The Teatro Verdi of Trieste, with the Lelio Luttazzi Foundation and the support of the FVG Region, pays homage, 101 years after his birth, to the eclectic genius of the Triestine Lelio Luttazzi, jazz musician, conductor, composer, actor, author, in short, a complete artist in music and in question, with a partly symphonic concert, in which the musical milieu of the great Lelio is contextualized thanks to music by Gershwin and Bernstein, partly dedicated to the solo piano of Danilo Rea, one of the greatest Italian jazz musicians of today
The life of Lelio Luttazzi is objectively a novel, but above all a Trieste novel: born in the city but moving with his mother to Prosecco after the early death of his father, Luttazzi lived his childhood in a totally Slovenian context, saying that he was the only Italian child in his elementary school class and from the Slovenian parish priest he learned the basics of the piano, then his instrument of reference throughout his very lively and successful career. A student at the Liceo Petrarca in Trieste, where he became friends with Italo Svevo’s nephew, then a law student still in the city for a few exams, he began playing the piano at Radio Trieste, then conducted the orchestra at the Politeama Theater for the then famous singer Bonino who is so impressed by the dazzling talent of the young man that he asks him to write him a song: Crazy Young Manrecorded immediately by Bonino, was a great success without Luttazzi’s knowledge, who only after the war received the SIAE proceeds from his work and thanks to these he moved to Milan where he truly began that extraordinary career which saw him as the protagonist of the Italian artistic rebirth after the dark years of the war, from theater to radio, television, cinema, both as a musician, but also as an actor and author.
A profoundly urban story, which fits perfectly into the new direction of the theater to bring the memories of the territory back to the city, now with Luttazzi, in June with Porta Divisoria by Giorgio Strehler.
The first part will see the solid violist and conductor with a long and happy career Piero Mianiti directing Verdi’s orchestra on Symphonic Dances by Bernstein from West Side Story And An American in Paris by Gershwin to introduce the musical spirit of the roaring post-war years, authentic cultural humus in which Lelio Luttazzi moved as a protagonist and showman; then in the second part of the concert a solo piano by the famous Italian jazz player Danilo Rea in homage to the great Lelio’s first love, the piano.
Underlines the Superintendent Giuliano Polo: “We joyfully welcomed the input of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region and the Lelio Luttazzi Foundation because we believe that the oldest city theater must not only disseminate and bring great music to its audience, but must also seize every opportunity to find a way in music to strengthen the cultural roots of our territory, for those who still remember them and want to enjoy them, but also for young people who need to hear them told. Remembering the extraordinary life of our fellow citizen Lelio Luttazzi and trying to evoke his spirit in music will be a beautiful moment for the whole city”
