Opera Tickets Italy

A concert programme of music by three remarkable Italian composers of the late Romantic period and early 20th century, conducted by the Turin-born maestro Francesco Cilluffo, takes place at Teatro Malibran in Venice. Works by Ottorino Respighi, Ildebrando Pizzetti and Alberto Franchetti feature on the bill, providing a rare opportunity to hear some lesser-performed gems of orchestral music. Cilluffo, who serves as the Principal Guest Conductor of the Wexford Festival Opera in Ireland, leads the esteemed La Fenice Orchestra, an ensemble that is highly regarded for its interpretations of the orchestral repertoire.

The concert opens with a powerful rendition of Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 1, by Respighi. The composer, who was born in 1879, is now regarded as one of the leading lights of Italian music in the early part of the 20th century, notably for his tone poems. This piece reveals a different side to his approach to tonality and orchestration, however. Rather than beginning with an entirely new musical idea, Respighi drew from Italy's past musical traditions, adapting lute pieces from the Renaissance and early Baroque periods. He transcribed and reimagined these often intimate works for orchestra, subtly bringing richer, more colourful textures to the fore. The suite was first performed on 16 December 1917 in Rome.

The programme continues with Pizzetti's Three Orchestral Preludes for Oedipus Rex. Originally composed in 1904 as music for a Milan production of Sophocles' famous play Oedipus Rex, the pieces were later revised by the composer for the concert hall. Pizzetti went on to conduct them in this new form at their premiere in December 1919. Each piece explores themes from Sophocles' tragedy, rather than accompanying particular scenes. Like other of Pizzetti's works, the preludes draw from the Romantic traditions that preceded them as well as the composer's growing interest in ancient Greek drama and earlier Italian musical traditions.

Alberto Franchetti's Symphony in E minor constitutes the concert's rousing finale. Written in 1884, the four-movement work was composed while Franchetti was a student at the Dresden Conservatory for his graduation examination. Like Pizzetti's preludes, this symphony is an example of late-Romantic music. Indeed, it follows some of the then-established norms of the German symphonic tradition. Today, it is often seen as a colourfully scored and evocative orchestral work. It was first performed in 1886, two years after Franchetti completed his studies.

With the skilled Francesco Cilluffo taking to the podium of Venice's Teatro Malibran to conduct a concert of three Italian composers’ works spanning the late Romantic and early modern eras, this programme is sure to please all lovers of richly expressive orchestral music.