Festival Como Città della Musica
Como – Arena Teatro Sociale and other places in town
29.6 – 16.7 2023
Festival Como Città della Musica
16. Su noi gli astri brilleranno
Opera, music and dance
downtown, framed in the magic atmosphere at the Arena
surrounded by the historical Teatro Sociale and the Duomo…
And more… musical events in the most charming and unusual places
all around the town centre, from dawn to dusk…
Ten years after the first time in 2013, the Arena of the Teatro Sociale in Como Is still the chosen location by the Festival Como Città della Musica, always directed and organised by the Teatro Sociale Como, in collaboration with the Società dei Palchettisti and with the support of the Municipality of Como, with the shared idea that culture plays a fundamental role in the development of the city, both for citizens and tourists.
The title for this sixteenth edition, a foretaste of the theme of the forthcoming Season Night 2023-24, is linked to the stars and celestial bodies and, as per tradition, is taken from AsLiCo’s participatory opera that will open the Festival: Su noi gli astri brilleranno (on us stars will shine) is indeed a quote from the duet between Aida and Radames.
Aida by Giuseppe Verdi is the 9th edition of 200.Com A project for the city, the AsLiCo project that has become a distinctive and characterising element of the Festival and awarded several times, in 2014 with the prestigious Opera Awards, in the Accessibility category, while in 2016 it received the Abbiati Prize, named after Filippo Siebaneck.
The opera will be on stage on Thursday 29th June, Saturday 1st and Monday 3rd July at 9 p.m.
Shaping Verdi’s title in the Arena of the Teatro Sociale in Como will be Alessio Pizzech, an all-round showman: multifaceted in his activities, both in prose and musical theatre, as well as artistic director of cultural institutions and projects. Defined at a very young age by critics as one of the most significant Italian directors, with extraordinary energy Pizzech has staged around 150 shows between prose and opera, collaborating with all the major Italian theatres and festivals, and for the first time with AsLiCo and the Teatro Sociale in Como.
This directorial vision of Aida, increasingly suspended in time and space, in a flow between mythical past and post-modern future, will have as its stage a great pyramid, around which the whole affair will revolve.
Alongside the director, the other key figure will be the conductor: conducting Aida will be M° Enrico Lombardi, now well known to Como audiences for having conducted G. Rossini’s La Cenerentola in the “Opera domani” 2022 project and OperaLombardia’s La traviata last December.
Besides the creative team and professional singers, there will of course be the 200.Com Chorus with more than 200 amateur singers, the heart of AsLiCo’s participatory project, directed by M° Massimo Fiocchi Malaspina.
Other performances await the public in the Arena.
The second evening will be dedicated to Candlelight, a concert format founded by Fever with live music in an atmosphere created by the light of candles on stage. Two concerts are scheduled for Tuesday July 4, performed by the Arceus String Quartet: at 9 p.m. a Tribute to Ennio Morricone and his Soundtracks, and at 11 p.m. a Tribute to Queen.
On Saturday July 8 a not-to-be-missed rendezvous with great dance: the principal dancers, soloists and corps de ballet of the Teatro alla Scala, under the baton of Director Manuel Legris, will perform a programme that includes pieces and excerpts from classical and modern titles, for an evening of the highest quality. The Teatro Sociale in Como is particularly linked to La Scala and known by the nickname “Piccola Scala”, since having hosted numerous performances of the Milanese theatre after the WWII bombing in 1943.
On Sunday July 9, in collaboration with MyNina Spettacoli, space will be given to Italian music starring a great singer-songwriter: Eugenio Finardi will be on tour with Euphonia Suite, accompanied by two extraordinary musicians, pianist Mirko Signorile and Raffaele Casarano on sax.
On Tuesday July 11, the Milan Symphony Orchestra will perform an extraordinary tribute concert to cinema legend John Williams: from Star Wars to Harry Potter, his most beautiful and famous soundtracks from the 1970s to the present day will resound throughout the Arena.
Friday July 14 Fellini’s Circus by Compagnia Artemis Danza will see its national debut. The magic of the circus and its characters comes alive in this show full of games and colours where dance and circus art intertwine, recreating the wonderful world of Federico Fellini, in an atmosphere full of poetry and emotion.
On Saturday July 15, the Arena stage will host Irene Grandi in Me in Blues, a concert paying homage to the blues: a journey consisting of songs spanning from the 1960s to the 1990s, songs that are blues in soul and inspiration, interspersed with some of Irene’s own songs, rearranged in a rock-blues key.
On Sunday July 16, a big party organised by SFM srl will close this 16th edition: A-real aims to be a ‘one day festival’, in which from 6 p.m. till deep into the night the Arena will come to life thanks to a main and a cloud stage, street food and non-stop music.
INTORNO AL FESTIVAL
The Festival, however, does not stop at the Arena.
Numerous not-to-be-missed appointments for the review Intorno al Festival, all with free admission, scattered around the city in enchanting and renowned locations, as well as in other lesser-known but socially important ones.
Alongside the unfailing concerts at dawn at Villa del Grumello and at dusk (with a promenade) at the Torre del Baradello, there are also shows for children organised by Opera Education in parks and neighbourhoods, such as in Tavernola and Rebbio, music in the houses of the Cooperativa Edificatrice in Via Viganò and in the Casa Vincenziana in Via Primo Tatti, and many more.
Thanks to the collaboration with the Municipality of Como, the public will also have the opportunity to visit the Fallen Soldiers’ Monument, which will be open on the occasion of the concert on July 9, and thanks to Slow Lake Como, go up the Baradello Tower on June 30.
RESIDENT ARTISTS
Since the 2022-23 Night Season, as part of CoMo – Como nel Mondo, Teatro Sociale Como has started hosting an internationally recognised artist from the Como area per year.
For the 2023 Festival and the 2023-24 Season, the resident musical artist will be Mattia Petrilli, a famous flutist from Como and today First Flute of the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, who will perform on July 6 at the Hilton Hotel and then later in a concert during the next Theatre Season. He will also be joined by a resident visual artist, Luca Gandola, who will exhibit paintings on the Teatro alla Scala Ballet performance, and other themed works during the Season.
COLLABORATIONS
As always, Festival Como Città della Musica aims to be a festival of high quality and wide international scope, strongly tourist-oriented, but well connected to the territory, thanks to the choice of venues, inside and outside the city centre, and the numerous collaborations with various associations and organisations, engaging the area’s commercial and tourist activities.
Important this year is the synergy created with Confcommercio Como.
“The Teatro Sociale Como has always been considered by the people of Como as a place of fundamental importance for its role in disseminating culture and fostering sociability. – says Graziano Monetti – Director of Confcommercio Como – Nonetheless, it takes on importance for Italian enthusiasts and for the many foreign tourists visiting our wonderful territory. Confcommercio Como is proud to be able to renew its collaboration with the Theatre of Como once again this year, engaging the associated commercial activities that, through their shop windows, will help to disseminate the rich and prestigious programme of events. Moreover, the accommodation activities will invite their guests to live the extraordinary experience of the Theatre.
Inspired by the stars to recall Aida and to help create a magical and engaging atmosphere in the city, we are therefore working together with our Associates to give the 2023 Theatre Season the results it deserves for the benefit of the entire Community”.
The aim of Teatro Sociale, in fact, is to see a city ‘dressed up for the Festival’, with shops and restaurants themed to create a unicum, to be part of a vision of the city that focuses on cultural tourism, thus creating a network with museums and activities and participating in major tourism fairs.
OFF THE FESTIVAL
During the weeks of the Festival, a new AsLiCo project will make its debut. Opera Education has created Opera white, an educational-musical pathway for institutionalised elderly citizens, inspired by the experience of AsLiCo’s other formats for children and youngsters, with the aim of overcoming loneliness within RSA (assisted living residences) and creating socialisation activities among the elderly and inclusion with the community in which they live. This first edition will see the project develop during the month of June within four RSA (RSA Le Camelie-Ca’d’industria and Pensionato San Giuseppe of Como, Casa di riposo Prandoni in Torno, RSA Antonio Vivaldi in Cantù), then debuting in July with small participatory performances staged for guests and their families in the gardens and halls of these facilities.
Festival Como Città della Musica, directed and organised by Teatro Sociale Como, in collaboration with the Società dei Palchettisti, is promoted with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Lombardy Region, the Municipality of Como, the Cariplo Foundation, and with the patronage of the Como-Lecco Chamber of Commerce.
Tickets on sale online on www.comofestival.org and at the theatre box office from Saturday April 22 at 10 am.
