REQUIEM (VERDI)

Some theatres are filled with history. Every single plank of the stage, every last rope hanging from the wooden roof structure holds the memories of countless months spent on stage, of artists and technicians creating magic and beauty. This Requiem is first meant as a tribute to this theatre, as a way to open it up and lead the audience inside its gut.

CALENDAR

Theatres are like ships, in that they are places built for travelling. The former take us on inner travels to our subconscious; the latter carry us at sea to faraway waters. In this Requiem, we depict a lighter side of the passing and the afterworld, as if they were part of a dream, as if whatever happens after –despite everyone’s fears– will be luminous and magical. Sometimes we are like blindfolded, oblivious to our surroundings. In this show, the innocence of a child will help us take off on a weightless flight above the dense and restless sea, this emotional storm that Verdi left us for a destination.

We were having dinner with Maestro Gergiev on the opening night of Aida last year, when Julie came up with this idea that we are now bringing to life a year later: to tell a story of lightness while navigating the emotion-filled waters of this extraordinary score, and to have a blindfolded choir and a child suspended to a myriad of light bulbs, flying high above the heads of the soloists, over the orchestra pit, and into the dreams of the spectators.

Daniele Finzi Pasca