To celebrate the 200 years since the birth of Giuseppe Verdi, the Auditorium at the Ciocco hotel was standing room only this evening as more than 900 guests enjoyed the Annual Charity New Years Concert with all proceeds going to Amatafrica and their mission in Muhura, Rwanda.
Not just an ordinary concert of music by Verdi but an attempt to understand something more behind the man with readings from the actor Dario Cantarelli interspersed with music from The ensemble Cameristi del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino with their conductor, Domenico Pierini, Soprano – Silvana Froli and Tenore – Giulio Pelligra.
After Italy was unified in 1861, many of Verdi’s early operas were re-interpreted as Risorgimento works with hidden Revolutionary messages that probably had not been intended by either the composer or librettist. Beginning in Naples in 1859 and spreading throughout Italy, the slogan “Viva VERDI” was used as an acronym for Viva Vittorio Emanuele Re D’Italia (Viva Victor Emmanuel King of Italy), referring to Victor Emmanuel II, then king of Sardinia
Dario Cantarelli was born on September 16, 1945 in Isola Dovarese, Cremona, Italy. He is an actor, known for La grande bellezza (2013), La stanza del figlio (2001) and Habemus Papam (2011).
Soprano – Silvana Froli – her site can be seen here – – “voce importante e brunita…tecnica salda…strumento vocale potente, dotato di un caldo metallo di rara matrice… […] una linea di canto accorta soprattutto nel dosaggio dei piani e dei forti.” – Giornale di Sicilia
Tenore – Giulio Pelligra – Tenore nato a Catania, comincia i suoi studi musicali come pianista ed in seguito in canto lirico. Ha frequentato vari master di stile e tecnica vocale con Romolo Guglielmo Gazzani, Renato Bruson, Barbara Frittoli e Luciana Serra.
È stato finalista e vincitore di numerosi concorsi lirici come il Concorso Salvatore Cicero e Giovanni Pacini. Nel 2013 é finalista presso il Concorso As.Li.Co di Como.
Guilio Pelligra ha interpretato il ruolo di Almaviva/IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA al Teatro Civico La Spezia e al Teatro Nazionale di Malta, Rinuccio in GIANNI SCHICCHI sempre a Malta, e Romeo in ROMEO ET JULIETTE nei teatri di Pisa, Ravenna, Trento e Rovigo, Alfredo in LA TRAVIATA al Luglio Musicale Trapanese, Rodolfo/LA BOHEME al Grand Théatre Genéve in una produzione dell´Operastudio. Ha interpretato Nemorino in L`ELISIR D´AMORE al Teatro Greco di Taormina, al Teatro Comunale in Piacenza e Bolzano, e al Festival di Massa Marittima und con L´orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana a Palermo.
Il suo repertorio comprende anche la MESSA DA REQUIEM di Mozart e STABAT MATER e PETITE MESSE SOLENNELLE di Rossini.
Domenico Pierini – Violinist and Orchestra Conductor born in Livorno in 1967.
He studied with Moshè Murvitz and Roberto Michelucci.
He graduated in Pietro Mascagni School of Music in 1987 with maximum voting and awarded by the Italian Ministry of Culture.
In 1987 he was invited to join in the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice Concertmaster-Assistent.
In 1988 he was invited to join the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino by Zubin Mehta who appointed him as concertmaster the following year.
He has collaborated with the most outstanding personalities of the contemporary music scene. He has been concertmaster at the Teatro Lirico Orchestra in Cagliari, Barcellona Symphonic Orchestra, Bilbao Symphonic Orchestra, and the Teatro La Fenice Orchestra in Venice.
In 1999 Giuseppe Sinopoli invited him to be concertmaster at the Teatro dell’Opera Orchestra in Rome and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.
In 2004 Riccardo Muti has appointed him concertmaster of the Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and Filarmonica della Scala Orchestra.
Upon invitation by Claudio Abbado, he has collaborated with the Luzern Festival Orchestra since 2002 to 2007.
Founder of the Luzern Festival’s String Sextet together with Thomas Ruge (Munchener Philarmoniker) and Diemut Poppen, he performed with at the Luzern Festival in 2005 and at the Parco della Musica in Rome.
In 1993 he performed the first italian performance of “Capriccio” for Violin Cello and Orchestra By Rolf Liebermann (Liebermann’s transcription from “Capriccio” for soprano, violin and orchestra (1959).
He performed the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra by Robert Schumann in Palermo with the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana in two Concert Seasons.
He performed the integral of Violin Sonate by R.Schumann in S.Giminiano Festival and recordings in 1996 integral Violin Sonate by Paul Hindemith.
He has received favourable reviews playing under the direction of Zubin Mehta, in W.A.Mozart Violin Concerto k.219, F.J.Haydn Sinfonia Concertante and especially for the violin-solo of Richard Strauss’ Heldenleben at the Musikverein of Wien in 2011 and Maurice Ravel’s Tzigane, with Zubin Mehta as well. He has also performed the soloist parts with Severino Gazzelloni, Franco Petracchi,Elio Boncompagni, Alessandro Specchi.
He performed the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra by Robert Schumann in Palermo with the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana in two Concert Seasons.
Thanks to Zubin Mehta, the Fondazione Peterlongo, and the Teatro del Maggio, Domenico Pierini plays a 1767 Giovan Battista Guadagnini violin which formerly belonged to Joseph Joachim.
Nella stagione 2011/12 ha debuttato Beppe/I PAGLIACCI al Teatro Comunale Ravenna e al Teatro Lucca, L`ELISIR D´AMORE al Bregenzer Landestheater in Austria e con la Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra ha interpretato il ruolo di Riccardo ne I QUATTRO RUSTEGHI di Wolf-Ferrari.
Al Teatro Massimo di Palermo ha debuttato il ruolo di Sebas ne DER KONIG VON KANDAULES di Zemlinsky e nel Marzo 2013 il ruolo di Ismaele in NABUCCO.
The ensemble Cameristi del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino was founded on the initiative of Maestro Domenico Pierini, leader of the symphony orchestra of the same name.
All of its members are esteemed musicians and players of the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, with which they have reached musical maturity and excellence under the guidance of Maestro Zubin Mehta.
The Cameristi del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and their main conductor Maestro Pierini have the honoUr of representing all over the world the name of the Florentine theater.
Endowed with the typical bright Italian sound, they constantly shape their interpretation in order to tune their timbre and phrasing to meet the expressive demands of a wide repertoire, covering the great Italian instrumental music of the Eighteenth century, the European romanticism and also the various artistic streams of the Twentieth century.
