Michela Gerosa

Silvio Orlando returns to Teatro Donizetti, after the great success in 2022 with La vita davanti a sé: the popular Neapolitan actor, one of the most representative figures in today's Italian cinema and theater, will bring to Bergamo “the latest show produced by his company, Ciarlatani, written and directed by the Spaniard Pablo Remón, scheduled from Saturday, February 22 to Sunday, March 2 as” part of the Prose Season and Other Paths of the Teatro Donizetti Foundation. On the stage of the city's main theater, Silvio Orlando will be joined by Francesca Botti, Francesco Brandi, and Blu Yoshimi. On Thursday, February 27, at the “M. Tremaglia” Music Hall of Teatro Donizetti (at 6 PM), there will be a meeting about the show with Silvio Orlando and the company. Maria Grazia Panigada, Artistic Director of the Prose Season and Other Paths, will coordinate. Free admission with reservation by registering at the Eventbrite link published on the Teatro Donizetti website. "Ciarlatani tells the story of two characters connected to the world of cinema and theater. Anna Velasco is an “actress whose career is at a standstill. After acting in small productions of classical works, she now works as a Pilates instructor and performs children's theater on weekends. Between television soap operas and alternative shows, Anna is searching for the great character that will finally make her triumph. Diego Fontana is a successful director of commercial films who is embarking on a big production: a series to be shot all over the world, with international stars. An accident will lead him to face a personal crisis and rethink his career. These two characters are connected by the figure of Anna's father, Eusebio Velasco, a cult director of the” 80s, who disappeared and isolated himself from the world," writes Pablo Remón in his director's notes. " Charlatans are also several works in one: each of these stories has a particular style, tone, and form. Anna's story has an eminently cinematic style, with a narrator guiding us, where dream and reality blur. Diego's story is a “more classical theatrical work, represented in more realistic spaces. And finally, there” is, as a “pause or parenthesis, an autofiction in which the” author of the “work we are watching defends himself against accusations of plagiarism. These stories are told in parallel, they feed each other, they are mirrors of the same themes. The” whole is constructed with partly independent chapters, forming a structure closer to a novel than to theater. The “intention is for Charlatans to be an eminently theatrical narrative, but with a” novelistic and cinematic aspiration." Finally, Charlatans is a comedy in which only four actors travel through dozens of characters, spaces, and times. A satire on the world of theater and audiovisual, but also a reflection on success, failure, and the roles we play, inside and outside fiction, concludes the Madrid-based director.

After 'Otello Circus', successfully presented in 2023, the 'Teatro La Ribalta' company returns to Bergamo with 'The Queen's Mirror', a show included in the Other Paths Season of the Donizetti Theater Foundation and scheduled for Thursday, February 20 at the Teatro Sociale (8:30 PM). Written and directed by Antonio Viganò, 'The Queen's Mirror' originally revisits the Snow White fairy tale, offering a reflection on the beauty contained in each person's diversity. On stage are three actors: Jason Mattia De Majo, Maria Magdolna Johannes, and Rocco Ventura, who were also the protagonists of 'Otello Circus'. Choreography by Eleonora Chiocchini. Dramaturgy assistant and sound design by Paola Guerra. Creation collaboration by Paola Guerra and Paolo Grossi. Set design by Roberto Banci and Antonio Viganò. Light design by Melissa Pircali. Produced by Teatro La Ribalta in co-production with Tanz Bozen Bolzano Danza Festival, with the support of L'arboreto – Teatro Dimora, Centro di Residenza Emilia-Romagna and the Cultural Institutes of the Republic of San Marino. Duration 50 minutes without intermission. In 'The Queen's Mirror', the famous Snow White fairy tale features two unlikely characters as protagonists: a Queen tired of always having to be 'the fairest in the land' and her Mirror which, weary of always having to repeat 'what others do', will seek an escape route. The Queen, orphaned of her reflected image, must therefore find a way to regain the trust of the Mirror. The result is an exciting tale that disassembles and reassembles one of the most famous fairy tales of all time. Eleonora Chiocchini's choreography reinterprets Antonio Viganò's theatrical text 'Bianca Neve', which has already been staged and translated into various languages: the Mirror and the Queen come to life in a dance of relationships, playful nuances, sometimes quarrelsome, at times mysterious, coloring their dialogue that will become body. Always complicit as only a mirror and the image it reflects can be. Antonio Viganò wrote in the director's notes at the time of the debut of 'The Queen's Mirror': 'Teatro la Ribalta-Kunst der Vielfalt celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2023. We celebrate this birthday by looking back, to understand what we have done and what traces and signs of this adventure have remained. This looking back helps us to see ahead, to understand and then design a near future. The Bolzano Danza Festival, co-producer of the show, has played an important role in our brief but intense history: the first show, 'The Minotaur', was born with the complicity of the Festival, as was the show 'The Sound of Falling', a performance created by choreographer Julie Anne Stanzak, a historic dancer of Pina Bausch's Tanztheater Wuppertal. So this return to the Bolzano Danza Festival has a special flavor. The show is also intended for children and adolescents because we want to meet the new generations, our future. An audience, that of children, who know well the language of the body and will encounter, thanks to this show, interpreters, dancers, and actors who are di-verse, who will reveal to them that

Following the public success of the first three meetings, which recorded over 900 attendees each, the second edition of History Lessons continues on Saturday, February 15th at Teatro Donizetti (11 AM). This initiative, conceived by Editori Laterza and co-produced with the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti with the support of Cassa Lombarda, will feature the next rebel, Robespierre. His figure will be analyzed by Luigi Mascilli Migliorini, Professor of Modern History. The lecture will be introduced by journalist Max Pavan, head of information at Bergamo TV. From a well-mannered lawyer in a provincial town to a symbol of the French Revolution, its illusions, and its horrors: Robespierre's controversial personality, still fascinating and subject to study and debate, reflects the unease of a bourgeois spirit manifested in an “incorruptibility” that later embodied the sacred principles of a Revolution, despite itself, inevitably destined to become corrupt. Member of the “Accademia dei Lincei, former president of SISEM and professor of Modern History at the” L'Orientale University, “Luigi Mascilli Migliorini is one of the leading scholars of the” Napoleonic era and the Restoration in Europe, to which he has dedicated two important biographies: Napoleon (Salerno Editrice 2002, new edition 2015) and Metternich (Salerno Editrice 2014). He is Commandeur de l “'Ordre des Palmes Académiques, Chevalier de l'” Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the French Republic and visiting professor at the “École Normale Supérieure in Paris and the” Catholic University of Santiago de Chile. He is part of the Scientific Committee of Napoleon's Correspondance at “Fayard publishing house. For Laterza, he has published, among” other works, The Modern Age. A global history (2022). The “History Lessons” will conclude on Saturday, March 1st with Professor Loris Zanatta, who will present the figure of Fidel Castro and his revolutionary “political religion” (March 1st). At the end of the meetings, the authors will remain with the audience for book signings at the Ridotto Gavazzeni of the Theater.

Myra Melford, Dayna Stephens, Nick Dunston, Allison Miller replace the Dave Holland/Lionel Loueke duo Following the sudden cancellation of the European tour of the Dave Holland/Lionel Loueke duo, due to health issues affecting the English bassist, the Bergamo Jazz evening on Friday, March 21 at Teatro Donizetti will open with the Lux Quartet, a formation led by pianist Myra Melford and drummer Allison Miller, and completed by saxophonist Dayna Stephens and bassist Nick Dunston, all leading musicians in the international jazz scene. The project dedicated to Wayne Shorter - featuring Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci, Brian Blade, and Ravi Coltrane - scheduled for the same evening, and the rest of the Festival program remain confirmed. Only for holders of admission tickets to the single evening on Friday, March 21 at Teatro Donizetti, it will be possible, if desired, to request a refund of the ticket cost by contacting the Teatro Donizetti Box Office no later than February 25, by sending an email to biglietteria@fondazioneteatrodonizetti.org. This method is also valid for those who purchased the ticket online through the VivaTicket network. Recently formed around two of the leading figures in women's jazz, pianist Myra Melford, who was already a guest at Bergamo Jazz in 2014 with another formation, and drummer Allison Miller, the Lux Quartet immediately rose to musical prominence with the release of the album Tomorrowland in August 2024, which received four stars from the American magazine Down Beat. The group's name is inspired by light in all its manifestations, from the vitality of sun rays to the bioluminescence of creatures in the deepest oceans, symbolizing all the heights and depths that the quartet intends to explore musically. Since the late 1980s, Myra Melford has been one of the brightest stars in the jazz piano firmament. Among her main collaborative experiences are those with Henry Threadgill, Butch Morris, and Dave Douglas. In the late 1990s, she formed the trio Equal Interest with violinist Leroy Jenkins and saxophonist Joseph Jarman of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. As a leader, she has recorded numerous albums that attest to her compositional depth and the variety of expressive areas she frequents, from solo piano to quintet. For several years, Myra Melford has established a fruitful artistic partnership with drummer Allison Miller, known for her membership in the multi-award-winning all women quintet Artemis, as well as for numerous collaborations in the singer-songwriter realm (Ani DiFranco, Natalie Merchant, Brandi Carlile). Dayna Stephens is one of the leading saxophonists to emerge in recent decades. In addition to recording several albums under his own name, he has played with Kenny Barron, Ambrose Akinmusire, Julian Lage, Gerald Clayton, and many others. Bassist Nick Dunston also boasts an impressive resume: Marc Ribot, Vijay Iyer, Mary Halvorson, Tyshawn Sorey, Craig Taborn, and Dave Douglas are just some of the colleagues he has worked with so far.

9,265 total spectators, an average of over 1,000 attendees per performance: The Conscience of Zeno, the second title of the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti's Prose Season staged in the main city theater from Saturday, January 25 to last Sunday, has achieved a tremendous success. "These have been fantastic days: thank you Bergamo and greetings to the Mayor who is with us today!": this is how Alessandro Haber, the main protagonist of the show, bid farewell at the end of the last of the nine performances, one of which was applauded by over 1,000 students. After the curtain fell, in the dressing rooms, a cordial meeting took place with Elena Carnevali, who in turn thanked the great actor for the beautiful performance of the entire company. "This is the second year we're performing this show. There are cities where the audience is more accustomed to going to the theater and where we record more subtle reactions that capture certain nuances. Among these is certainly Bergamo: Teatro Donizetti is one of the theaters I love most and have frequented the most in my long career," Alessandro Haber recounted warmly, "Here you can understand that the audience comes to the theater with pleasure, with the desire to embrace you, to welcome you. Of course, it depends a lot on the show: it's like making love, when you find that special quid. And in Bergamo I believe we managed to touch the audience, also thanks to Paolo Valerio's direction which I find beautiful and the skill of the entire company, made up of a group of capable actors. I have a special relationship with Bergamo, perhaps also because my first love story was with a girl from your city. Beyond that, once again I felt particularly at ease here." Francesco Godina, who plays young Zeno in the show, was making his debut at the Donizetti: "From these demanding performances, I take home first of all the beauty of Teatro Donizetti, which I had heard about but hadn't yet had the fortune to experience. We're almost at the end of the tour, we have about fifteen performances left to reach the planned 100: in Bergamo, the performance attended by students was one of the best. Young people perhaps laugh at different moments than the, let's say, traditional audience. This means that they are perhaps more sensitive to a different kind of humor that captures them. The satisfaction comes precisely when the laughter arrives on Svevo's text. Which means that our operation has succeeded."

The Miser is the next title on the bill for the Prose Season of the Donizetti Theatre Foundation, scheduled in the main city theatre from Saturday, February 8 to Sunday, February 16: Molière's famous comedy will feature Ugo Dighero as Harpagon, an actor known for comic roles, already highly appreciated protagonist of works by Stefano Benni and Dario Fo, who is facing a great classic for the first time. Alongside him will be: Mariangeles Torres, Fabio Barone, Stefano Dilauro, Cristian Giammarini, Paolo Li Volsi, Elisabetta Mazzullo, Rebecca Redaelli and Luigi Saravo. The latter is also directing the play. On Thursday, February 13 at the "M. Tremaglia" Music Hall of the Donizetti Theatre (6 pm) there will be a meeting about the show with Ugo Dighero and the company. Maria Grazia Panigada, Artistic Director of the Prose Season and Other Paths, will coordinate. Free entry with reservation by registering at the Eventbrite link published on the Donizetti Theatre website. In Molière's comedy, we witness an epic clash between feelings and money. The protagonist is willing to sacrifice his children's happiness, just to avoid having to provide them with a dowry and instead acquire new wealth through their marriages. Saravo's direction sets the show in a dimension that refers to our daily life, juggling different temporal references, from smartphones to 1970s clothes to commercials that torment Harpagon (advertising is the devil that could tempt him to spend his beloved money). Even Paolo Silvestri's original music moves on different planes, while Letizia Russo's new translation, fresh and direct, helps give the whole a contemporary rhythm. "The narrative of Molière's The Miser revolves around a central theme, to which all others reconnect: money," writes Luigi Saravo in his director's notes, "Money and its conservation, its squandering, gambling, the purchase of goods and their degradation leading to the purchase of new goods, loans, interests and the power relationships that derive from money. In our consumption-oriented contemporary world, defined by the need to circulate money in pursuit of infinite economic growth, Harpagon's conservative and immobilist gesture, from a financial point of view, sounds subversive to us, in stark opposition to consumerist tyranny, to advertising which is its engine, and to that pathology of desire that sees substitution as its foundation. If we analyze the core of the text, namely the conflict between Harpagon and his entourage, we are faced with the conflict of two economic visions: a consumerist one of twentieth-century capitalist stamp and a relatively new, conservative one, which opposes consumption and is oriented towards the conservation of goods, their reuse, their exchange and, finally, their protection, first and foremost those goods defined as 'natural goods'. We don't mean to say that Harpagon is a positive hero, that he is moved by an ideological drive, but certainly that with his attitude he clearly stands in opposition to twentieth-century capitalist economics and more in line with the conservative vision." "Around him move the other characters, apparently victims of his tyranny, but, in reality, figures devoted to

On Saturday, February 8th at Teatro Donizetti (11 AM), the third event of the second edition of "History Lessons" is scheduled, an initiative conceived by Editori Laterza and co-produced with the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti with the support of Cassa Lombarda. This year's chosen theme is "Rebels": after Jesus and Cleopatra, it's now the turn of a quintessential rebel, Joan of Arc. Illustrating the figure of this "woman in arms" will be Maria Giuseppina Muzzarelli, essayist, scholar, and professor of Medieval History. Joan of Arc is a girl, but she fights like a man; she's a Christian virgin, but wears men's clothes; she feels in direct communication with God, but doesn't recognize the mediation of the Church. Venerated as a saint, she has become a myth, and not just for the French. Many questions remain open about this young woman in arms burned at the stake at 19 years old. Maria Giuseppina Muzzarelli deals with the history of mentality and society and has taught Medieval History, History of Cities, and History and Cultural Heritage of Fashion at the University of Bologna. Among her publications: Fishers of men. Preachers and squares at the end of the Middle Ages. (2005); An Italian at the Court of France. Christine de Pizan intellectual and woman (new edition 2017); Covered head. Stories of women and veils (new 2018 edition); The rules of luxury. Appearances and everyday life from the Middle Ages to the modern age. (2020). Per Laterza è autrice di In the hands of women. Feeding, healing, poisoning from the Middle Ages to the present. (2013), Mothers, missed mothers, almost mothers. Six medieval stories (2021) e La señora. Life and Adventures of Gracia Nasi (2024). Le “Lezioni di Storia” proseguiranno con Luigi Mascilli Migliorini, che proporrà una riflessione profonda su Robespierre, nel cuore della Rivoluzione Francese (15 febbraio), per concludersi con Loris Zanatta, che presenterà Fidel Castro e la sua rivoluzionaria “religione politica” (1° marzo). Tutti gli incontri saranno introdotti dal giornalista Max Pavan, responsabile dell’informazione di Bergamo TV. Biglietti 10 Euro, con riduzione per le scuole a 8 Euro. Al termine degli incontri, gli autori si fermeranno con il pubblico per il firmacopie presso il Ridotto Gavazzeni del Teatro.

Always attentive to new developments in the theatrical realm, the Altri Percorsi Season of the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti continues on Thursday, February 6 at the Teatro Sociale (8:30 PM) hosting for the first time Menoventi, a company with several accolades to its name, which on this occasion presents Odradek, a performance that takes us into the home of a woman caught in a spiral of online orders and desires fulfilled even before they are requested. Dramaturgy, direction, and lighting by Gianni Farina. Performers: Consuelo Battiston and Francesco Pennacchia. Music and sound design by Andrea Gianessi. Set design by Andrea Montesi and Gianni Farina with consultation from Enrico Isola and Daniele Torcellini. Costumes by Consuelo Battiston and Elisa Alberghi. Voices: Tamara Balducci, Leonardo Bianconi, Maria Donnoli, Chiara Lagani. Production by Menoventi/E Production, Ravenna Festival, Accademia Perduta/Romagna Teatri, OperaEstate Festival Veneto/CSC in collaboration with Masque Teatro. Duration 1 hour and 10 minutes without intermission. Born from an idea by Consuelo Battiston and Gianni Farina, founders of Menoventi, Odradek is a contemporary fable inspired by the warnings of Gunther Anders and the whims of Franz Kafka. In M's home, an ordinary woman holed up in her domestic comfort zone, every desire is fulfilled even before it's conceived. In this land of plenty, the spiral of conformism has eliminated every whim, thus marketing predictions are infallible. The unwitting messenger of this enchanted world is Q, an express courier for the most important delivery company in the sector, the omnipresent Odradek. From the relationship between the two, unusual questions arise: where do objects come from? And news? Who speaks on the other end of the device? A malfunction in the electrical system will allow these mass hermits to glimpse a reflection of the invisible fabric of the world, triggering a clash between environment and ambition, a struggle between illusion and imagination. The unconscious innocence of today's life, or the inability to feel the weight of responsibility for one's actions, sometimes cracks and lets through the symptoms of a singular, unusual anguish; like a dark shadow, the feeling of meaninglessness of one's existence creeps into M's mind. “The enchantment that envelops and homogenizes the protagonists of this fable seems to spread from the domestic appliances and objects, inert products that occasionally give the” impression of observing human activities and seem to judge their consumers. In the solitude and silence of the evening, the house seems to have a thousand eyes, and the goods come to life to dispense advice and warnings, strong with a superhuman wisdom uncontaminated by unproductive impulses or superfluous emotions. Menoventi was founded in 2005 and established itself in Faenza a few years later. The founders Consuelo Battiston and Gianni Farina collaborate with Italian and European artists to create works that intersect theater, music, radio, video, and visual arts. Without a predefined poetics, the group adopts languages and registers oriented by the peculiarities of the thematic core of each project, generating a heterogeneous collection of scenic objects. The only fixed point in

790 subscriptions, 22 more than last year: with this extraordinary figure, thanks to which a sold-out audience participation is expected, Bergamo Jazz 2025 now launches the ticket sales for individual evenings at Teatro Donizetti and for the concerts in the "Jazz in the City" section. Tickets are already available for the two events at Teatro Sociale on the evening of Thursday, March 20 (with singer Lizz Wright and pianist Antonio Faraò's trio) and on Sunday afternoon, March 23 (with the supergroup Stick Men led by the famous bassist Tony Levin). Jazz at Donizetti On Friday, March 21, the first of three subscription evenings at Teatro Donizetti, starting at 8:30 PM, will open with a duo formed by a double bass champion like Dave Holland and Lionel Loueke, one of the most innovative guitarists to appear on the jazz scene in recent decades. This high-caliber artistic duo will serve as the "opener" for the Wayne Shorter Legacy, namely pianist Danilo Pérez, double bassist John Patitucci, drummer Brian Blade, and, as a special guest, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, musicians who certainly need no extensive introductions. The Saturday evening, March 22, will also feature an authentic all-star group, The Cookers, seven veterans of countless jazz battles: trumpeters Eddie Henderson and David Weiss, saxophonists Azar Lawrence and Donald Harrison, pianist George Cables, double bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Billy Hart. The Cookers' concert will be preceded by that of the most international of Italian jazz musicians, Enrico Rava. The trumpeter and flugelhorn player, former Artistic Director of Bergamo Jazz from 2012 to 2015, will lead his "Fearless Five", a formation that recently won the "Top Jazz 2024" award from the monthly magazine Musica Jazz. On Sunday, March 23, the last evening at the Donizetti will feature the first appearance on the main city theater stage of guitarist Marc Ribot and the return after ten years of one of the most charismatic female voices, Dianne Reeves. Jazz In The City Bergamo Jazz once again enters small theaters to offer precious musical performances, among the most artistically stimulating proposals of the Festival. Opening the series of concerts scattered throughout the city will be, on Thursday, March 20 at Teatro Sant'Andrea in Via Porta Dipinta (5:00 PM), Cuban pianist Aruán Ortiz, from whose fingers flows a musicality where Afro-Caribbean tradition meets the most advanced jazz. The same venue will host the concert on Sunday, March 23 (11:00 AM) featuring English double bassist Barry Guy, a historic exponent of the most daring improvised music, and Catalan pianist Jordina Millà: the two musicians have recently released the album Live In Munich on ECM. The Auditorium in Piazza della Libertà will also host two events, both marked by "mixed" groups, both in terms of gender and geographical origin, highlighting some prominent names from the new wave of British Jazz: La Via del Ferro (Friday, March 21, 5:00 PM) and pianist Alexander Hawkins' Dialect Quintet (Saturday, March 22, 5:00 PM). The first, highly appreciated by famous DJ and producer Gilles Peterson, is

Launched with great success – over 950 attendees – by Vito Mancuso, who offered an unprecedented portrait of Jesus, the second edition of “History Lessons”, an initiative conceived by Editori Laterza and produced in co-production with the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti and with the support of Cassa Lombarda, continues on Saturday, February 1st at Teatro Donizetti (11:00 am) with another historical figure, well aligned with the theme of “Rebels”, chosen this year for the series: Cleopatra. Cleopatra: the queen enemy of Rome is indeed the title of the lesson by Francesca Cenerini, professor of Roman History and Epigraphy and Roman Institutions at the University of Bologna. The history of Rome intersects not only with the life of the last queen of the Ptolemaic dynasty and the destinies of Egypt, but also with the histories of Palestine, Africa, and Asia. It marks the beginning of a season that will have a significant impact on the culture and tastes of the Romans. Francesca Cenerini has focused her studies in the field of Ancient History. Her research interests are particularly directed towards the representation of the female condition in Roman times, through the analysis of historiographic and epigraphic documentation. This research has produced two monographs and numerous articles published in journals and essays in volumes. She has collaborated on many initiatives aimed at the public communication of her research, collaborating with high-profile magazines and cultural initiatives. She is the author of The Roman Woman. Models and realities (Il Mulino, 2013) and Messalina. Legend and history of a dangerous woman (Laterza, 2024). The “History Lessons” will then continue with Maria Giuseppina Muzzarelli, who will recall the historical figure, charisma, and complex personality of Joan of Arc (February 8); with Luigi Mascilli Migliorini, who will offer a deep reflection on Robespierre, at the heart of the French Revolution (February 15); and finally with Loris Zanatta, who will present Fidel Castro and his revolutionary “political religion” (March 1). All meetings will be introduced by journalist Max Pavan, head of information at Bergamo TV. Tickets 10 Euros, with a reduction for schools to 8 Euros. At the end of the meetings, the authors will stay with the audience for a book signing at the Ridotto Gavazzeni of the Theater.