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| Juditha Triumphas directed by Elena Barbalich at La Fenice |
(Venice, Italy) The third edition of
The Spirit of the Music of Venice concluded last night after zapping the beginning of summer with some profound and impressive events. Organized by the Teatro La Fenice, in collaboration with the University of Ca' Foscari and the Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello, this year focused on Venice as the center of cultural, musical, economic and philosophical exchanges between the different civilizations and cultures of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Here are a few selected events:
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| Judith Triumphs directed by Elena Barbalich at La Fenice |
Judith Triumphs by Venetian hometown composer Antonio Vivaldi was performed for the first time in Venice in 1716 in the Church of the Pieta by the all-female singers of the Church of the Pieta. The new production at La Fenice under the leadership of hometown director Elena Barbalich was breathtaking. The lighting by hometown lighting director Fabio Barettin allowed the audience to use their imaginations to magically transport themselves to another place and time. The sets by Massimo Checchetto and costumes by Tommaso Lagattolla were exquisite in their simplicity. The La Fenice Orchestra directed by Claudio Marino Moretti was in fine form. And the singers -- again, all female -- were dynamic and authentic in their roles.
Judith Triumphans tapped into the energy from the heavens -- pure, elegant and true; I thought it was simply divine.
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| Mare Nostrum at Teatrino di Palazzo Grassi |
The Mare Nostrum trio presented a program entitled
From Venice to Constantinople at the Teatrino of Palazzo Grassi. The three musicians - singer Stefano Albarello on zither and lute; Giovanni De Zorzi on flute and Fabio Tricomi on drums -- delighted the audience with classical Ottoman music composed between the 17th and 18th centuries.
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| Ute Lemper at La Fenice |
Ute Lemper, the international German singer and actress wowed the crowd on the day of Redentore at La Fenice, belting out a trail of melancholy tunes that led from the Weimar Republic to Editih Piaf to Bertolt Brecht and beyond. In collaboration with the Venezia Jazz Festival, the program took the audience on a journey through dark and light periods in human history. My favorite was the music Lemper had composed herself using the words from the poem "Bluebird," by the troubled German-born American poet, Charles Bukowski, an artist with "a bluebird in my heart that wants to get... but I'm too tough for him, I say, stay in there, I'm not going to let anybody see you..." And Ute Lemper can play a mean brass only with her lips!
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| Dimitri Naiditch Trio |
The Music of the Soul of Venice ran from June 15 to July 26, and was packed with more than 40 inspiring events, ranging in a price from €220 to free, allowing Venetian residents and tourists alike to experience some exotic entertainment in unique venues.
Last night
Lo Spirito della Musica di Venezia concluded with the enthusiastic and upbeat
Mozart in Jazz by the Dimitri Naiditch Trio, led by the France-based Ukrainian pianist Dimitri Naidith, accompanied by Gilles Naturel on double bass and Athur Alard on drums. In collaboration with LVMH, the trio transformed the classical musical of Mozart and Bach into contemporary jazz. Naiditch declared that he loved Mozart and felt that he knew him, that he had a beautiful, childlike soul, and that if he were alive today he would be a jazz musician. The encore was Bach, which received a standing ovation, a perfect conclusion to the cornucopia of music living in Venice's soul.
Ciao from Venezia,
Cat
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog 
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