Look forward to the world premiere of Matteo Franceschini’s Requiem (Siá Kará) at the Fondazione Haydn in Bolzano, on July 28, 2021. This dance piece is a work in collaboration with choreographer Radhouane El Meddeb, featuring dancers from the Cuban dance company MiCompañia (preveiously known as DanzAbierta), directed by Susana Pous Anadon. Franceschini’s composition is inspired by the intensity of none other than Mozart’s Requiem.
'Siá Kará, tira pa’lante' is an expression one hears often echoing through the streets of Havana. Loose translation: Stop complaining and find a solution. Which is to say, take things into your own hands. Definitely a Cuban state of mind.
Requiem (2020-2021)
per orchestra ed elettronica
Commissioned by: Fondazione Haydn di Bolzano e Trento, Opera Commissionata con il Sostegno di SIAE – CLASSICI DI OGGI 2018-2019
World Premiere: Bolzano, Teatro Musicale, 28 July 2021 - Orchestra Haydn, conductor Jean Deroyer
Instrumentation: 2 Cl, Cl b., 2 Fg, 2 Cr, 2 Trb, Tp,Archi
Duration: 60’
Composer’s notes
Our Requiem is an instantaneous reflection on life and death. A collective Polaroid snapshot, if you will. A flash mob that materializes, as if by magic, in a public space. Featuring a cast of ordinary, we might even say anonymous individuals from all walks of life, who come together to share their concerns, joys, pain, fears and hope. A reflection on the essence of what is it to be human. An eternal collective ritual that addresses the concepts of immortality and irreversibility. And our need for suspension in time, as a way to freeze-frame things, and thus – perhaps – rediscover some of the lightness and that sense of freedom that aids one and all in overcoming our fears. A way of seeking out inspiration for the joy of being alive, no matter however short our lives actually are. A way to help us understand the world as people have experienced it.
[…]
This creative approach is buttressed by the dialogue between the orchestra and electronics, as well as my own onstage presence as a live performer. I hope I can continue to explore the nuances of the composer-as-a-performer, along with new sounds “from within”. To be sure, the score reflects and demands a certain instrumental expertise, and opens new perspectives regarding the theatricality of the use of sound.
Matteo Franceschini
Further projects as Associated Artist
Franceschini’s Requiem is part of his work in residence at the Haydn Foundation of Bolzano and Trento. The project also includes the Italian revival of Alice, slated for performances on June 5 and 6, 2021 in Bolzano.
The Teatro Regio of Parma and Haydn Foundation co-production, composed by Matteo Franceschini, with book by Edouard Signolet, is geared toward audiences young and old alike, and is an original revisitation of Lewis Carroll’s famed novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Watch Alice's trailer
Photo: Matteo Franceschini © Taiwan-C-LAB