The concert of the State Police Music Band, scheduled for Tuesday 2 July at the Pala De André as part of the XXXV edition of the Ravenna Festival, was presented today at the Police Headquarters in Ravenna. Speakers at the presentation included Lucio Pennella, Police Commissioner of Ravenna, Maurizio Billi, Director of the State Police Music Band Orchestra, and Antonio De Rosa, Superintendent of the Ravenna Festival. Also Riccardo Muti will be on the podium for conducting the Symphony from Nabucco.
“Almost one hundred years have passed since the creation of the State Police Musical Band. That today Maestro Muti, ambassador of Italian culture in the world, accepts the invitation to conduct this formation in the Symphony from Nabucco confirms how much that century of history belongs to the broader history of music in Italy”: with these words the Police Commissioner of Ravenna Lucio Pennella reveals that Riccardo Muti will be on the podium of the State Police Musical Band on the occasion of the concert scheduled at the Ravenna Festival on Tuesday 2 July, at 9pm at the Pala De André. The concert is free, free entry upon reservation.
“We are grateful to Maestro Muti for his availability, a concrete and generous sign of attention to musical bands as a precious part of a heritage that must be preserved, transmitted and promoted – continues the Commissioner – and his presence will further enrich an evening which, with the guidance of Maestro Maurizio Billi and the participation of violinist Giuseppe Gibboni, already promised to be unmissable”.
“With this concert open to all, we invite the public to celebrate an important tradition – explains Antonio De RosaSuperintendent of Ravenna Festival – because, as Maestro Muti has often underlined, bands have always been an important vehicle for the transmission and knowledge of music, even in the most remote places of our peninsula. In spreading pages that are a common and indispensable heritage, the gangs have also contributed to the feeling of an Italian identity. Just like the State Police Musical Band does, hoisting the Italian flag at every new performance, in Italy and around the world, with a repertoire that includes complex transcriptions and arrangements, taken from operas and symphonies, as well as original band music. Thanks to Elio Bagnari of Ravaioli Legnami for his contribution to the event.”
“Tradition and modernity: this is the motto that has always accompanied our team – underlines maestro Maurizio Billiwho trained at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome and has been director of the State Police Music Band since 1992, as well as a composer – Over the years this team has collaborated with internationally renowned artists such as Stefano Bollani or Amii Stewart. On this occasion, the winner of the 2021 Paganini Prize Giuseppe Gibboni, an excellence of the new generation of musicians, accompanies us. The program is demanding, made up of musical pages ranging from Paganini, Ostakovicˇ and Gershwin to John Williams and tributes to Duke Ellington and Ennio Morricone. An itinerary aimed at enhancing the expressive as well as virtuosic component of training.”
Since its foundation, the complex has developed a symphonic vocation thanks to the intuition of the first director, maestro Giulio Andrea Marchesini, who began to treat the ensemble as a real orchestra. That imprint has never changed again. Today the one hundred or more musicians of this fascinating group bring their unmistakable sound to the most important events, transforming every concert into an engaging experience for everyone. The high artistic profile of the interpretations and the quality of the programs qualify it among the best wind orchestras in the world. Evidence of this is the collaborations with institutions such as the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, La Fenice in Venice, the San Carlo in Naples, the Comunale in Florence. The collaboration with the National Academy of Santa Cecilia led to the engraving ofAida by Verdi with Warner Classic, a record that obtained the prestigious Recording of the Year / Best Opera Recording award at the BBC Music Magazine Awards and was proposed in the Best CD 2016 category for the International Opera Awards.
THE PROGRAM
Tuesday 2 July, 9pm – Palazzo Mauro De André – State Police Music Band director Maurizio Billi with the participation of Giuseppe Gibboni violin.
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) – Festiva Overture op. 96 (arr. Olivio Di Domenico)
Pablo De Sarasate (1844-1908) – Concert fantasy on Carmen op. 25 – for violin and symphony band (transcr. Gerhart Drijvers)
George Gershwin (1898-1937) – Overture on themes from the musical Porgy and Bess (arr. James Barnes)
Duke Ellington (1899-1974) – Tribute to Duke Ellington (elab. Maurizio Billi)
Ennio Morricone (1928-2020) – Imagine an evening with… Tribute to Ennio Morricone (arr. Enrico Blatti)
Dmitri Shostakovich – Waltz no. 2 from Jazz Suite (arr. Johan de Meij)
John Williams (1932) – Music from the film soundtrack Schindler’s List (elab. Maurizio Billi)
Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840) – Rondo from the Concerto for violin and orchestra n. 2 “La Campanella” (arr. Roberto Granata)
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) – Symphony from Nabucco
Michele Novaro (1818-1885) – The Song of the Italians
