The Department of Music co-sponsors two academic events devoted to experimental theater and opera director Romeo Castellucci, renowned all over the world for his theatre based on the totality of the arts, aimed at creating a comprehensive perception of the artwork. His works have been presented in Philadelphia by Fringe Arts, which has pioneered in the United States the performances by his company Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio.
The first event will be presented on Monday, November 20, at 6pm at the Annenberg Center (Prince Theatre, free of charge). It will feature a full screening of the film Orphée et Eurydice, the opera by C.W. Gluck (Berlioz version), which was directed by Castellucci and produced by Brussels’ La Monnaie in 2014, creating a sensation for its shocking concept and realization (running time: 90'). It will be introduced by Dr. Piersandra di Matteo, who was the dramaturge for the production. The myth of Orpheus offered Castellucci the opportunity to reflect on the unfathomable condition of being in a coma. Click here for the New York Times review of the premiere.
The second event will be presented in Williams Hall 543 (Cherpack Seminar Room) on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 5:30. It features a screening of the version of Claudio Monteverdi’s Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda first presented at the Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Bruxelles in 2000. For this event, Dr. Di Matteo, a longtime collaborator of Castellucci and currently one of the leading performance scholars and art curators in Italy, created a video interview to Castellucci.
The two events are curated by Prof. Mauro Calcagno and are co-sponsored by the Cinema Studies Program and the Center for Italian Studies.
