Artistic direction
Daniele Cipriani
Musical advisor
Gastón Fournier-Facio
Piano
Beatrice Rana and Massimo Spada
Cello
Ludovica Rana
Choreographies
Uwe Scholz, Simone Repele and Sasha Riva
Acting voice
Ettore Volontieri
Music by
Sergej Rachmaninoff
Lyrics by Gastón Fournier-Facio
Italian version by Simonetta Allder
Lighting designer
Alessandro Caso
Stage director
Luis Ernesto Donas
«Only in music I am myself. Music is enough for an entire lifetime.
but a whole lifetime is not enough for music.»
S. Rachmaninoff
Soirée Rachmaninoff is a show coinceived by Daniele Cipriani with the musical advisory by Gastόn Fournier-Facio paying homage to Sergej Rachmaninoff (1873-1943), whose 150th anniversary of his birth and 80th aniversary of his death are celebrated this year.
The protagonist of the show will be one of the mosr renonwed pianists worldwide: Beatrice Rana. On stage with her, the pianist Massimo Spada and the cellist Ludovica Rana. Together, they will perform some of the most beloved preludes and sonatas of the Russian composer, in dialogue with the dancers. The stage will also see the performance of Ettore F. Volontieri – ex general director of Fondazione Rachmaninoff at Villa Senar in Svizzera – narrating personally memories and anecdotes of Rachmaninoff’s life and career. The program opens with the execution of a historical recording of the Prelude in C sharp minor op. 3 n. 2 in the performance of the same Rachmaninoff; the composer was quite fond of such a prelude, one of his first succesful compositions fully expressing his music. The show will continue with Vocalise in C sharp minor op. 34 n. 14, performed by the Rana sisters, and the Prelude in D major op. 23 n. 4 performed by Massimo Spada. Such solistic moments will be sided by others where the musicians will interpret musical pieces by Rachmaninoff in dialogue with the dancers onstage. Choreographies by Uwe Scholz will be interpreted: Sonata – sull’Andante from the Viola and piano sonata in G minor op. 19, and Trio – sull’Andantino, from the Suite n. 2 for 2 pianos op.17 – with the dancers Rachele Buriassi (Les Grands Ballets Canadiens), Esnel Ramos (Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Balletto Nazionale di Cuba) and Oleksii Potiomkin (Teatro dell’Opera di Kyiv). The show will then present the world premiere of the choreaography Alla fine del mondo, on the dances Danze Sinfoniche op. 45 by the choreographers/dancers Sasha Riva and Simone Repele, performing alongside with Yumi Aizawa (Grand Théâtre de Genève), Parvaneh Scharafali (Nederlands Dans Theater), Riccardo Ciarpella, Luca Curreli, Francesco Curatolo, Chiara Dal Borgo, Giulia Pizzuto, Chiara Ranca.
Daniele Cipriani stated: «A deep sense of love, romantic love, love for family and for their country, for nature on Soirée Rachmaninoff… Especially, a love for music. A sweet but struggling love hovering over both words and notes by Rachmaninoff performed by the three wonderful musicians onstage, elaborated through the sensitivity of three exceptional choreographers and embodied by the dancers. This is our homage to Rachmaninoff: to summon his figure and highlight his music, realizing his dream – as we and the artists agree».
