VERDI UNIVERSALE
the multimedia installation for Verdi Off 2022
VERDI UNIVERSALE is the title of the multimedia installation created by Imaginarium Studio for the 2022 edition of Verdi OFF, a series of collateral events of the Verdi Festival in Parma.
A work characterized by elements of material scenography, a narration in video mapping, and a soundtrack that sees Maestro Verdi's music as the protagonist in a very particular reworking curated by our Davide Giannoni, which transports us into a spatial and timeless atmosphere.
"There is always talk of a "universality" of Verdi's music, and we, therefore, imagined a journey into a mysterious cosmos made up of never reached planets and unknown populations. Each planet is "described" by a Verdi composition, which becomes its language and symbol. At the center of this "universe" stands a gigantic head of Giuseppe Verdi who, like a sort of Sun, through his grandeur, his energy, his artistic wisdom, unites all possible languages and gives the living a more wide range of other cultures, histories, ideas, and contaminations.
We like to think of "political" music as communication between people in time and space. It does not change its value; using tools orchestra, tribal references, or digital sounds:
Verdi's music is deeply rooted in the DNA of the human being because it is an infinite reading of the historical impact of his actions and the evolution of his feelings.
The mapping contents projected on Verdi's giant face are all made by us drawing on paper, mixed with digital effects that only serve to increase the strength of that theatricality and that craftsmanship of the sign visual we go
constantly looking into all our work.
We talk about contemporary and future, space, and digital, but in the end, we work
on tangible and recycled materials to carry forward the concept of ancient theater craftsmanship that has nourished our culture.
So the reference to tradition is not only musical but also material, linked to an artistic process of genuine construction of theatricality. What we perceive as "futuristic" in this installation comes from an in-depth study and an immense passion for the Verdian and compositional, operatic tradition. An Italian story linked to the language and techniques of creating artistic works that have taught us to have no limits of inventiveness and knowledge of the "other." For this reason, it was decided to re-use the gigantic paper-mâché face of Don Quixote, the master tanker collaborator Jacopo Allegrucci to transform it into the marvelous and iconic face of Giuseppe Verdi. He is given a new artistic life, intervening with paper and glue on his hair and beard, reviewing some important details to make him even more similar to the Master and provide him with that explosive energy needed by a real star in our Universe.
For the soundtrack, we have selected some very famous compositions by the Maestro so that each sound section can be immediately recognized by the public: we find, in fact, the Triumphal March from Aida, the prelude from La Traviata, an instrumental from Rigoletto, the double bass solo from Othello, the Overture of La Forza del Destino, and the String Quartet in E minor."
THE VERDIAN ROUTE
INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL ITINERARY
THE OVERTURE OF THE STARS
Instrument boarding, mission control, takeoff
THE TRAVIATA
Route tracking
AIDA
The planet of wealth, of the explosion of Nature, of biological respect. A world where there are no human beings but colored living beings who live in total balance. Life proceeds in time with music, everything is fruitful, and every virtuous action is regulated by plants.
RIGOLETTO
The return to the stars and the knowledge of the symbols of the living beings that populate the Verdi route. Natural elements, animals, digital elements, particles and atoms, archaic symbols, and alien alphabets.
It is the fusion of vital characteristics, languages, and diversities.
THE FORCE OF DESTINY
The exodus.
It is the story of a human population, similar to that of Earth, fleeing from an oppressor who rules this distant planet. A despot who does not have human features, but those of being robotic. Life is overwhelmingly threatened by a non-virtuous technology, a technology created by those same inhabitants on the run, who have used it for short-term enrichment and not for sustainable projects aimed at improving the life and environment of future generations.
STRING QUARTET IN E MINOR
Planet of political revolution.
A street artist plays his instrument among the people in revolt against the dictator of the moment. Return.
