Wednesday, 7th September | 21.00
PALAZZO VENEZIA | GIARDINO RITROVATO | 50′
Thursday, 8th September | 19.00
LA PELANDA | SALA 1 | 50′
theatre/music
LUṢ
concerto performance by Ermanna Montanari, Luigi Ceccarelli, Daniele Roccato
text Nevio Spadoni
music Luigi Ceccarelli, Daniele Roccato
voice Ermanna Montanari
live electronics Luigi Ceccarelli
double-bass Daniele Roccato
director Marco Martinelli
sets and costumes Margherita Manzelli, Ermanna Montanari
Bêlda’s dress designed by Margherita Manzelli
background animation with original works by Margherita Manzelli
curated by Margherita Manzelli, Alessandro Tedde, Francesco Tedde
sound design Marco Olivieri
lighting design Francesco Catacchio
technical direction Fagio
montage and video editing Alessandro Tedde, Francesco Tedde – Antropotopia
props created by the Teatro delle Albe technical team Alessandro Bonoli, Fabio Ceroni, Enrico Isola, Dennis Masotti, Francesca Pambianco
dressmaking Laura Graziani Alta Moda
press office Silvia Pacciarini, Rosalba Ruggeri
promotion and organization Silvia Cassanelli, Silvia Pagliano
production Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione
in collaboration with Teatro delle Albe/Ravenna Teatro
Ermanna Montanari and Luigi Ceccarelli have created unforgettable pages of theatre-in-music, from L’Isola di Alcina to La mano, Teatro delle Albe shows which have marked the history of Italian theatre over the last two decades. Now they take on LUṢ (Light), a poem by Nevio Spadoni in Romagnol dialect, set in the early 20th century and centred around Bêlda, a clairvoyant and healer from the Romagna countryside. A powerful female figure, victim of the hypocrisy of her village, who in her proud cry of revolt against the cowardice of men allows herself to cast a curse of death on a “lousy priest” guilty of having disinterred her mother’s body. In this concerto Spadoni’s prayer-curse text is coupled with an original sound architecture created by Ceccarelli and Roccato (solo double-bassist and composer, one of the most original and prestigious names on the international music scene) in an alchemy that sees on stage three figures duelling with their “instruments”: the kaleidoscopic voice of Montanari, Ceccarelli with his computer for electronic processing in real time, and Roccato with his double-bass. Directed by Marco Martinelli, LUṢ is a concerto that recounts without recounting the incantatory magic of sounds, as ancient as the world, embodied with force in our present, in the sick and blinded “faces”, in the whirls of colour, blood and mercurochrome painted in watercolour by Margherita Manzelli.
BIOGRAPHY
Ermanna Montanari is an actress, author, set designer and founding member of the Teatro delle Albe. For her work as actress-author, and in particular for her extraordinary vocal research, she has won prestigious awards: three Ubu Prizes as “best Italian actress”; “Golden Laurel” at the International Festival Mess in Sarajevo as “best actress”; Lo straniero Prize “dedicated to the memory of Carmelo Bene”; Eleonora Duse Prize. In 2011 she was artistic director of the International Festival of Santarcangelo. She has published in various literary magazines and theatre books: Ubulibri, “The Open Page”, “Teatro e Storia”, Titivillus, Luca Sossella Editore. In 2012 Titivillus published her biography by Laura Mariani Ermanna Montanari: fare disfare rifare nel Teatro delle Albe.
Luigi Ceccarelli, since the 1970s, has been dedicated to the composition of electro-acoustic music with special attention to sound space, obtaining various international prizes such as IMEB of Bourges, Ars Elettronica of Linz, the “Hear” prize from Hungarian television, the “Opus” prize from the “Conseil de la Musique du Quebec”. He works as a musician in a theatre context with several companies including the Teatro delle Albe and Fanny & Alexander. He won the Ubu Prize for these compositions, plus prizes from the Bitef Festival of Belgrade and the Festival Mess in Sarajevo. He is one of the founders of Edison Studio with which he created the soundtracks of various films in the 1910s. He holds the chair of Electronic Music at the Perugia Conservatory.
Daniele Roccato, solo double-bass player and composer, has played at many of the most prestigious festivals and concert halls worldwide, often presenting his own compositions. Sofia Gubaidulina declared him: “a genius… his interpretation completely overwhelmed me. I’ve never heard a double-bass played in this way” (RAI RadioTre). He founded the ensemble of double-basses “Ludus Gravis”. As composer and performer he is active in the worlds of dance (Virgilio Sieni) and contemporary theatre (Teatro delle Albe, Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio, Vitaliano Trevisan). In the field of improvised creation he has realised projects with Mark Dresser, Vinko Globokar, Garth Knox, Joëlle Léandre, Thollem McDonas, Butch Morris, Barre Phillips, Dominique Pifarély, Michele Rabbia and Terry Riley. He has recorded for ECM, Wergo and Sony.
Nevio Spadoni has published several collections of poetry in Romagnol including Par su cont, A caval dagli ór, and theatre monologues such as Luṣ and La Pérsa. His work appears in various Italian and foreign anthologies and he contributes to literary magazines. He has received prestigious awards including the “Guido Gozzano” prize, one of the most important Italian literary awards, for Cal parôl fati in ca. For his text L’isola di Alcina, staged by the Teatro delle Albe, he was nominated “best Italian newcomer” at the Ubu Prize. Numerous poets and critics have dealt with his work, among whom Mario Luzi, Gianni Celati, Franco Loi, Ezio Raimondi, Giorgio Bàrberi Squarotti and Clelia Martignoni.
Margherita Manzelli is one of the foremost painters on the contemporary art scene and has been presented to the public at large through solo and collective exhibitions: Castello di Rivoli and Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin, MAXXI in Rome, Maramotti Collection in Reggio Emilia, Palazzo Reale, Studio Guenzani and Viafarini in Milan, Palazzo Grassi in Venice, Whitechapel, ICA and Greengrassi in London, Centre d’Art Contemporain in Geneva, Art Institute, MCA in Chicago, Moma in New York, Hammer Museum of Art in Los Angeles, Kimmerich Berlin, XXV Biennial of São Paulo, VI Biennial of Istanbul, 50th Venice Biennale. Prizes include: Prix Fondation Princesse Grace de Monte Carlo, Gold Medal Premio Amici di Milano and the Premio di Benemerita della Cultura e dell’Arte, awarded by the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali.
Marco Martinelli is founder, playwright and director of the Teatro delle Albe. Since his debut in theatre he has received numerous acknowledgements as director and writer: four Ubu Prizes as director, playwright and educator; Premio Hystrio; “Golden Laurel” at the international Festival Mess in Sarajevo; “Career Achievement Prize” at the international Tunisian festival Journées théâtrales de Carthage. His texts are published in Italy and abroad and also staged in France, Belgium, Germany, Romania and the United States.
