Capogrosso / Mahler, Nicola Luisotti
The Principal Guest Conductor of Madrid's Teatro Real, Nicola Luisotti, will be in charge of conducting the La Fenice Orchestra at Venice's prestigious Fenice Opera House in a varied programme featuring works by Fabio Massimo Capogrosso and Gustav Mahler. The programme opens with a new commission by Capogrosso who has written a piece to mark the 700th anniversary of the death of Marco Polo, the famous Venetian explorer. Following this work, the mood changes somewhat with a rendition of Mahler's Symphony No. 1 in D major, also known as Titan.
Located in the heart of Venice, the venue constitutes an ideal place to experience both Capogrosso's new work plus an established symphonic work that has been performed frequently since it was first played in 1889 at the Vigadó Concert Hall in Budapest. Mahler conceived his first symphony in four movements, opening with a modified sonata form for the first, relatively restrained section in D major. The tempo picks up a little in the second movement which is based on a folk dance and written in A major. The third movement has a funereal quality and shifts to a minor key while the finale consists of an energetic fourth movement that effortlessly moves from F minor to ultimately resolve in D major.
Capogrosso is a Perugian composer who was born in 1984. His other works have been performed in many venues around the world by the likes of the President's Trio of the University of South Florida, the Sestetto Stradivari of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia and Trio Solotarev, among others.
Maestro Nicola Luisotti has enjoyed an illustrious career. Among other notable achievements, he has served as Music Director of San Francisco Opera between 2009 and 2018, where he conducted over 40 operas and concerts. Luisotti has performed with the Vienna State Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Genoa's Teatro Carlo Felice and the Royal Opera House in London. He has also taken to the stage at Venice’s Gran Teatro La Fenice before while some of the remarkable orchestras he has worked with include the London Philharmonia Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra and the Tokyo Philharmonic.
With the chance to hear new music, a much-loved classic and an orchestra under the baton of a much-admired conductor, these concerts are sure to offer something special to all who attend.