) e la Tate Modern di Londra3.
Tra i suoi lavori più noti si ricordano Public Access (2010), intervento online legato a Wikipedia che riflette sul concetto di accessibilità e immagine pubblica, e The Distance of a Day (2013), un’installazione video che mette in dialogo simultaneo due luoghi opposti del mondo attraverso il movimento del sole4. Nel 2016 ha fondato Porcino, uno spazio sperimentale per artisti all’interno della galleria ChertLüdde di Berlino5.
Fonti:
【1】ChertLüdde – Profilo artista
【2】Wikipedia – David Horvitz
【3】Mostre confermate su ChertLüdde, MoMA, Palais de Tokyo e Wikipedia
【4】Art in America (2013), ChertLüdde
【5】ChertLüdde – Porcino project
ISTITUTO DI MUSICA H. W. HENZE: ANNUNCIATE LE BORSE DI STUDIO 2024/25
Domenica 11 maggio 2025, alle ore 17.30, agli ex-Macelli di Montepulciano, torna l’appuntamento con il Concerto delle Borse di Studio dell’Istituto di Musica “Hans Werner Henze”.
Sarà un pomeriggio speciale, aperto alla cittadinanza, pensato per festeggiare insieme la conclusione di un anno scolastico ricco di impegno, crescita e passione. Sul palco si alterneranno le allieve e gli allievi premiati con le borse di studio, assegnate dall’Istituto per valorizzare il merito, il talento e il percorso artistico di ciascuno e ciascuna. Il concerto offrirà un programma variegato: dai brani solistici alle performance di ensemble, con incursioni nel repertorio classico e in quello contemporaneo. Un’occasione per ascoltare da vicino il lavoro svolto durante l’anno e per sostenere il futuro musicale delle nuove generazioni. Ingresso a 5 euro, un modo per condividere la bellezza della musica in un contesto accogliente e familiare, nel segno della comunità e della partecipazione.
Ecco le vincitrici e i vincitori delle borse di studio dell'Istituto di Musica H. W. Henze per l’anno scolastico 2024/2025.
Miglior Allievo
Irene Cencetti – Arpa
Prof.ssa Elisa Frandi
Miglior Allievo più piccolo
Lucile Long Collot – Pianoforte
Prof. Matteo Guasconi
Enea Pagliai – Batteria
Prof. Andrea Di Cintio
Andrea Zamperini – Tromba
Prof. Alessandro Paolucci
Sezione Pianoforte, Organo e Fisarmonica
Davide Calvarese – Pianoforte
Prof. Massimiliano Cuseri
Sezione Archi
Elena Mary Pulimoottil Sunil – Violino
Prof. Laurence Cocchiara
Sezione Fiati
Chiara Cipriani – Clarinetto
Prof. Giampiero Allegro
Sezione Canto lirico e moderno
Cloe Luciano – Canto moderno
Prof.ssa Chiara Franceschelli
Sezione Arpa, Chitarra classica e Percussioni
Sauro Casucci – Chitarra classica
Prof. Pier Francesco Manneschi
Sezione Strumenti Moderni
Marco Rosignoli – Chitarra elettrica
Prof. Diego Perugini
Sezione Musica da camera
Ensemble ForteHarps
Andrea Allegrini, Amina Fasoli, Sara Bertoneri – Arpe
Beatrice Chechi, Emma Mia Trenkova – Pianoforte
Prof.ssa Elisa Frandi
Prof. Lorenzo Magi
Sezione Gruppi Rock–Pop–Jazz
Harmony Vibes
Costanza Valli – Voce
Giacomo Ciacci – Chitarra
Bernardo Battistoni – Tastiera
Marco Rosignoli – Basso elettrico
Edoardo Sabatini – Batteria
Filippo Turchi – Elettronica
Prof. Andrea Di Cintio
Attestato di merito Miglior Allievo Adulto
Chiara Biagiotti – Pianoforte
Prof. Lorenzo Magi
Premi speciali
Maria Vittoria Contucci – Clarinetto
Prof. Giampiero Allegro
Watermelon Band
Lorenzo Capitoni – Sax alto
Lino Vaccari – Tromba
Ginevra Pasqui – Pianoforte
Martina Mascelloni – Basso elettrico
Arturo Bove – Batteria
Prof.ssa Silvia Freguglia
Giovani violini sarteanesi
Jasmine Bansal, Caterina De Palo, Petra Fei, Irina Francesca Mula, Sofia Nizzi, Emiliano Nocchi, Romeo Rossi, Paolo Tistarelli, Anna Vallinoti
Prof.ssa Chiara Giorgi
Gabriele Cavalletti – Violoncello
Simone Paddeu – Flauto
Megghi Maria Abgaryan – Canto moderno
Prof.ssa Cecilia Brunori
AriaNova – Gruppi Moderni
Andrea Cavalletti, Simone Paddeu – Flauti
Chiara Cipriani, Maria Vittoria Contucci – Clarinetti
Arturo Bove, Davide Calvarese – Sassofoni contralti
Riccardo Mazzini, Lino Vaccari – Trombe
Lapo Peruzzi, Andrea Capuano – Tromboni
Martina Mascelloni – Basso elettrico
Edoardo Sabatini – Batteria
Prof. Alessandro Paolucci
Anna Bronco – Chitarra classica
Prof. Francesco Manneschi
Premio “Emiliano Pallassini”
Arda Zefiri – Gruppi Moderni
Filippo Turchi – Chitarra e voce
Arturo Greco – Sax
Riccardo Liam Iacoviello – Chitarra elettrica
Daniel Abgaryan – Tastiere
Zeno Vella – Batteria
Prof. Diego Perugini
Menzioni speciali
Davide Bindi – Pianoforte
Prof.ssa Lilit Khachatryan
Ayame Farina – Clarinetto
Prof. Giampiero Allegro
Amina Fasoli – Arpa
Prof.ssa Elisa Frandi
Camilla Peccetti – Clarinetto
Prof. Alessandro Paolucci
Lisa Peruzzi – Violoncello
Prof.ssa Catherine Daniela Bruni
Maria Vittoria Romani – Violino
Prof. Laurence Cocchiara
Greta Tardani – Violino
Prof. Laurence Cocchiara
Opening Act in Piazza Grande: the traditional "Concerto di Apertura"
ORCHESTRA DELLA TOSCANA
Angela Tempestini
violino
Alexander Lonquich
direttore
VENERDÌ 12 LUGLIO
ORE 21:30
Felix Mendelssohn - Bartholdy
(1809 - 1847)
Concerto per violino in mi minore op. 64
Allegro molto appassionato
Andante
Allegretto non troppo. Allegro molto vivace
Franz Schubert
(1797 - 1828)
Sinfonia n. 6 in do maggiore "Die Kleine", D. 589
Adagio. Allegro
Andante
Scherzo: Presto. Più lento
Allegro moderato
CONCERTO DI APERTURA
Il Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte inaugura l'edizione numero 49 con la presenza dell'Orchestra della Toscana, con la quale si rinnova una fruttuosa e lunga collaborazione. Sul podio Alexander Lonquich e solista la giovanissima violinista Angela Tempestini, nomi che annunciano una nuova ulteriore partnership con la Scuola di Musica di Fiesole, che rafforza una delle priorità del Cantiere di Montepulciano, ovvero il sostegno ai giovani ed alla didattica.
Il programma della serata è un dipinto musicale che cattura l'essenza del romanticismo. L'energia travolgente e la virtuosistica scrittura violinistica del concerto di Mendelssohn ci conducono in una danza appassionata, che si scioglie nella magica tranquillità della "Die Kleine", "La piccola" di Schubert, dove ci imbattiamo in un'atmosfera più intima e contemplativa, che incanta con la sua semplicità.
OPENING CONCERT
The Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte inaugurates the 49th edition in the presence of the Orchestra della Toscana, with which a fruitful and long collaboration is renewed. On the podium Alexander Lonquich and violin soloist the very young Angela Tempestini, names that announce a further new partnership with the Fiesole School of Music and reinforces one of the priorities of the Montepulciano Cantiere, namely the support for young people and teaching. The evening's program is a musical painting that captures the essence of romance. The overwhelming energy and virtuosic violin writing of Mendelssohn's concerto lead us into a passionate dance, which melts into the magical tranquility of Schubert's "Die Kleine". Here we encounter a more intimate and contemplative atmosphere , which enchants with its simplicity.
The Opera at the 49° Cantiere: El Retablo de Maese Pedro
IMÁGENES ERRANTES
All’inizio e alla fine del Tomo I del Don Quijote, Cervantes inserisce alcuni sonetti, come era di tradizione nella letteratura picaresca dell’epoca, tutti dedicati ai personaggi principali del romanzo ed accomunati da uno sferzante senso ironico e comico.
E’ lo sguardo dell’autore che, divertendosi a scherzare sulle sue stesse creature, osserva criticamente il suo tempo: un’epoca durante la quale il Rinascimento inizia a sciogliersi in una nuova e differente realtà storica che si porta via l’uomo unitario e senza fratture dell’antichità.
Per Imágenes errantes ne ho selezionati tre, ognuno dei quali dedicato rispettivamente ai personaggi più importanti del romanzo: Don Quijote, Sancho Panza e Rocinante.
Cervantes, tuttavia, non parla in prima persona ma attraverso le voci di altri protagonisti della letteratura spagnola della sua epoca che lui sceglie per fare da portavoce nel suo gioco ironico.
In particolare, si tratta di Don Belianís de Grecia, protagonista dell’epopea più famosa di Jeronimo Fernández de la Mata, scrittore di poco precedente, che recita un’improbabile ode a Don Quijote; Babieca, la cavalla ‘babbea’ di El Cid, che disquisisce col ‘collega’ Rocinante delle infami condizioni della loro professione e di un non ben identificato soggetto, il Burlador academico argamasillesco, che ci racconta dei sogni e delle disavventure di Sancho Panza.
L’atmosfera è carnevalesca, tutto è a capo l’ingiù, e questa ‘trinità’ bizzarra si fa simbolo e simulacro della follia che, come disse Erasmo da Rotterdam, è ’l’unica cognizione positiva sul vuoto della vita’.
Don Quijote è il folle che ci fa saggi e i suoi compari lo accompagnano in questo cammino sui e ai margini; è colui che vuole riformare la realtà, la caricatura dell’utopia destinata al fallimento, è la metafora del creativo in un’epoca in cui la creatività è ridotta all’agonia da protesi tecnologiche progettate per alimentare il delirio narcisistico individuale e gli automatismi del sistema del consumo.
Imagenes errantes è la ‘sonorizzazione’ di questo mondo carnevalesco il cui protagonista principale mi è particolarmente caro e risuona in me come un lontano affetto; un irriducibile radicale dell’etica dotato di grande resilienza e, come immaginava Orson Welles, resistente persino alla bomba atomica.
Probabilmente la pervasività di Don Quijote nel linguaggio e nell’immaginario collettivo suggerisce che il suo significato va a toccare le profondità primordiali dell’essere umano e ciò, forse, ci fa pensare che in ognuno di noi ci sia un po’ di Don Quijote...
(Stefano Pierini)
IMÁGENES ERRANTES
At the beginning and end of Volume I of Don Quixote, Cervantes inserts some sonnets, as was the tradition in the picaresque literature of the time, all dedicated to the main characters of the novel and united by a scathing sense of irony and comedy.
It is the gaze of the author who, having fun joking about his own creatures, critically observes his time: an era during which the Renaissance begins to dissolve into a new and different historical reality that takes away unitary man and without fractures of antiquity.
For Imágenes errantes I selected three, each dedicated respectively to the most important characters of the novel: Don Quixote, Sancho Panza and Rocinante.
Cervantes, however, does not speak in the first person but through the voices of other protagonists of Spanish literature of his era who he chooses to act as spokespersons in his ironic game.
In particular, we are talking about Don Belianís de Grecia, protagonist of the most famous epic by Jeronimo Fernández de la Mata, a slightly earlier writer, who recites an unlikely ode to Don Quixote; Babieca, El Cid's 'silly' mare, who discusses with her 'colleague' Rocinante the infamous conditions of their profession and an unidentified subject, the Argamasillesque academic Burlador, who tells us about the dreams and misadventures of Sancho Panza.
The atmosphere is carnival-like, everything is upside down, and this bizarre 'trinity' becomes a symbol and simulacrum of madness which, as Erasmus of Rotterdam said, is 'the only positive cognition about the emptiness of life'.
Don Quixote is the madman who makes us wise and his cronies accompany him on this journey and to the edges; he is the one who wants to reform reality, the caricature of utopia doomed to failure, he is the metaphor of creative talent in an era in which creativity is reduced to agony by technological prostheses designed to fuel individual narcissistic delirium and the automatisms of the system of consumption.
Imagenes errantes is the 'sound version' of this carnival world whose main protagonist is particularly dear to me and resonates in me like a distant affection; an irreducible ethical radical endowed with great resilience and, as Orson Welles imagined, resistant even to the atomic bomb.
Probably the pervasiveness of Don Quixote in language and in the collective imagination suggests that its meaning touches the primordial depths of the human being and this, perhaps, makes us think that there is a bit of Don Quixote in each of us. ..
(Stefano Pierini)
el RETABLO
“Cos'è la vita? Delirio.
Cos'è la vita? Illusione, appena chimera ed ombra, e il massimo bene è un nulla, ché tutta la vita è sogno, e i sogni, sogni sono.”
Calderon de la Barca
“È Maya, il velo ingannatore, che avvolge gli occhi dei mortali e fa loro vedere un mondo del quale non può dirsi né che esista, né che non esista; perché ella rassomiglia al sonno, rassomiglia al riflesso del sole sulla sabbia, che il pellegrino da lontano scambia per acqua”
Schopenhauer
“Quella folgore-guida, non pedagogizzabile, è connessa ad uno squarcio, al venir meno di tutta una catena di rimozioni durate per secoli, è il cortocircuito di una fine e di un inizio: che tuttavia offre nuove ragioni anche a quanto resta e deve restare nascosto o seminascosto.”
Andrea Zanzotto sulla Tempesta di Giorgione
“Il velo del Tempio si squarciò” Mc 15, 38
LA LACERAZIONE DEL TEATRINO DI MASTRO PEDRO
Da sempre campione di un mondo in crisi, Don Chisciotte è divenuto grazie ad una celebre opera del filosofo francese Michel Foucault, Le parole e le cose, anche l’emblema o meglio il protagonista esemplare di una crisi del sapere e della conoscenza, che avrebbe caratterizzato il passaggio non privo di stravolgimenti politici, sociali, antropologici e psicologici tra l’epoca rinascimentale ancora impregnata di una visione fideistica del mondo, e l’alba di una nuova epoca, positiva e classificatoria, dove calcolo, misura e ordine sono i paradigmi di una nuova conoscenza che sopperiscono alla separazione fra “le choses et les mots”.
Il personaggio del romanzo di Miguel Cervantes incarna in prima persona il limite, la discontinuità tra questi modi del sapere, scontrandosi direttamente con una personale disfunzione della conoscenza. Don Chisciotte impersona la radicalità di tale crisi, mostrandosi profondamente compenetrato con il sistema di pensiero rinascimentale, e, per contrasto, inadatto e fortemente in lotta con il mondo in cui vive.
Questo attaccamento a un modo di pensare e di vedere il mondo - ma anche a un mondo in sé - ormai perduto, emerge chiaramente dal modo di agire di Don Chisciotte, le cui gesta appaiono sempre motivate da segni visibili nella realtà che ricordano per analogia (come in una similitudine dell’epica) quanto raccontato dal mito, dalla poesia, dalla letteratura: gli immensi mulini a vento, la macchina mostruosa delle loro pale, l’energia che essa genera e che dunque essi possiedono è come quella di mitici giganti, così dunque, per Chisciotte, i mulini sono giganti a cui dare battaglia. Egli continua ad affermare in ogni situazione una visione interamente permeata dalle similitudini della poesia, le quali costituiscono, per lui, l’unico strumento adatto a conoscere e comprendere la realtà: il fondamento di una vera e propria fede. Secondo questa mistica l’uniformità tra le parole e le cose continua ad esistere e Chisciotte si ostina ad affermare un’inattuale sopravvivenza dell’antico nel nuovo, del mondo della poesia dove tutto si tiene, contro il mondo del calcolo che separa il mondo dalla sua rappresentazione.
Nel romanzo di Miguel de Cervantes, l’episodio del teatrino del Mastro Pedro rappresenta l’esempio di come anche una forma di finzione evidente ed esibita come quella dello spettacolo dei burattini possa costituire per Don Chisciotte l’ennesima occasione d’errore: una fra le numerose scene in cui l’incapacità
di distinguere fra il piano della realtà e quello della finzione induce Don Chisciotte all’equivoco.
Il contesto, questa volta, è lo spettacolo di burattini “La liberazione di Melisendra”, una storia tratta dall’epica cavalleresca di cui Don Chisciotte ha letto nei suoi amati libri, e che dunque considera assolutamente attendibile. Centrale, nell’episodio, è la funzione giocata dal retablo ovvero, in lingua spagnola, il quadro della scena, il quadro della rappresentazione ovvero la cornice del teatro: cioè il limite, la frontiera tra la razionalità e l’immaginazione, ovvero il teatro come sostanza stessa, persino ostentata, della “rappresentazione”.
“tutto da ogni parte circondato da candeline di cera accese, che lo rendevano vistoso e splendente”
A questo episodio si rifà fedelmente la composizione di De Falla che, per elementi compositivi, pare intuire con largo anticipo le riflessioni di Foucault. Laddove infatti in Cervantes il giovane banditore declama la vicenda indicando le marionette e contemporaneamente si sovrappone con la sua voce all’azione scenica, nell’opera di De Falla i due momenti sono scissi, come a sottolineare la distanza tra le parole, il linguaggio, la letteratura e le cose.
Nella restituzione di Anagoor, al di là di sipari decorati con riproduzioni giganti delle celeberrime incisioni di Gustave Doré per il Don Chisciotte (pubblicate nel 1861), l’opera dei pupi o il teatrino dei burattini è sostituito da un teatro d’ombre, simbolica evidenza di una diafana evanescenza, labile parvenza di realtà, caverna platonica, inafferrabile sogno, fantasmi, a sancire, se ce ne fosse mai bisogno, l’inefficacia della rappresentazione, il suo essere effimera come la vita degli umani, un sogno d’ombra. Questo teatrino di carta, con i suoi fragili sipari che schermano e proteggono, dichiara la relazione del Teatro col regno dei morti.
Intorno al teatrino, e alla luce tremolante delle sue candeline, prendono forma tutte le ambiguità costitutive della relazione fra la dimensione poetica e la conoscenza create dalla coscienza di Don Chisciotte, incapace di comprendere il frame finzionale, appunto di rappresentazione, dello spettacolo. Tale incapacità si mostra non appena Don Chisciotte prende posto nel pubblico, laddove, reputando scorretta la restituzione della storia, egli interrompe il burattinaio e lo rimprovera:
“Questo poi no! [...] Mastro Pietro è completamente fuori strada, perché non usano campane fra i mori, ma tamburi e un tipo di dolcemele che rassomiglia alle nostre ciaramelle...”
“Giovanotto, giovanotto [...] continuate la vostra storia in linea retta, e non cacciatevi in curve o trasversali, perché per potere attingere la verità su di un fatto occorrono molte prove e controprove”. Don Chisciotte mostra così di non cogliere lo sdoppiamento di livello causato dalla rappresentazione. “Ferito”, anzi, dall’utilizzo inaccurato dei suoi modelli interviene per correggere lo spettacolo, infrangendone i codici. Come presentendo i sintomi di uno svuotamento di senso della poesia, ma anche di una visione del mondo e del mondo stesso, Don Chisciotte avverte il manifestarsi di una volgarità di fondo, sentendo come blasfemo l’utilizzo di ciò che per lui è sacro, scoprendo che la poesia, per il senso comune, si presenta in forme atrofiche, astratte, non più morali. Il suo gesto appare perciò come un tentativo di riaffermare, contro il tempo privo di profondità e di altezza in cui ormai si trova immerso, il tempo di un’azione etica.
Poco dopo, Don Chisciotte dà un’ulteriore prova di incapacità di lettura, mutata tuttavia di segno. Di fronte alla scena in cui Melisendra e Don Gaiferos fuggono, Don Chisciotte passa dal distacco “critico” all’immedesimazione, travolto dal pathos della narrazione, e finendo per credere di poter salvare Melisendra e Don Gaiferos. Egli si alza in piedi e attacca il burattinaio, ritenendolo colpevole:
“Io non potrò permettere che in vita mia, e al mio cospetto, si faccia un torto a un così famoso cavaliere e ardimentoso amante come don Gaiferos. Fermatevi, malnata canaglia, guardatevi dal seguirlo e dal perseguitarlo, o dovrete battervi con me.”
Don Chisciotte considera le vicende narrate non solo reali, ma anche come se stessero realmente avvenendo in quel preciso istante davanti ai propri occhi. La sua esperienza di fruizione appare ora fondata su quella stessa condizione di sospensione dell’incredulità che egli vive nel quotidiano, una disposizione all’incanto, ma applicata in una forma tanto radicale da indurlo a credere che il tempo della finzione, ovvero il tempo in cui si svolge la rappresentazione, coincida con il presente. Si genera così un importante paradosso: se solitamente per Don Chisciotte è la realtà a piegarsi alle leggi della finzione (i mulini a vento che sono come dei Giganti, devono per forza essere dei Giganti), stavolta è la finzione a dover essere riportata alla coerenza e alla somiglianza con la verità: la vicenda agita sulla scena è tanto coinvolgente da essere per forza autentica. Un simile capovolgimento rende evidente il radicale rifiuto di Don Chisciotte del «principio di realtà», ma soprattutto rivela (per i paradigmi del tempo dell’ordine, della misura e del calcolo) il pericolo connesso al suo modo di pensare, la componente di follia che esso sostanzia.
Pensando e sentendo la scena del teatro come fosse la realtà, Don Chisciotte, crede i protagonisti in pericolo di morte, e sguaina la spada per difenderli da chi sta dando loro la caccia. In questo modo, egli provoca non solo metaforicamente la rottura della quarta parete della finzione teatrale. Distruggendo il teatrino e le sue marionette, «buttando giù questo, decapitando quello, storpiandone uno, schiacciandone altri», Don Chisciotte precipita in un disperato «dissennato furore» che finisce per scardinare la rappresentazione, “facendo strage” della macchina teatrale.
Invadendone il limite, non rispettandone i codici, squarciandone il fondale, Don Chisciotte abbatte e insieme oltrepassa la frontiera del teatro e, infine, entra nel teatro stesso, rompe e confonde i confini fra il passato e il presente, fra l’immaginario e la realtà brutale, generando l’intersezione tra due mondi. Per attualizzare tutto questo, Don Chisciotte non deve solo attraversare la frontiera, deve farsi frontiera e teatro. Deve superare la propria condizione marginale e prendere coscienza della fine del suo mondo. Fuori dal limite, Don Chisciotte non può vivere; ma deve assumersi il ruolo di soglia, di strumento di transito. Don Chisciotte stesso, con il teatro, è la lacerazione, il varco.
(Simone Derai)
el RETABLO
“What is life? Delirium.
What is life? Illusion, just chimera and shadow, and the greatest good is nothing, because all life is a dream, and dreams, dreams they are."
Calderon de la Barca
“It is Maya, the deceiving veil, which envelops the eyes of mortals and makes them see a world of which it cannot be said either that it exists or that it does not exist; because it resembles sleep, it resembles the reflection of the sun on the sand, which the pilgrim from afar mistakes for water"
Schopenhauer
“That guiding lightning bolt, which cannot be considered a teacher, is connected to a rupture, to the disappearance of a whole chain of displacements that have lasted for centuries, it is the short circuit of an end and a beginning: which however also offers new reasons for what remains and must remain hidden or half-hidden.”
Andrea Zanzotto on Giorgione's Tempest
“The veil of the Temple was torn” Mk 15, 38
THE TEAR OF MASTRO PEDRO'S THEATRE
Always the champion of a world in crisis, Don Quixote has also become, thanks to a famous work by the French philosopher Michel Foucault, Words and Things, the emblem or rather the exemplary protagonist of a crisis of learning and knowledge, which would have characterized the passage not wanting political, social, anthropological and psychological upheavals between the Renaissance era still imbued with a fideistic vision of the world, and the dawn of a new era, positive and classificatory, where calculation, measurement and order are the paradigms of a new knowledge that provide for the separation between “le choses et les mots”.
The character in Miguel Cervantes' novel embodies firsthand the limit, the discontinuity between these ways of knowing, directly clashing with a personal dysfunction of knowledge. Don Quixote personifies the intransigence of this crisis, showing himself to be deeply imbued with the Renaissance system of thought, and, by contrast, unsuitable and strongly at war with the world in which he lives.
This attachment to a now lost way of thinking and seeing the world - but also to a world in itself, clearly emerges from the behaviour of Don Quixote, whose deeds always appear motivated by visible signs in reality that they recall by analogy ( as in a simile of the epic) that which is told by myth, poetry, literature: the immense windmills, the monstrous machine of their blades, the energy that it generates and that they therefore possess is like that of mythical giants, so therefore, for Quixote, the mills are giants to do battle with.
He continues to affirm in every situation a vision entirely permeated by the similes of poetry, which constitute, for him, the only suitable tool for knowing and understanding reality: the foundation of a true faith.
According to this mysticism, the uniformity between words and things continues to exist and Quixote persists in affirming an outdated survival of the old in the new, of the world of poetry where everything is contained, against the world of calculation that separates the world from its representation.
In Miguel de Cervantes' novel, the episode of Master Pedro's little theater represents the example of how even a form of evident and exhibited fiction such as that of the puppet show can constitute for Don Quixote yet another occasion for error: one of the numerous scenes in which the incapacity to distinguish between the plain of reality and that of fiction leads Don Quixote to misunderstanding.
The context, this time, is the puppet show "The Liberation of Melisendra", a story taken from the chivalric epic that Don Quixote read about in his beloved books, and which he therefore considers absolutely reliable.
Central to the episode is the function played by the retablo, the tableau of the scene, the tableau of the representation or the picture-frame of the theatre: that is the limit, the frontier between rationality and imagination, or the theatre as the very substance, even ostentatious, of "representation".
“everything surrounded on every side by lit wax candles, which made it showy and shining”
De Falla's composition faithfully refers to this episode and, due to its compositional elements, seems to perceive Foucault's reflections well in advance. In fact, whereas in Cervantes the young auctioneer declaims the story by pointing to the puppets and at the same time superimposes himself with his voice on the stage action, in De Falla's work the two moments are separated, as if to underline the distance between the words, the language, literature and things.
In the restoration of Anagoor, beyond curtains decorated with giant reproductions of Gustave Doré's famous engravings for Don Quixote (published in 1861), the puppet theatre is replaced by a theatre of shadows, symbolic evidence of a diaphanous evanescence, a fleeting semblance of reality, Platonic cave, elusive dream, ghosts, to establish, if there were ever need, the ineffectiveness of representation, its being ephemeral like the life of humans, a dream of shadow.
This paper theatre, with its fragile curtains that shield and protect, declares the Theatre's relationship with the kingdom of the dead.
Around the little theatre, and in the flickering light of its candles, all the constituent ambiguities of the relationship between the poetic dimension and the knowledge created by Don Quixote's conscience take shape, incapable of understanding the fictional frame, exactly as intended, of the show.
This inability is shown as soon as Don Quixote takes his seat in the audience, where, considering the rendering of the story incorrect, he interrupts the puppeteer and reproaches him:
“Not this! [...] Master Pietro is completely off the mark, because they don't use bells among the Moors, but drums and a type of dulcimer that resembles our sharm..."
“Young man, young man [...] continue your story in a straight line, and don't get into curves or tangents, because to be able to get to the truth about a fact requires a lot of evidence and counter-evidence”
Don Quixote thus shows that he does not grasp the split level caused by the representation. “Wounded”, indeed, by the inaccurate use of his models he intervenes to correct the show, breaking its rules.
As if presenting the symptoms of an emptying of the meaning of poetry, but also of a vision of the world and of the world itself, Don Quixote senses the manifestation of an underlying vulgarity, feeling the use of what is sacred for him as blasphemous, discovering that poetry, according to common sense, presents itself in atrophic, abstract, no longer moral forms.
His gesture therefore appears as an attempt to reaffirm, against the time devoid of depth and height in which he now finds himself immersed, the time of ethical action.
Shortly afterwards, Don Quixote gives further proof of his inability to read, although the meaning has changed.
Faced with the scene in which Melisendra and Don Gaiferos flee, Don Quixote passes from "critical" detachment to empathy, overwhelmed by the pathos of the narrative, and ending up believing that he can save Melisendra and Don Gaiferos. He stands up and attacks the puppeteer, deeming him guilty:
“I will not be able to allow in my life, and in my presence, an injustice to be done to such a famous knight and daring lover as Don Gaiferos. Stop, you wicked scoundrel, be careful not to follow him and persecute him, or you will have to fight with me."
Don Quixote considers the events narrated not only real, but also as if they were really happening at that precise moment before his own eyes.
His experience of enjoyment now appears to be based on that same condition of suspension of disbelief that he experiences in everyday life, a disposition to be enchanted, but applied in such a radical form as to lead him to believe that the time of fiction, or rather the time in which the representation takes place, coincides with the present.
An important paradox is thus generated: if usually for Don Quixote it is reality that bends to the laws of fiction (the windmills that are like giants must necessarily be giants), this time it is the fiction that must be brought back to coherence and to the resemblance to the truth: the story unfolding on the scene is so engaging as to be authentic effectively.
Such a reversal makes Don Quixote's radical rejection of the "reality principle" evident, but above all it reveals (for the paradigms of the time of order, measurement and calculation) the danger connected to his way of thinking, the component of madness which it substantiates.
Thinking and feeling the theatre scene as if it were reality, Don Quixote believes the protagonists are in danger of death and draws his sword to defend them from those who are hunting them. In this way, he not only metaphorically causes the breaking of the fourth wall of theatrical fiction, destroying the theatre and its puppets, "throwing down this one, beheading that one, maiming one, crushing others", Don Quixote falls into a desperate "mad fury" which ends up unhinging the performance, "wreaking havoc" on the theatrical machine.
By invading its limits, not respecting its codes, tearing apart its backdrop, Don Quixote demolishes and at the same time goes beyond the frontier of the theatre and, finally, enters the theatre itself, breaking and confusing the boundaries between the past and the present, between the imaginary and the brutal reality, generating the intersection between two worlds.
To actualize all this, Don Quixote must not only cross the border, he must become a frontier and a theatre. He must overcome his marginal condition and become aware of the end of his world. Out of bounds, Don Quixote cannot live; but it must assume the role of threshold, of transit instrument. Don Quixote himself, with the theatre, is the laceration, the gap.
(Simone Derai)
opera in un atto
musica di Manuel de Falla
IMÁGENES ERRANTES
ouverture per baritono
e orchestra
musica di Stefano Pierini
Michele Gamba direttore
Anagoor regia, scene e costumi, luci e sopratitoli
Paolo Leonardi baritono
Giacomo Pieracci Don Chisciotte
Giovanni Petrini Maese Pedro
Markos Bindocci Trujamán
Stefano Bernardini Sancho Panza
Aurora Amirante,
Davide Calvarese,
Sauro Casucci, ombre
Chiara Cipriani,
Simone Paddeu
Orchestra Camerata Strumentale di Prato
Domenico Grasso,
Riccardo Mostarda, percussioni
Davide Costantini
Orhan Memed clavicembalo
Chiara Scannapieco arpa
Mimma Campanale assistente del direttore
Niccolò Cantara maestro sostituto e maestro alle luci
Gabriele Cavalletti maestro di palco
Coproduzione Camerata Strumentale di Prato
SABATO 13 LUGLIO
Ore 21.30
DOMENICA 14 LUGLIO
Ore 18
49° Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte - Music, Thatre, Dance, and more in Montepulciano and Valdichiana
With twenty world premieres, mostly commissions from the Cantiere, four orchestras including the Haydn Orchestra, Orchestra della Toscana, Giovanile Italiana and Camerata Strumentale di Prato, with the two young conductors, Artistic and Musical, Mariangela Vacatello and Michele Gamba, engaged on several stages as performers, on the eve of its fiftieth anniversary, the Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte confirms itself as one of the most creative, transversal, experimental, popular and courageous realities in Europe, a true development of the revolutionary ideas of Hans Werner Henze, forerunner of the new spirit of so many festivals today. The full program is available in Italian and English on the website at the section 49° Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte with all the events of this year's edition.
From Friday 12 July, the inexhaustible creativity of Cantiere 2024 will be brought to life with Opificio Sonoro's Sound Installations dedicated to Matter and Memory, followed by the unfailing programme for bands, which underlines the Cantiere's powerful didactic vein in this sense, active all year round, and with the great opening concert in Piazza Grande in Montepulciano, featuring the Orchestra della Toscana led by Alexander Lonquich, pianist, conductor, but above all a very fine German intellectual who has been linked to Italy and Tuscany for decades. With him is the multi-award-winning 20-year-old violinist Angela Tempestini, a growing talent at the Fiesole school with a layout between Mendelssohn and Schubert, the latter author on whom Lonquich is considered an absolute reference artist.
Then, on Saturday 13th, the traditional musical incursions and performances between art and nature will begin in the area to close the day in the 18th-century Teatro Poliziano with the Cantiere's new opera production, El Retablo de Maese Pedro, a one-act opera by Manuel de Falla enriched by the overture commissioned from composer Stefano Pierini Imágenes errantes for baritone and orchestra, with the Orchestra Camerata Strumentale di Prato conducted by Michele Gamba, today one of the most sought-after young conductors from La Scala in Milan to the Metropolitan in New York, here making his debut in the dual role of Music Director and eclectic artist. Presented for the first time in Seville in 1923, El Retablo de Maese Pedro is an extremely rare opera, inspired to De Falla by his friend Garcia Lorca, a great fan and himself an impresario of puppet shows, hence the setting of the opera, which combines in impeccable balance the Spanish folk tradition from the Middle Ages to the 20th century with an effect of great emotional impact. Direction, sets, costumes and lighting are by the Anagoor collective, founded in 2000 to give voice to theatrical forms in which performing art, philosophy and the hypermedia scene dialogue with free creativity.
Then the all-female path created by pianist and Artistic Director Mariangela Vacatello will open for her debut at the Cantiere with Io, Anna Dostoevskaya, a melologue on music for piano solo by Rachmaninov performed by Vacatello and with text and reciting voice by Maddalena Maggi, a film and theatre actress and director, already of established popularity. With two magnificent forty-year-olds at the head of Italy's most consolidated and challenging cross-arts happening, the Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte returns to set Montepulciano, the villages and nature in the Valdichiana, the green heart of the European Renaissance, a crossroads of cultures for over a millennium and today a coterie of energies and skills from all over the globe as in a great open-air salon.
Michele Gamba will instead return to the podium of the ensemble specially conceived for an original stage production of Arnold Schönberg's Pierrot Lunaire, then in the three appointments of the Mozart Series - Amadeus and the virtuosos, with the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana and at the piano a parade of the best Italian pianists such as Leonora Armellini, Mariangela Vacatello, Chiara Biagioli, Antonia de Pasquale, Alessandra Ammara, Serena Valluzzi: new cadenzas have been commissioned to young composers from the Accademia Santa Cecilia, while the lighting design is entrusted to the talents of the Guido Levi Lighting Lab. Chamber music concerts, often with the ensembles of the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana, the musical theatre show Oz. Il Mago della Città di Smeraldo (The Wizard of the Emerald City) by the Nuova Compagnia degli Arrischianti and a wide range of organ music that will highlight local instruments, the return of the Compagnia Cantiere Danza with the show Gershwin Postcards with choreography by Mauro de Candia, Manuel Magrini and Enrico Mirabassi on piano and the celebrated jazz musician Gabriele Mirabassi on clarinet, with the artistic coordination of Azzurra Di Meco and the support of Arte&BallettO, stands out.
The intriguing rendezvous with the timeless myth of Diego Armando Maradona Sinediez, music for feet in love will be held in the medieval cloister of the Montepulciano Fortress, with lyrics by Stefano Valanzuolo and music from jazz to Lucio Dalla.
There is also Canto Latino with the celebrated voice of soprano Gemma Bertagnolli and an unusual Händel series whose organ and orchestra concertos will be performed by Adriano Falcioni on two consecutive evenings in the monumental Temple of San Biagio with the Poliziana Orchestra and local choirs, conducted by Alessio Tiezzi. For contemporary music, the premiere of Alessandro Solbiati's chamber opera Il n'est pas comme nous and concerts entrusted to Opificio Sonoro directed by Marco Momi.
Finally, the ritual Closing Concert on Sunday 28 July in Piazza Grande in Montepulciano with the excellent Haydn Orchestra in co-production with the Haydn Foundation, Mariangela Vacatello at the piano and Michele Gamba on the podium, for a new artistic and musical direction that does not only spend itself in creativity and organisation, but gets into the action with its skills and experience of established and respected artists.
This is how Mariangela Vacatello describes this electrifying new experience: "In this year's Cantiere there will be shared space between young people and professionals, a human and cultural idea that is at the heart of the Cantiere utopia and that will be evident in the projects on Mozart and Händel and in the opera productions; I have very much looked forward to the residency of Opificio Sonoro, an ensemble with an international scope that seeks new listening codes and deals with acoustic, electronic and performed sound. The Cantiere this year also has projects where the presence of women is desired and sought after, so that in time there will no longer be barriers and different balances between genders."
Michele Gamba concludes: "Il Cantiere aims to be a workshop for the arts, hence the idea of creating a contact with a collective such as Anagoor; the idea is that the synergy between direction and musical direction is fulfilled. Then there is the intention to bring the public together with today's music, in the formula of the Cantiere that we want to renew in order to build bridges to the future, with many commissions of various sizes, from small-scale cadenza to musical theatre; the Cantiere is proof that today's music is as alive as ever and capable of communicating to a vast audience."
XIII International Competition for Lyric Singers «City of Pienza» 9-11 of November 2023
The XIII International Competition for Opera Singers "City of Pienza" takes place from 9 to 11 November 2023 In the historic center of Pienza, UNESCO World Heritage Site. The event is organized by OperaPienza and the City of Pienza in collaboration with Fondazione Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte.
The event aims to enhance young singers, giving them the opportunity to perform in front of a jury of prominent personalities in the international opera scene and to win prizes, auditions and scholarships, possibilities for their career.
Singers of all nationalities, belonging to all the vocal registers, born after 31 December 1987 and of legal age on the date of submission of the application are admitted.
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 4th, 2023
PRIZES
1st PRIZE "City of Pienza": 2,000 euros scholarship offered by the City of Pienza
2nd PRIZE "City of Pienza": 1,500 euros scholarship offered by Fondazione Conservatorio San Carlo Borromeo
3rd PRIZE "City of Pienza": 1,000 euros scholarship offered by the City of Pienza
"Andy Johnson" prize for the best baritone voice: 500 euros scholarship
SCHOLARSHIPS FOR OPERA ROLES
High-level improvement laboratory in preparation for the opera in an all-encompassing of all expenses competition borne by the organization
500 euros scholarship, offered by the City of Pienza
500 euros scholarship, offered by Fondazione San Carlo Borromeo City of Pienza
500 euros scholarship, offered by Adua Veroni
500 euros scholarship, offered by Adua Veroni
500 euros scholarship, offered by Moira Johnson
SPECIAL AWARDS – AUDITIONS, WRITINGS AND CONCERTS
«Teatro Massimo Bellini» prize
Auditions at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania for first and second prize winners
«Maggio Musicale Fiorentino» prize
Auditions at the Theatre Maggio Musicale Fiorentino for one/two singers
«Teatro Massimo di Palermo» prize
Auditions at the Theatre Maggio Musicale Fiorentino for one/two singers at Teatro Massimo in Palermo
«Teatro Fraschini» prize
Auditions at Teatro Fraschini in Pavia for one/two singer which will be held in spring 2024
«Deutsche Oper Berlin» prize
Auditions at Deutsche Oper of Berlin for one/two singers
«Landestheater Coburg» prize
Recruitment at Landestheater Coburg Theater (Germany) for one/two singers for the 2024/2025 season at the discretion of Neil Barry Moss
JURY
President
Adua Veroni
Cameron Arens, Deputy Artistic Administrator, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence - France
Alessandro Ariosi, Ariosi Management International Artists Management Agency (11/11)
Francesca Barbieri, Music Consultant
Cecilia Gasdia, Superintendent of Verona Arena Foundation (11/11)
Neil Barry Moss, Artistic Director at Landestheater Coburg – Germany
Gianni Tangucci, Teatro Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (09/11)
Discover the musical babysitting at 47° Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte
The 47th edition of the Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte presents the novelty of the musical babysitting!
This year, during the shows and the concerts, children can be left in the company of the Music Institute Henze’s experts to do musical propaedeutic activities.
So, everyone, in all ages, can take part in the cultural and musical experience offered by the Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte.
The service is active, by reservation, for all the events organized by the 47th Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte in Montepulciano.
In order to participate, it is only necessary to send an email at the address to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., before midnight of the day preceding the show for which it is intended to require the service.
The initiative is realized within the project Personas, supported by the contribution of the Foundation Monte dei Paschi di Siena through the Reset program.
Opera RITA at Teatro Poliziano on 16th and 17th July 22 for the 47° Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte
An extremely rare opera by Gaetano Donizetti will be presented in the eighteenth-century theatre Teatro Poliziano for the 47th Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte.
Rita, two men and a woman is an opera buffa, staged in Montepulciano by well-known french director Vincent Boussard, who is already transversely claimed for the collaborations with the iconic stylist Christian Lacroix. The soprano Patrizia Ciolfi, already appreciated artist in the most prestigious scenes of the world, plays Rita, an abusive wife of two husbands. Rita is a free woman, but also very modern: She has to establish herself in order to defend herself from the two men of her life, which she does in an always fun and determined way. The German Marc Niemann directs the orchestra “La Filharmonie”, while the histrionic Berliner baritone Dietrich Henschel and the talented tenor Matteo Tavini complete the cast.
RITA, TWO MEN AND A WOMAN
TEATRO POLIZIANO IN MONTEPULCIANO
Saturday 16th July at 9,30pm
Sunday 17th July at 6pm
XIV INTERNATIONAL SINGING COMPETITION GIULIO NERI - TORRITA DI SIENA - 7/10 OF APRIL 2022
The International Lyric Singing Competition "Giulio Neri" - XIV edition will take place in Torrita di Siena from April 7th to 10th, 2022. In the heart of the Tuscan lands, this event is one of the most authoritative and participated, with a really prestigious jury.
BROCHURE PDF HERE
REGISTRATION
Deadline: MARCH 24th, 2022
The Candidate must provide the following documents:
- Completed registration on-line form > click here
- Curriculum Vitae (to be sent via e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
- Payment (subscription fee 70.00 euro)
TOTAL PRIZE POOL: 5,800 euros
THE JURY
LEO NUCCI – Baritone (president)
ANDREA CASTELLO – Artistic director of Vicenza in Lirica - President of Archivio storico Tullio Serafin
ELEONORA LEONINI - Artistic Director of the competition; Pianist and Teacher of Conservatorio G.B. Martini - Bologna
MAURO MONTALBETTI - Artistic director of Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte
TIZIANA TRAMONTI – Soprano and Teacher in Scuola di Musica di Fiesole
RICCARDO ZANELLATO – Basso
Accompanist Pianists: CHIARA PULSONI, LORENZO ORLANDI
COMPLETE RULES
1. The International Singing Competition “Giulio Neri”, in its 14th edition, will take place in Torrita di Siena, Italy, from April 7th to 10th, 2022. The competition is open to male and female singers of all nationalities and ages.
2. Singers who wish to register for the competition must submit their applications by filling in the online form on the official website www.concorsogiulioneri.it.
A short curriculum vitae must also be submitted. Applications must be submitted no later than March 24th, 2022. Applications submitted after this date may be admitted by the jury of the Competition only for serious and proven reasons.
3. The singers must present four arias of free choice. All songs must be performed in original language and tone. The Secretariat of the competition reserves the right to ask candidates to copy or scan the scores otherwise unavailable.
4. The registration fee is € 70.00 (euro 70/00) and must be paid to the following accounts of “Fondazione Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte”:
- Bank transfer IBAN code: IT48S0885125601000000901427
(Swift Code: ICRA IT RR DL 0)
Description: CONCORSO GIULIO NERI - name and surname
- PayPal adressed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Message: CONCORSO GIULIO NERI - name and surname
Other types of payment are not allowed. If the payment will not been made on time the candidate will not be accepted.
5. Accompanist pianists will be made available to the singer; however, contestants may be accompanied at their own expenses by a pianist of their own choice. By completing the application form, you can choose whether to use the pianists of the competition.
6. The drawing of the order of passage will take place in the presence of the Mayor of Torrita di Siena or a person delegated by the City Council. The date and the time of the draw, which will be broadcast live on the official channels of the competition, will be communicated by email to registered singers. Once the order of passage has been established, the Secretary of the competition will invite the contestants by email, indicating the date and time of the performance. The schedules may vary: in this case the Secretariat will promptly notify the competitors. The singers must present themselves on the date and time indicated at the Teatro degli Oscuri, Piazza Matteotti – TORRITA DI SIENA, for registration, showing a valid document for identification. In this context, it will be possible to complete the subscription of applications where necessary.
7. Singers can rehearse with the pianists made available by the competition only and exclusively on the day of Wednesday, April 6th, 2022, from 11.00 am to 7.00 pm. There are no exceptions. The singers admitted to the semifinal and the singers admitted to the final can rehearse with the pianists also Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th April 2022.
8. The tests are divided into preliminary, semifinal and final. All the tests are public and will be held as follows:
- the preliminary part is held on Thursday 7th and Friday 8th April. The singers will perform two arias of their choice among those presented in the registration form. The jury will be able to listen to just one of the two pieces;
- the semifinal part is held on Saturday 9th April. Singers will perform the piece or pieces indicated by the jury, chosen from those not performed in the preliminary and communicated at the same time as the result, at the conclusion of the preliminary part. It is the faculty of the jury to listen, if necessary, also to arias performed in the preliminary exam;
- the final part is held in concert form on Sunday 10 April at 4.00 pm. Singers will perform the piece indicated by the jury together with the result, at the end of the semi-final. Singers will receive their respective prizes and will therefore be required to participate: otherwise, the prizes will not be awarded to them.
At the final part the public will have the right to vote for the award of the special prize referred to in point 6, through the appropriate form that will be delivered at the beginning of the concert. The Competition will end with the award ceremony and the performance of the winner that will take place at the end of the jury’s work.
Semi-finalists who do not enter the final will receive a certificate of eligibility, finalists not awarded will receive a diploma of merit.
9. No changes to the programme presented, nor to the choice of pieces for the preliminary part, will be considered after March 24th 2022; any changes must be communicated only in writing, to the e-mail address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., with the subject XIV CONTEST "GIULIO NERI", sending timely copies of the musical scores, if the official pianist of the competition is required.
10. The members of the jury will refrain from assessing the contestants to whom they have parental and/ or educational relationships: in compliance with this, at the time of installation each member of the jury will issue a declaration.
11. It is planned to award prizes for a total value of 5,800 euros, as specified below:
First prize -> € 2,000.00
Second prize -> € 1,000.00
Third prize -> € 500.00
Special Prizes:
- "Giulio Neri" prize -> € 500.00 offered by Comune di Torrita di Siena to the best Bass in memory of G. Neri
- Donizetti prize -> € 500.00 offered by Amedeo Monfardini to the best performance of a Gaetano Donizetti's aria, if presented
- Audience prize -> € 400.00
- Young talents prize -> € 300.00 offered by Amedeo Monfardini to the young singers born since January 1st 1997
- Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte prize -> possible participation in Opera production of Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte
- Archivio storico Tullio Serafin prize -> Concert at Cavarzere Opera Festival Teatro Tullio Serafin and a remuneration of € 300.00
- Vicenza in Lirica prize -> Concert at Vicenza in Lirica Festival and a remuneration of € 300.00
It is up to the jury to withdraw any of the awarding prizes. The jury's decision is incontestable.
12. Any recording and/or video and/or audio broadcast of the various phases of the Competition, including the Final Concert of 14th Concorso Internazionale di Canto Lirico “Giulio Neri”, does not give the participants any right to compensation. The participants will be required to sign a release that waives any rights to recorded material that is published for promotional purposes.
BOOK YOUR STAY
Click here to discover the accomodations in Torrita di Siena
Secretary’s office:
FONDAZIONE CANTIERE INTERNAZIONALE D’ARTE DI MONTEPULCIANO
Via Fiorenzuola Vecchia, 5 – 53045 MONTEPULCIANO (SI)
Opening hours:
Monday to Friday 9 a.m - 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Tel. 0578/757007 – 757089
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - www.fondazionecantiere.it
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46° CANTIERE INTERNAZIONALE D'ARTE, FROM 15 OF JULY TO 1 OF AUGUST, THE EDITION BY MAURO MONTALBETTI
The Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte presents its 46th edition with new artistic director Mauro Montalbetti and the musical directio of Antonio Greco. From July 15 to August 1, 2021 there will be 35 performances spread across Montepulciano and the Valdichiana.
"Music, theatre, dance - explains Montalbetti - enter into a relationship with people, society, the territory: Hans Werner Henze created the Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte di Montepulciano on this belief and I have built my career as a composer and also this new adventure in such a prestigious artistic direction sharing that same vision.”
OFFICIAL PROGRAMME HERE (pdf)
This season, subtle filigree connections link the programmes, many of which feature bold juxtapositions, unprecedented dialogues to invite reflection and generate comparisons between different idioms and poetry. Renewing the collaboration between new talents and established artists, the event is supported by MiC, Regione Toscana, Comune di Montepulciano and Consorzio del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. With a particular sensitivity to contemporary forms, there are many new works commissioned from innovative authors. Starting from the epicenter of Montepulciano, the schedule involves the municipalities of Cetona, Chianciano Terme, San Casciano dei Bagni, Sarteano, Sinalunga, Torrita di Siena, Trequanda.
Children of a drunken god is a hybrid production between baroque music, contemporary dance and acting. The project is headed by Michela Lucenti (choreographer for Martone/Gatti's La Traviata broadcast by Rai3). In Piazza Grande, 11 actor-dancers of Balletto Civile, aged between 9 and 76, express the movement of bodies inspired by baroque art, interpreting anti-heroes from the world’s forgotten corners; the musical part of the Ensemble Cremona Antiqua, directed by Antonio Greco, is focused on madrigals and cantatas by Monteverdi, Salomone Rossi, Barbara Strozzi and Isabella Leonarda. With strong collaboration between different subjects, the show is already on programme in several squares. In co-production with Teatro Piemonte Europa (July 16).
Premiering at the Teatro Poliziano, July 31 and August 1, the opera commissioned from composer Federico Gardella and playwright Cecilia Ligorio, who also wrote and directed a work inspired by Arthur Schnitzler. Else, in co-production with Fondazione I teatri di Reggio Emilia and in collaboration with Accademia di Belle Arti di Macerata, points to the abuse of power over intimacy as a disease of our time.
The performance is entrusted to the Ensemble Risognanze, under the authoritative direction of Tito Ceccherini; the vocal cast includes Alda Caiello (mezzo-soprano), Maria Eleonora Caminada (soprano), Leonardo Cortellazzi (tenor), Michele Gianquinto (bass).
Four evenings for symphonic and orchestral ensembles, three in Piazza Grande, one in the Temple of San Biagio: featuring world-acclaimed professionals and up and coming players, classical works interact with new ideas. After the 2020 performance broadcast on Rai Radio3, the Orchestra della Toscana redoubles its commitment to the Cantiere. First, with conductor Antonio Greco, it will follow a classical path, from Händel to Haydn (with the elaboration of the mourning period) up to a liberating Beethoven with the Trio Kanon (July 18).
Then the ORT returns under the inspiring conducting of Markus Stenz, who opens with Stravinsky, followed by an in-depth study of Brahms (Symphony No. 1) and the related Fantasy conceived by Detlev Glanert (July 30).
The Orchestra Poliziana will be playing, as befits the principles of the Cantiere, with leading artists. At the Temple of San Biagio, on July 24, under the direction of Antonio Greco, the local ensemble presents the premiere of the piece Ecco sparir le stelle commissioned to Carlo Boccadoro, while in the second part the Corale Poliziana will perform two masterpieces by Antonio Vivaldi, the Gloria in D major and the Credo in E minor; the solo roles are assigned to Valeria La Grotta (soprano) and Anna Bessi (mezzo-soprano).
The young ensemble from Montepulciano also tackles the popular Closing Concert under the direction of Antonio Greco, who will present for the final event a journey through French music with Pelleas et Melisande and Fauré's Pavane and Ravel's Pavane pour un enfante défunte, and then finishes with Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the extraordinary participation of Davide Cabassi as soloist.
Dedicated to the story of the Danish artist, icon of transgender rights, Lili Elbe Show is the new choreographic creation commissioned to Riva & Repele: in addition to Sasha Riva and Simone Repele, the world famous Silvia Azzoni (already starring with Roberto Bolle), Yumi Aizawa, Jamal Callender and local dance school students will be on stage. Bach's music and Paolo Gorini's new composition will be performed by the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana, thus strengthening the synergy with the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole; on the podium of Piazza Grande will be Marc Niemann, nominated as the best conductor in Germany by German critics in 2018. Such an ambitious project boasts the artistic coordination of Azzurra Di Meco, the collaboration of Accademia della Belle Arti Santa Giulia and Guido Levi lighting lab, a programme for the promoting the craft of stage lighting among young people, named after the well-known light designer (July 29).
Centanni is the co-production with Nuova Accademia degli Arrischianti staged at the atmospheric Castle of Sarteano from 15th to 18th July; Laura Fatini writes, and together with Gabriele Valentini also directs, a show that alludes to The Sleeping Beauty: an awakening that is the metaphor of today's return to reality after a long sleep. The music was commissioned to Giovanni Vannoni, 29 years old and already praised by critics.
Other commissions of new avant-garde music pertain to site-specific projects. Davide Vannuccini will work with electronic sequences among the contemporary geometries of the Cantina Dei. While Maurizio Rinaldi records the soundscape of the Riserva del Lago di Montepulciano where the sounds of nature become musical expression and thought in the performance entitled Equilibri.
The artistic personalities of Michele Campanella and Monica Leone offer a concert for two pianos set up to pay homage to the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Igor Stravinsky (Circus Polka, Concerto for two pianos, Tango), with the finale focusing instead on Sergej Rachmaninov (Suite for two pianos n. 2); the unusual context of the Cloister of Sant'Agnese (July 21) will host these accomplished pianists.
Another virtuoso of the keyboard is Davide Cabassi, one of the most sought-after soloists in the world who, before the Closing Concert, will perform a recital of works by Henze, Crumb, Castiglioni and Mussorgskij (July 29).
The Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte encourages the current artistic generation to create original works that are central to the programming to ensure space for contemporary music. In addition to opera, dance and theatre, there are many commissions and premieres: while authors such as Carlo Boccadoro and Andrea Molino have a well-recognised artistic stature, other moments are reserved for the younger Elvira Muratore, Luca Benatti and Matteo Belli. There will also be the artistic residence of the Ensemble degli Intrigati, a young ensemble sponsored by the Fondazione Cantiere who specialise in the contemporary repertoire, and who will perform two concerts following advanced studies with Andrea Molino.
For the well-desrved celebration of Dante Alighieri there is Vox in Bestia: A handbook of divine animals with Laura Catrani performing texts by Tiziano Scarpa in a contemporary vocal style, and video animations by Gianluigi Toccafondo, exploring a Dantean bestiary (July 23).
The centenary of the birth of Astor Piazzolla, however, is remembered with two different concerts: Flores de alma orquesta minimal is the classic quintet-Piazzolla which has been allocated the prestigious Piazza Grande, while Luigi Attademo transcribes for solo guitar songs of the Argentine author, alternating them with current titles in an aesthetically unique counterpoint (July 24).
Among the new initiatives of the 46th Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte are the two different types of lectures on musical themes. On July 23, at the Enoliteca of the Fortezza, Carlo Boccadoro presents his Bach Prince vite parallele (Einaudi), inspired by the journalist Andrea Penna. On July 28, the Cortile delle Carceri will host a debate with the musicologist Federica Marsico on her book La seduzione queer di Fedra. Il mito secondo Britten, Bussotti e Henze (Aracne), an insight into the fluidity of gender expressed in the scenic and musical elaborations of significant composers, including the founder of the Cantiere.
Among the most prominent companies of the Italian theater, Il Mulino di Amleto promotes a workshop of scenic art starting from the figure of Molly Bloom, a character of Ulysses by James Joyce; under the aegis of Marco Lorenzi, the participating actors and singers will give life to a performance in the form of a workshop on July 31.
In a musical metonymy, Giuseppe Verdi's opera finds a new interpretation with the L'Usignolo ensemble that performs a whimsical reinterpretation, with an orchestration based on the origins of ballroom dancing. This leads to a down-to-earth interpretation of the opera (July 28-29).
Valeria Crociata is the artist, illustrator and designer who created the poster for the 46th Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte: will show in a distinctly urban exhibition, the originality of the works produced by a creative talent appreciated in the fields of visual arts and communication.
The concert programme of the Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte also includes the festive prologue with the Bande della Valdichiana, the Ensemble Barocco di Napoli with Il sogno di Pan. The flute between Naples and Venice in the 18th century that features the master of the transverse flute Tommaso Rossi, the talented pianist Giulia Toniolo, the solo violin of Daniele Richiedei between folk and improvisation, the contemporary quality of the Trio Hegel and the jazz flair of the Giorgio Ferrara Trio.
XIII INTERNATIONAL SINGING COMPETITION GIULIO NERI - TORRITA DI SIENA - 7/9 OF MAY 2021
The International Singing Competition “Giulio Neri”, in its 13th edition, will take place in Torrita di Siena, Italy, from May 7th to 9th, 2021. The competition is open to male and female singers of all nationalities and ages.
BROCHURE PDF HERE
REGISTRATION
Deadline: APRIL 24th, 2021
The Candidate must provide the following documents:
- Completed registration on-line form > click here
- Curriculum Vitae (to be sent via e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
- Payment (subscription fee 70,00 euro)
The electronic application form and the above mentioned documents must be sent no later than Tuesday, March 20th, 2020.
PAYMENT METHODS
The fee of 70 euros must be paid to the following accounts of “Fondazione Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte”.
- Bank transfer IBAN code: IT96G0848925601000000901427 (Swift Code: ICRA IT RR DL 0)
Description: CONCORSO GIULIO NERI - name and surname
- PayPal adressed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Message: CONCORSO GIULIO NERI - name and surname
If the payment will not been made on time the candidate will not be accepted.
Accompanist pianists will be made available to the singer; however, contestants may be accompanied at their own expenses by a pianist of their own choice.
The competition consist of three parts: Preliminary (May 7th at 10 a.m.), Semifinal (May 8th at 2 p.m.) and Final in form of concert on Sunday (May 9th at 4 p.m.). There will be a special aword by the audience. The winners will receive their awords only if they will be present at the final concert. The members of the Jury are not allowed to judge any contestants with family-ties or teaching relationship. In that case they have to declare such condition before the competition. The Artistic Director will participate the judge session and will have the right of vote in case of even score.
All the candidates are supposed to present four complete opera arias in their original language and tone.
PRIZES
First prize -> € 2.000,00
Second prize -> € 1.000,00
Third prize -> € 500,00
Special Prizes:
- "Giulio Neri" prize -> € 500,00 offered by Comune di Torrita di Siena to the best Bass in memory of G. Neri
- Bellini prize -> € 500,00 offered by Amedeo Monfardini to the best performance of a Vincenzo Bellini's aria, if presented
- Audience prize -> € 400,00
- Young talents prize -> € 300,00 offered by Amedeo Monfardini to the young singers born since January 1st 1996.
Possible participation in Opera production of Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte di Montepulciano.
It is up to the jury to withdraw any of the awarding prizes.
It will not be possible to change the list of opera arias after April 24th, 2021.
The preliminary part will take place as follows: performance of two pieces chosen by the contestant among those presented. The jury may interrupt the performance of a piece at any time. The semifinal and final part will take place as follow: performance of pieces chosen by the Jury among those submitted by the consistant. The Jury will communicate the pieces after each session of the competition.
The candidates are requested to be at the City Hall of Torrita di Siena, Piazza Matteotti, 10 – TORRITA DI SIENA, on Friday April 3rd, 2020 (timing to be communicated). The order in which they are performed will be established by a public drawing lots.
The accompanist pianist will be available from Thursday May 6th, 2021, from 11,00 a.m.
Any recording and/or video and/or audio broadcast of the various phases of the Competition, including the Final Concert of 13th Concorso Internazionale di Canto Lirico “Giulio Neri”, does not give the participants any right to compensation. The participants will be required to sign a release that waives any rights to recorded material that is published for promotional purposes.
THE JURY
RICCARDO ZANELLATO – Basso (president)
VINCENZO DE VIVO – Artistic director of Accademia d'Arte Lirica - Osimo and Teatro delle Muse - Ancona
MAURO MONTALBETTI - Artistic director of Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte
ERNESTO PALACIO - Artistic director of Fondazione Rossini Opera Festival
TIZIANA TRAMONTI – Soprano and Teacher in Conservatorio G. B. Martini - Bologna
Artistic Director of the competition: Mrs. ELEONORA LEONINI – Pianist and Teacher of Conservatorio G.B. Martini - Bologna
Accompanist Pianists: ELEONORA LEONINI, LORENZO ORLANDI
The registration to the Competition implies the acceptance of this document (click here .pdf). In the event of dispute, the reference shall be the original Italian text.
BOOK YOUR STAY
Clcik here to discover the accomodations in Torrita di Siena
Secretary’s office:
FONDAZIONE CANTIERE INTERNAZIONALE D’ARTE DI MONTEPULCIANO
Via Fiorenzuola Vecchia, 5 – 53045 MONTEPULCIANO (SI)
Opening hours:
Monday to Friday 9 a.m - 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Tel. 0578/757007 – 757089
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - www.fondazionecantiere.it
MUSIC AND LIGHT CLOSE THE 45th CANTIERE INTERNAZIONALE D'ARTE
The epilogue of 45° Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte will be an union of music and light.
Piazza Grande will host the last symphonic concert conducted by Roland Böer as Artistic Director of this Festival. The pianist Mariangela Vacatello and the violinist Francesco D'Orazio will join to Orchestra Poliziana for the performance of The Creatures of Prometheus, Concert for piano and orchestra n.3, Concert for violin and orchestra by Beethoven.
At the end of the concert, titled Living Utopia, Roland Böer will play Skrjabin on the LIGHT keyboard, while a light installation cured by Gianni Trabalzini and Alessandro Martini will take place all around in the Piazza.
A WHOLE EVENING DEDICATED TO DANCE AMONG THE EVENTS OF 45th CANTIERE INTERNAZIONALE D'ARTE
Dance will be protagonist at the 45° Cantiere internazionale d'Arte with the show Tra cielo e terra, the next 29th July.
Three coreographies will follow one after another on the stage in Piazza Grande, to the music played by Orchestra Sinfonica Florentia.
Firstly, the dancers from Petite Ecole of Montepulciano will perform a coreography created by their teacher Cristina Peruzzi. Valentino Zangara will conduct the Orchestra for the piece La Création du Monde, by Milhaud.
Then Renato Buscarini will present his own coreography, as solo dancer. Silvia Magagni will conduct the Orchestra, with the harpist Elisa Frandi, for Debussy's composition Danses sacrées et danses profanes.
At last, Sasha Riva and Simone Repele will dance their coreography to Adagietto from Quinta Sinfonia, by Mahler.
For this one piece, Orchestra will be leaded by Roland Böer.
MARKUS STENZ CONDUCTS THE ORCHESTRA DELLA TOSCANA AT 45th CANTIERE INTERNAZIONALE D'ARTE
The symphonic concert with the Orchestra della Toscana and Markus Stenz, as director, is one of the most awaited events of 45° Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte.
Orchestra della Toscana was recognised by the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment as an Orchestral Concert Institution in 1983, under the artistic direction of Luciano Berio. The average staff consists of 44 musicians who are also divided into agile chamber music ensembles. The Orchestra is based in Florence in the historic Teatro Verdi, where it puts on its seasonal concerts. It has also been a guest of the most important italian concert companies, including the Teatro alla Scala, the Lingotto Auditorium of Turin, the Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome, as well as in the most important european and overseas halls, from Carnegie Hall in New York to the Teatro Coliseo in Buenos Aires, and also in Hong Kong and Japan.
This Orchestra has conceived and created the “Play It!” Festival dedicated to italian music of our times, which in 2014 received the “Franco Abbiati” Music Critics’ Award as the best initiative.
At 45th Cantiere, Orchestra della Toscana will be conducted by Markus Stenz, highly appreciated conductor in the world, who has been Artistic Director of Montepulciano Festival since 1989 to 1995.
The symphonic concert will take place in Piazza Grande, on 30th July 2020. Orchestra della Toscana is going to interpret musical compositions by Beethoven and Glanert.
SUSPENDED EVENT - INTERNATIONAL SINGING COMPETITION GIULIO NERI, TORRITA DI SIENA
XII International Singing Competition Giulio Neri is suspended. Due the provisions by the Italian Governement, Municipality of Torrita di Siena, Fondazione Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte and artistic director Eleonora Leonini announce that the event scheduled from 3rd to 5th of April is cancelled.
Singers who already paid the fee will be quickly refounded.
For further information: T. +39 (0)578757089 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
LEONARDO IN VALDICHIANA, AN EXHIBITION ON DA VINCI'S WORK IN MONTEPULCIANO AREA
For the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci, Montepulciano organize the exhibition "Leonardo in Valdichiana", promoted by Fondazione Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte, based on a project by Opera - Civita and Museo Galileo - Firenze.
From 25th of May to 8th of September 2019, this show offers exciting insight into the theories, ideas, and creations of the Da Vinci in the Fortress of Montepulciano (Siena). Focused on the map of Valdichiana, the exhibition showcases projected recreations of his most intricate designs and miniature models.
Leonardo's map of Valdichiana is one of his most sophisticated cartographic works. Drafted beetwen 1502-1503 while he was in service to Cesare Borgia as General Architect and Engineer, the map shows a popoulous territory, rich in cities and castles but especially in water. The numerous place names allow us to identify 254 geographical locations distributed beetwen Florence, Arezzo, Lake Trasimeno, Val d'Orcia and all above Val di Chiana. The principal object, however, is the enormous marsh that had been considered a source of pestilential air since the Middle Age. Beyond its over political-military purpose, the map seems desgined to illustrate a land reclamation project that would transform Valdichiana into a hydrological basin to provide water for a navigable channel conceived by Leonardo to connect Florence to the sea.
25th of May > 8th of September
Every day, h. 10.30 a.p. to 6.30 p.m. (last entry6.00 p.m.)
Biglietto d’ingresso euro 5,00
Info: T. +39 0577/286300
Sito web www.leonardomontepulciano.it
LOVE PASSION FOOLISHNESS WITH THE MAIN EVENTS OF 44th CANTIERE INTERNAZIONALE D'ARTE
Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte, in its 44 edition, is inspired by the theme Love Passion Foolishness. Discover here the main events, scheduled from the 12th to the 28th of July 2019 in Montepulciano and Valdichiana's area.
FIND HERE THE OFFICIAL PROGRAM
INTERNATIONAL SINGING COMPETITION GIULIO NERI IN TORRITA DI SIENA 12th - 14th APRIL 2019
The International Singing Competition “Giulio Neri”, in its 11th edition, will take place in Torrita di Siena, Italy, from April 12th to 14th, 2019. The competition is open to male and female singers of all nationalities and ages.
REGISTRATION
Deadline: March 25th, 2019.
The Candidate must provide the following documents:
- Completed registration on-line form > click here
- Curriculum Vitae (to be sent via e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
- Payment (subscription fee 70,00 euro)
The electronic application form and the above mentioned documents must be sent no later than Tuesday, March 25th, 2019.
PAYMENT METHODS
The fee of 70 euros must be paid to the following accounts of “Fondazione Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte”.
- Bank transfer IBAN code: IT96G0848925601000000901427 (Swift Code: ICRA IT RR DL 0)
Description: CONCORSO GIULIO NERI - name and surname
- PayPal adressed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Message: CONCORSO GIULIO NERI - name and surname
If the payment will not been made on time the candidate will not be accepted.
Accompanist pianists will be made available to the singer; however, contestants may be accompanied at their own expenses by a pianist of their own choice.
The competition consist of three parts: Preliminary, Semifinal and Final in concert form on Sunday (April 14th at 4 p.m.). There will be a special aword by the audience. The winners will receive their awords only if they will be present at the final concert. The members of the Jury are not allowed to judge any contestants with family-ties or teaching relationship. In that case they have to declare such condition before the competition. The Artistic Director will participate the judge session and will have the right of vote in case of even score.
All the candidates are supposed to present four complete opera arias in their original language and tone.
PRIZES
First prize -> € 2.000,00
Second prize -> € 1.000,00
Third prize -> € 500,00
Special Prizes:
- "Giulio Neri" prize -> € 500,00 offered by Comune di Torrita di Siena to the best Bass in memory of G. Neri
- Rossini prize -> € 500,00 offered by Amedeo Monfardini to the best performance of a Rossini's aria, if presented
- Audience prize -> € 400,00
- Young talents prize -> € 300,00 offered by Amedeo Monfardini to the young singers born since January 1st 1991.
Possible participation in Opera production of Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte di Montepulciano.
It is up to the jury to withdraw any of the awarding prizes.
It will not be possible to change the list of opera arias after March 25th, 2019.
The preliminary part will take place as follows: performance of two pieces chosen by the contestant among those presented. The jury may interrupt the performance of a piece at any time. The semifinal and final part will take place as follow: performance of pieces chosen by the Jury among those submitted by the consistant. The Jury will communicate the pieces after each session of the competition.
The candidates are requested to be at the City Hall of Torrita di Siena, Piazza Matteotti, 10 – TORRITA DI SIENA, on Friday April 12st, 2019 (timing to be communicated). The order in which they are performed will be established by a public drawing lots.
The accompanist pianist will be available from Thursday Aprile 11th, 2018, from 11,00 a.m.
Any recording and/or video and/or audio broadcast of the various phases of the Competition, including the Final Concert of 11th Concorso Internazionale di Canto Lirico “Giulio Neri”, does not give the participants any right to compensation. The participants will be required to sign a release that waives any rights to recorded material that is published for promotional purposes
THE JURY
RICCARDO ZANELLATO – Basso (president)
VINCENZO DE VIVO – Artistic director of Accademia d'Arte Lirica - Osimo and Teatro delle Muse - Ancona
GIOVANNI OLIVA - Artistic Coordinator of Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte
ERNESTO PALACIO - Artistic director of Fondazione Rossini Opera Festival
TIZIANA TRAMONTI – Soprano and Teacher in Conservatorio G. B. Martini - Bologna
Artistic Director of the competition: Mrs. ELEONORA LEONINI – Pianist and Teacher of Conservatorio G.B. Martini - Bologna
Accompanist Pianists: ELEONORA LEONINI, LORENZO ORLANDI
The registration to the Competition implies the acceptance of this document (click here .pdf). In the event of dispute, the reference shall be the original Italian text.
BOOK YOUR STAY
Clcik here to discover the accomodations in Torrita di Siena
Secretary’s office:
FONDAZIONE CANTIERE INTERNAZIONALE D’ARTE DI MONTEPULCIANO
Via Fiorenzuola Vecchia, 5 – 53045 MONTEPULCIANO (SI)
Opening hours: Monday to Thursday 9 a.m - 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. - 7 p.m. - Friday 9 a.m - 1 p.m.
Tel. 0578/757007 – 757089
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - www.fondazionecantiere.it
NELLE SCARPE DI GIUFA', itinerant play in Sarteano on July 12th -13th - 14th -15th -18th -19th -20th -21th -22 th
BACH+, three piano concerts with Mariangela Vacatello on July 14th - 21st - 28th
The BACH+ project was born with the purpose of giving some performance opportunities to many promising young pianists of the Henze Music Institute and other important institutions such as the Musical High School of Arezzo and the conservatoires of Firenze and Terni. The concerts for two, three and four pianos by J. S. Bach ( WV 1060-1065), split over three evenings, provide to 16 pianists an opportunity to improve. The orchestral accompaniment will be provided in turn by the Archi Poliziani, RNCM Chamber Strings and the Montfort Quartett, augmented by other professionals performing at the Cantiere and the best students of the Henze Music Institute. Each evening will include the performance of a string orchestra and other soloists (the Italian premiere of Prelude and Fugue for guitar and orchestra by Lorenzo Turchi Floris, an Intermezzo for oboe and strings by Finzi, Britten’s Simple Symphony and Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten by Pärt). The young performers will be mentored by renowned pianists with a strong aptitude for teaching such as Mariangela Vacatello, Markus Bellheim, Cristina Capano, Alessandro Tricomi and Alessio Tiezzi. A fundamental premise of Cantiere is the meeting between young talents and professional musicians so that, with a spirit of mutual development, they can create events of unique artistic and educational importance.
THE IMPRESARIO IN ANGUSTIE, opera at Teatro Poliziano July 13th - 14th - 15th
[TICKETS ONLINE] The opera selected for the 43th Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte is The impresario in angustie by Domenico Cimarosa, a barely considered title in the eighteenth-century repertoire. For this new preparation, musicologist Enrico Massa reviewed the original manuscript dating back to the 1791's performance at Teatro Nuovo in Naples, preserved at the Library of the Conservatorio di San Pietro in Majella. In this metatheatrical play, we witness the realization of a play while facing indigence and troubles. A particular focus concerns the character of the soprano, who constantly asks for an aria to strenghten his protagonism: a parody of the egocentrism which becomes an existential question for the character, who embodies the fundamental questions of the festival: who am I? This is me or my character? This is me or just another aria I have to sing? We wonder if the question is dued to music or to our ego. At the same time emerges the dichotomy between life and death of the theatre: the impresario has to flee because of his poverty.
Following the spirit of the Cantiere, the play's new production will help the young musicians of the local Orchestra Poliziana and the singers of the Conservatorio "Luigi Cherubini" of Florence developing their skills, with Roland Böer as a guide and Caterina Panti Liberovici as director.
THE IMPRESARIO IN DISTRESS IS A SAD STORY
Director's notes by Caterina Panti Liberovici
It is a sad and miserable story for those who, like me, have the ambition - naive, perhaps, and at the same time arrogant - to believe in the theatre. Those of us who do, do so by fighting the daily battle of quality. We commit to discipline and intellectual honesty to the theatrical profession. We are ready, in the theatre, to look for ourselves, lose ourselves in the hope of finding ourselves again. Because the story of The Impresario in Distress tells only about miseries. There is indeed an impresario who brings together a company of artists, to put on a new performance. In addition to the singers, there is a Composer and a Poet to write the music and the libretto. The Poet has a rough draft of the first act, maybe even of the second. Once the group is reunited, however, they cannot even read the text. Their sniping, prejudices, self-interests, petty jealousies, the lack of both money and artistic ideals, destroys the group even before they start. The impresario, having suffered the humiliation of threats and scant advice, flees. The company dissolves. The theme of the "Theatre in the Theatre‘" has always sparked the appeal of self-congratulation in the world of opera and literature. The vast majority of texts that belong to this rich literary tradition manage to pull off the trick of Comedy in the Comedy, giving a happy ending: however complicated, diffcult and messy it is, the world of theatre is renewed by portraying itself and the hope that it is possible to continue doing so. In The Impresario in Distress, it isn’t. Yet, paradoxically, the work in its time was a huge success: it was performed throughout Europe, translated into many languages, but above all extensively reworked. In most cases, it is used as a framework and musical numbers are added to expand and transform it. Almost a unanimous desire to tell more, to deepen a dramatic aspect (ante litteram) of such an inher-ntly autobiographical story. Inevitably, however, we begin to question how this work as it is written, is an end in itself: how can we celebrate, in this metatheatrical context, the undoing of theatre itself? A thorny question. You could choose a loose direction, a pantomime, the perennial pastiche, following the ˿ow of story for what it is, where we, the actors on stage, portray ourselves as likeable
43rd CANTIERE INTERNAZIONALE D'ARTE: FROM THE 12th TO THE 29th JULY 2018, VITA MORTE MERAVIGLIE
The theme of the 43rd Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte is Vita Morte Meraviglie. From the 12th to 29th July 2018, Montepulciano and the Terre di Siena host more than 50 events, such as opera, musical theatre, dance, performances, symphonic events and chamber music. Renowned international artists and young talents meet in Montepulciano, in the most authentic atmosphere/meaning of the event conceived by Hans Werner Henze. The artistic direction of the maestro Roland Böer, together with the artistic coordination of Giovanni Oliva, explore different artistic expressions in order to get answers to the eternal questions of human questions.
Who am I? Who are you? What is the role we have to play in this big theatre which is the world? Will we succeed in this with no rehearse, as life is a straight debut? And more, who are truly we when we abandon our role, our costumes and our scenic equipment? When our life ends, what will remain of us?
The possible answers to these questions are about the opportunity of leaving something of our lives to friends, family, future generations, the time we will bow out. Each of us indeed play his own role at the best possible, or at least tries to do so, continuously searching for our own identity. These thoughts help us to overcome ignorance and avoid the temptations of our vain pride, our egocentricity. Arts therefore can enforce our self-awareness, our behaviour and the integrity needed to face the threat of civil, before natural, death.
To perform such an ambitious artistic programme, these are the artists and the main formations that will take part into the 43rd Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte:
ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DI DANZA | ASSOCIAZIONE ITALIANA DANZATORI con FRANCESCA MOMMO
MARKUS BELLHEIM | ROLAND BÖER | CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY ORCHESTRA con NAOMI WOO
ALDO CAPUTO | COMPAGNIA DEGLI ARRISCHIANTI / LAURA FATINI | COMPAGNIA LOMBARDI-TIEZZI
CORALE POLIZIANA | MARIA PAOLA CORDELLA & THEATRE EN VOL
DORTMUNDER KAMMERCHOR con FABIO MANCINI
LIAT DROR & NIR BEN GAL DANCE COMPANY | DUO ARIA SONORA | JOSÉ FARDILHA
FABRIZIO FESTA & MATERELETTRICA ENSEMBLE | MARCO FILIBERTI
DANIELE GIORGI | LUCA GUGLIELMI | SARA MINGARDO | MAURO MONTALBETTI
MONTFORT QUARTETT | ORCHESTRA POLIZIANA | ALICE PASQUINI CATERINA PANTI LIBEROVICI |
QUARTETTO ASCANIO
RNCM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA MANCHESTER | ANTONELLA SIMONETTI
FLAVIO TANZI & BLOW UP PERCUSSION | ALESSIO TIEZZI | TRIO VOX | MARIANGELA VACATELLO
VALENTINA VALENTE | JÖRG WINKLER | MICHELE ZACCARIA
and more to be announced
DANIELE GIORGI | LUCA GUGLIELMI | SARA MINGARDO | MAURO MONTALBETTI
MONTFORT QUARTETT | ORCHESTRA POLIZIANA | ALICE PASQUINI
CATERINA PANTI LIBEROVICI | QUARTETTO ASCANIO
RNCM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA MANCHESTER | ANTONELLA SIMONETTI
FLAVIO TANZI & BLOW UP PERCUSSION | ALESSIO TIEZZI | TRIO VOX | MARIANGELA VACATELLO
VALENTINA VALENTE | JÖRG WINKLER | MICHELE ZACCARIA
and more to be announced
43rd CANTIERE INTERNAZIONALE D'ARTE: FROM THE 12th TO THE 29th JULY '18, VITA MORTE MERAVIGLIE
The theme of the 43rd Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte is Vita Morte Meraviglie. From the 12th to 29th July 2018, Montepulciano and the Terre di Siena host more than 50 events, such as opera, musical theatre, dance, performances, symphonic events and chamber music. Renowned international artists and young talents meet in Montepulciano, in the most authentic atmosphere/meaning of the event conceived by Hans Werner Henze. The artistic direction of the maestro Roland Böer, together with the artistic coordination of Giovanni Oliva, explore different artistic expressions in order to get answers to the eternal questions of human questions.
Who am I? Who are you? What is the role we have to play in this big theatre which is the world? Will we succeed in this with no rehearse, as life is a straight debut? And more, who are truly we when we abandon our role, our costumes and our scenic equipment? When our life ends, what will remain of us?
The possible answers to these questions are about the opportunity of leaving something of our lives to friends, family, future generations, the time we will bow out. Each of us indeed play his own role at the best possible, or at least tries to do so, continuously searching for our own identity. These thoughts help us to overcome ignorance and avoid the temptations of our vain pride, our egocentricity. Arts therefore can enforce our self-awareness, our behaviour and the integrity needed to face the threat of civil, before natural, death.
To perform such an ambitious artistic programme, these are the artists and the main formations that will take part into the 43rd Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte:
ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DI DANZA | ASSOCIAZIONE ITALIANA DANZATORI con FRANCESCA MOMMO
MARKUS BELLHEIM | ROLAND BÖER | CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY ORCHESTRA con NAOMI WOO
ALDO CAPUTO | COMPAGNIA DEGLI ARRISCHIANTI / LAURA FATINI | COMPAGNIA LOMBARDI-TIEZZI
CORALE POLIZIANA | MARIA PAOLA CORDELLA & THEATRE EN VOL
DORTMUNDER KAMMERCHOR con FABIO MANCINI
LIAT DROR & NIR BEN GAL DANCE COMPANY | DUO ARIA SONORA | JOSÉ FARDILHA
FABRIZIO FESTA & MATERELETTRICA ENSEMBLE | MARCO FILIBERTI
DANIELE GIORGI | LUCA GUGLIELMI | SARA MINGARDO | MAURO MONTALBETTI
MONTFORT QUARTETT | ORCHESTRA POLIZIANA | ALICE PASQUINI
CATERINA PANTI LIBEROVICI | QUARTETTO ASCANIO
RNCM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA MANCHESTER | ANTONELLA SIMONETTI
FLAVIO TANZI & BLOW UP PERCUSSION | ALESSIO TIEZZI | TRIO VOX | MARIANGELA VACATELLO
VALENTINA VALENTE | JÖRG WINKLER | MICHELE ZACCARIA
and more to be announced
INTERNATIONAL SINGING COMPETITION "GIULIO NERI", 6th - 8th APRIL 2018, TORRITA DI SIENA
The International Singing Competition “Giulio Neri”, in its 10th edition, will take place in Torrita di Siena, Italy, from April 6th till 8th, 2018. The competition is open to male and female singers of all nationalities and ages.
REGISTRATION
Deadline: March 20th, 2018.
The Candidate must provide the following documents:
- Completed registration on-line form
- Curriculum Vitae (to be sent via e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
- Payment (subscription fee 70,00 euro)
The electronic application form and the above mentioned documents must be sent no later than Tuesday, March 20th, 2018.
PAYMENT METHODS
The fee of 70 euros must be paid to the following accounts of “Fondazione Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte”.
- Bank transfer IBAN code: IT96G0848925601000000901427 (Swift Code: ICRA IT RR DL 0) - Description: 10th CONCORSO GIULIO NERI - ISCRIZIONE - first and last name.
- PayPal adressed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Message: 10th CONCORSO GIULIO NERI- ISCRIZIONE - first and last name
If the payment will not been made on time the candidate will not be accepted.
Accompanist pianists will be made available to the singer; however, contestants may be accompanied at their own expenses by a pianist of their own choice.
The competition consist of three parts: Preliminary, Semifinal and Final in concert form on Sunday (April 8th at 4 p.m.). There will be a special aword by the audience. The winners will receive their awords only if they will be present at the final concert. The members of the Jury are not allowed to judge any contestants with family-ties or teaching relationship. In that case they have to declare such condition before the competition. The Artistic Director will participate the judge session and will have the right of vote in case of even score.
All the candidates are supposed to present four complete opera arias in their original language and tone.
PRIZES
First prize -> € 2.000,00
Second prize -> € 1.000,00
Third prize -> € 500,00
Special Prizes:
- Prize "Giulio Neri" -> € 500,00 offered by Comune di Torrita di Siena to the best Bass in memory of G. Neri
- Audience prize -> € 400,00
- Young talents prize -> € 300,00 offered by Amedeo Monfardini to the young singers born since January 1st 1991.
- Rossini prize -> € 300,00 offered by Amedeo Monfardini to the best performance of a Rossini's aria, if presented
Possible participation in Opera production of Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte di Montepulciano.
It is up to the jury to withdraw any of the awarding prizes.
It will not be possible to change the list of opera arias after March 10th, 2016.
The preliminary part will take place as follows: performance of two pieces chosen by the contestant among those presented. The jury may interrupt the performance of a piece at any time. The semifinal and final part will take place as follow: performance of pieces chosen by the Jury among those submitted by the consistant. The Jury will communicate the pieces after each session of the competition.
The candidates are requested to be at the City Hall of Torrita di Siena, Piazza Matteotti, 10 – TORRITA DI SIENA, on Friday April 1st, 2016 at 11 a.m. The order in which they are performed will be established in the presence of the participants. The accompanist pianist will be available from Thursday March 31th, 2016, from 11 a.m.
Any recording and/or video and/or audio broadcast of the various phases of the Competition, including the Final Concert of 9th Concorso di Canto “Giulio Neri”, does not give the participants any right to compensation. The participants will be required to sign a release that waives any rights to recorded material that is published for promotional purposes
THE JURY
RICCARDO ZANELLATO – Basso (president)
GIANLUCA MARCIANÒ – Conductor - Main conductor at Serbian National Theatre Novi Sad
GIOVANNI OLIVA - Coordinatore Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte
GIANNI TANGUCCI - Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
TIZIANA TRAMONTI – Soprano and Teacher in Conservatorio di Bologna
Artistic Director of the competition: Mrs. ELEONORA LEONINI – Teacher of Conservatorio "G.B. Martini" - Bologna
Accompanist Pianists: ELEONORA LEONINI, LORENZO ORLANDI
The registration to the Competition implies the acceptance of this document (click here .pdf). In the event of dispute, the reference shall be the original Italian text.
Secretary’s office:
FONDAZIONE CANTIERE INTERNAZIONALE D’ARTE DI MONTEPULCIANO
Via Fiorenzuola Vecchia, 5 – 53045 MONTEPULCIANO (SI)
Opening hours: Monday to Thursday 9 a.m - 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. - 7 p.m. - Friday 9 a.m - 1 p.m.
Tel. 0578/757007 – 757089
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - www.fondazionecantiere.it