The culminating event of Puccini’s centenary which will be celebrated this year is now upon us: on 28 June the stage of the Lucca Summer Festival close to the historic walls will host the great concert “Puccini according to Muti”, which will see the famous orchestra conductor Riccardo Muti celebrate one of the greatest ambassadors of Italy and Lucca in the world.
“It will be an exceptional evening, because the program is exceptional: a complete program of Puccini, with great arias such as Un bel dì vediremo from Madama Butterfly sung by the soprano Eleonora Buratto, Che gelida manina with the tenor Dmitry Korchak, Vissi d’Arte from Tosca and many more– he has declared Gianmarco Mazziundersecretary for culture, on the occasion of the press conference to present the event which was held in Rome- An unrepeatable evening, which will be part of a great opera season that the ministry of culture in collaboration with Rai Cultura has decided to promote this year: the first appointment was at the Verona arena, which with its audience of almost three million people makes us reflect on the fact that high music evidently has a strong audience enough to be competitive also from the point of view of television listening. Even more surprising is the result in the 15-24 age group, in which the program received five points more than the competing programme, L’isola dei famous: it is thought that cultural programs should be made with the resignation that they are dedicated to a few, instead, if we believe in them and build them in the right way, the public responds”.
It was fitting that this solemn event should take place in the birthplace of Giacomo Puccini: to host maestro Muti, together with the Cherubini orchestra, which will present itself in an extraordinary formation expanded to 130 musicians for its twenty years, will be the stage located just under the historic walls of Lucca, which has just hosted extraordinary concerts such as those of Ed Sheeran and Eric Clapton.
“We find ourselves in amiable competition with previous pop world events held in Lucca, and we have a responsibility to bring beauty into Italian homes– commented the director of Rai Cultura Silvia Calandrellirecalling that the event will be broadcast on Rai 3 worldwide– The events we are organizing as part of the fruitful collaboration between the Ministry of Culture, Rai Cultura and Rai are collector’s events, which will remain in the history of the country’s culture”.
The hope of doubling, at least in part, the success of the evening at the Verona Arena does not seem far-fetched: in recent days there has been an increase in interest in concert tickets, on sale on TicketOne in collaboration with the international group of D’Alessandro and Galli events, so much so that in the last few days alone over a thousand have been sold and expressions of interest have arrived from the other side of the world, from Australia and the United States.
“This is thanks to the strength of the figure of Muti, and of the place, but also of the opera– declared Mazzi- I insist on these events not because I am always looking for a test of muscle, but because I want to show the competitive strength that the work has, so that these events become a locomotive for the sector”.
“Ours is a medium-sized city with international events that have made us known throughout the world for the monumentality of certain environments that we have– the mayor of Lucca spoke, as well as the representative of the committee for Puccini celebrations, Mario Pardini– For our city it is an important occasion: we have been working for months to celebrate our great ambassador who history has given us and for whom international interest has been demonstrated. Lucca believed in the event, because together with the mayors of Torre del Lago and Pescaglia we worked on a unity outside the canons of politics, to make it clear that culture must unite. As Lucchese people, but also as Italians, it will be an event that will make us proud”.
In addition to TicketOne, tickets can also be purchased at the physical ticket office open at the Giglio theatre, which is playing its part in organizing the event; theater which, in this very significant year, is contemplating the possibility of changing its name to celebrate the illustrious citizen of Lucca.
“The ours is the theater of Giacomo Puccini, where every time the maestro returned to supervise the execution and staging of his works as soon as he entered the great theaters of Italy, Europe and the world– noted the president of the theater Giorgio Angelo Lazzarini– I think it is right to pay homage to a great figure in Italian musical history”.
The event will not be limited to the sterile performance of Puccini’s music, but will ensure that the story of Giacomo Puccini is told to those present and to remote spectators: preceded on the evening of 27 June by a documentary film on Puccini’s life which will be broadcast on Rai 3, the concert will carry a narrative thread to reveal who Puccini was, his story, the anecdotes that characterized his life.
“Sometimes the centenarians in this country are forgotten, but the immense effort of the ministry and the Rai with respect to Puccini is so great that it will mark a new beginning in the diffusion of Puccini’s opera: the television audience, like the one in Lucca, will have a ticket in front row to witness an unrepeatable event”, declared Calandrelli.
“Our philosophy is to increase the cultural offering and make it accessible to the greatest number of people: we are not for a niche culture– declared Mazzi in conclusion- Culture must represent and express itself at the highest artistic quality, even in the traditional sense, but this does not mean that we must be traditional in disseminating it: we must make use of all the most technological systems we have available, as sporting events or pop events. And again, the great artists, who are the major experts in the culture sector, must help us on the path of training and development of artistic talent”.
