Opera, ballet, jazz and artistic revival performances in some of the most fascinating locations in Florence. And the Festivalino, an event that combines various classical disciplines by offering performances by highly talented young international performers. Designed and managed by Mascarade Opera Foundation (FMO), a non-profit organization based in Florence that deals with culture by offering high-level training and professional opportunities for emerging opera artists, will be held in various prestigious venues in the Tuscan capital from Thursday 30 May to Sunday 2 June 2024.
The Festivalino opens with a gala evening on Thursday 30 May at Palazzo Corsini al Prato, in via il Prato 56, home of the Mascarade Opera Foundation. The event will open with a concert by young students in one of the magnificent lemon houses in the garden, followed by a majestic inaugural dinner on an imperial table along the famous avenue of Roman statues. “The evening’s celebrations inaugurate the launch of two new artistic initiatives in support of the Foundation’s scholarships for the training of the most talented emerging opera artists in the world”explain FMO co-founders Frankie Parham and Roger Granville.
The first consists of a new cycle of ten portraits hanging in the Concert Hall. The portraits will be taken by Jamie Corethgraduated from the Florence Academy of Art and the Charles Cecil Studio and quickly became one of the most famous young painters todaywinning the BP Young Artist Award and exhibiting several works at the National Portrait Gallery of London – the latest of which is the much-loved portrait of the Prince and Princess of Wales. Connected to the tradition of humanistic themespresent in the great masterpieces of Renaissance Florentine, Coreth’s cycle will be inspired by Metamorphosis by Ovid to symbolize the transformative power of the arts. The ten patrons, who will have the honor of being portrayed for having supported the Mascarade Opera Foundation at the highest level, will certainly become part of history and will be immortalized alongside illustrious figures.
The second artistic initiative of the Mascarade Opera Foundation will instead consist of a new, entire cycle of frescoes which will cover the entire Concert Hall, above and around the portraits created by Coreth. The cycle was commissioned to a refounded company ‘Camerata Fiorentina’ by fresco painters under the direction of the renowned artist Tom Richards, and will represent the history of the Foundation in the 21st century. Just like the real figures present in the frescoes of Benozzo Gozzoli or Luca Giordano, FMO patrons who wish will be able to support the creation of this cycle, promoting the depiction of themselves or their loved ones, in the guise of various figures – from gods to heroes – who interact in centripetal orbits, reaching out towards the core of the work, The apotheosis of music, which is also the title of the work. Once the cycles of portraits and frescoes are completed, the Concert Hall will be aptly renamed “Patrons’ Hall” and will be enjoyed by concert audiences, visitors and grand tourers for years to come.
Friday 31 May the Festivalino will move to the beloved Pergola Theatre in Florence, believed to be the first opera theater built with superimposed stages rather than semicircular seats in Roman style. Festivalino spectators will be delighted by Young Voices at Opera, a unique opera production conceived to enhance the talent of emerging artists who are currently being trained at the foundation. To allow each artist to play a leading role, the scenes from six different works were brought together in a single show staged with the directed by Jean-Romain Vesperini and performed by the orchestra The Filharmonie of Florence directed by Master Wyn Davies. Spectators will be able to listen to some of the best-known and best-loved musical moments of Mozart, Donizetti and Verdi, all together in a single production. For who buys a gala ticketthe work will be followed by dinner and dancing in the theater ballroomwhich will be transformed for the occasion by the co-founder of the FMO, Maximilian Fane, into a speakeasy cabaret animated by Daisy’s jazz band.
The Festivalino continues on Saturday 1st June with a chamber music concert at lunchtime presented by the artistic director of Mascarade Opera, Julia Lynch and with the Trio Mascarade, at Palazzo Corsini al Prato. A way to prepare for the second evening at the Teatro della Pergola, where the ballet will be on stage Symbiosisproduced by the amazing company Reunited in Dancea stellar ensemble of dancers whose work has been affected by the war in Ukraine. Driven by Xander Parish OBEformer principal dancer of the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg, the company is in fact made up of Russian and Ukrainian dancers who were previously part of the most prestigious dance companies in Russia. Symbiosis hopes to demonstrate that dialogue and reconciliation can still be found through dance and art. The show is directed by Master Gavriel Heine With the’Senzaspine Orchestra of Bologna.
Finally, for those who participate in the entire weekend experience, a Sunday lunch in the Tuscan countryside is planned for Sunday 2 June with a special concert dedicated to the masterpieces of sacred choral music long thought lost, held by the director of Sacred Music Program of the FMO, Mark Spyropoulos, and his choir Vox Medicea.
For more information: https://mascaradeopera.com/blogs/news/festivalino-2024
