Something new and different will be on stage for the two recitals of November 19 and 20 at the Teatro del Giglio. An edition not to be missed, above all to witness the work of the stage de- signer Italo Grassi, who decided to update the production in terms of staging and costumes, setting it at the end of the eigh- teenth century, when Puccini actually wrote La Bohème.
Previous productions were always set in 1840.
This results in a different ambience, reflecting the atmo-
sphere of the time, in the attic paintings from French Impressionism, with their vivacious colours, and in Rodolfo and his companions, full of joie de vivre. The attic is filled with strong, bright figurative art from the late 1800's. At the opera's end, the attic reflects the situation of the moment: il- lustrative desolation for the death of Mimì and the
internal desolation of the young men.
To emphasize the circularity of the opera, it be-
gins and ends in the attic.
In the past there have been three intervals, one af-
ter each act. Now, on the other hand, the scenery has been conceived to avoid pauses between one act and another, which could break up the complex theatri- cal unity. The scene shifters come onto the stage to manually shift the elements that project the specta- tors into the atmosphere of the successive act.
Here then is another new feature: a single long in- terval between the second and third acts.
The cast is composed of very young, talented people, chosen from among eighty candidates. Rodolfo is Marco Frusoni and Mimì Jessica Nuccio. All the scenes are assembled by carpen- ters and painters in the theater laboratory located outside the Walls, whilst the costumes have been hired from the Teatro dell'Opera of Rome.
I met Italo Grassi, the stage designer, a hand- some young man with a smashing background. Let me mention his latest accomplishment. In 2010 he made the scenery for Mozart's La Betulla Liberata, which was directed by Marco Gandini for the Salzburg festival, with the conductor Riccardo Muti. Grassi also works a lot in Japan, where they
adore our music.
He explained to me how his work is accomplished. He first
makes a three-dimensional model for each act, to specify the di- mensions and volumes of the scenes so that the workers can pre- pare the staging, and then he make the models, as shown here.
La Bohème, directed by Marco Gandini and conducted by Elio Boncompagni, will tour the Theaters of Pisa, Ravenna and Livorno.
Teatro del Giglio box office tel. 0583 465320, e.mail: biglietteria @teatrodelgiglio.it
For further information see What's On page 12
For more information about Italo Grassi, www.italograssi.it
info@casalesodini.com
