Lyda Borelli

Rapsodia Satanica

Rapsodia Satanica

Genoa, Teatro Carlo Felice



  • Rapsodia satanica – Gianni Schicchi , 12-14 April 2019
  • Rapsodia satanica | Pietro Mascagni

    Edizioni Curci srl
    critical revision by Marcello Panni

    Screening of Nino Oxilia’s 1917 silent film, restored by the Cineteca di Bologna, with original music by Pietro Mascagni performed live.

    Conductor, Valerio Galli
  • The Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa turned a setback into an opportunity: forced, it seems for copyright reasons, to cancel the planned musical Sunset Boulevard by Andrew Lloyd Webber, it put together instead an evening of real charm with the unusual double bill Rapsodia satanica – Gianni Schicchi, music by Pietro Mascagni and Giacomo Puccini respectively — a blend of early cinema and opera, or rather comic opera.

    The first half of the evening offers the restored version of Rapsodia satanica, a 1917 silent film produced by the Cinés company in Rome, directed in a symbolist, decadent style by Nino Oxilia, with Lyda Borelli in the lead role of Alba d’Oltrevita. Seen in the context of when it was made, over a century ago, it remains, all things considered, an enjoyable and not unappealing watch, allowances made for some naïveté and for an acting style far removed from today’s taste and sensibility. What lends it further charm is the music by Pietro Mascagni, a forerunner of the modern film composer. The informative programme notes by Massimo Pastorelli offer an interesting account of how Mascagni worked to move from composing for the theatre — where the composer has full control over timing and the calibration of effects — to composing for film, where the music instead has to bend to the length of the frames, the actors’ expressions and the projector’s speed. Mascagni did not shy away from the challenge, however, and rose to it with considerable skill, showing a real facility for adapting to this seventh art and seizing its opportunities. He also managed to remain true to himself, so that the melody and colour that emerge from the score are unmistakably his own.

    The score, as at the film’s original premiere, is performed “live” during the screening, with the orchestra placed firmly in the pit. And it is precisely Valerio Galli’s conducting that is the strongest asset of this Genoa production. Galli believes in this music, is enthusiastic about it, and passes that enthusiasm on to the audience. He is always searching for the right timbre, judging the intensity of the sound with real precision, giving it a role always equal in importance to what is shown on screen. In this he is well supported by the excellent playing of the Genoa orchestra. […] ( Mauro Tortarolo, Connessi all’Opera, Lirica e dintorni ai tempi del 2.0)
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