What a memorable day!

By theresia - May 13, 2015

Every concert hall is special in its own way: but some places are more special, and full of meanings and extraordinary stories.
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Every concert hall is special in its own way: but some places are more special, and full of meanings and extraordinary stories. Likeways, some days are more remarkable and memorable too: 10th May was one of these days, in which the concert venue is something more than a simple concert hall.

First of all, there wasn’t just one concert in a day! We performed twice in the same day, and in two different (and distant, indeed) places. In the morning, we performend in the Cappella Paolina of Palazzo del Quirinale: we told you something of this important palace in a previous post . Well, the emotion of entering the palace was really strong, both Saturday, for the rehearsal, both Sunday for the concert: here you are some photos of backstage and concert.

The concert was live broadcasted on Rai Radio3: stay tuned for a podcast of the concert!

After the concert a coach was waiting for us and carried us to L’Aquila, a town located 100 km from Rome: the auditorium we performed in (the Auditorium del Parco, by famous architect Renzo Piano) is really special, in a different way from the Quirinale Palace. Quirinale is a venue of politic power (it is the residence of President of Republic), the Auditorium is a concert hall; the first is several centuries old, the second was built three years ago. Finally, the first is a symbol of power, the second is the gift of a city to another in a time of great difficulty. Find more in our post about L’Aquila.

And now enjoy L’Aquila photo gallery too!

Our places: L’Aquila and Auditorium del Parco

By Emilia Campagna - May 5, 2015

This post begins with a sad story: the third step of our tour will be in the city of L’Aquila, in a really special place, literally born on the rubble and intended to help struggling people through music. On April 6, 2009, an earthquake of 6.3 magnitude struck central Italy with its epicentre near L’Aquila. […]
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On April 6, 2009, an earthquake of 6.3 magnitude struck central Italy with its epicentre near L’Aquila. Initial reports said the earthquake caused damage to between 3,000 and 10,000 buildings in L’Aquila. Several buildings also collapsed. 308 people were killed by the earthquake, and approximately 1,500 people were injured. Twenty of the victims were children. Around 65,000 people were made homeless. There were many students trapped in a partially collapsed dormitory. The April 6 earthquake was felt throughout Abruzzo; as far away as Rome, other parts of Lazio, Marche, Molise, Umbria, and Campania.

It was a disaster of enormous proportions and music and culture weren’t safe too: in a town rich of music like L’Aquila, with a big and lively Music Conservatory and many musicians performing in local concert seasons, the
grave damage of the Castello Spagnolo concert hall seemed to be a hopeless wound.

The famous architect Renzo Piano was one of the first people to realise that it could be a very long time before the city would be back to normal and that building a place to protect musical traditions would be a positive way to start the healing process. He made himself available to design a new concert hall, with the moral support of the conductor Claudio Abbado, that proclaimed that the new auditorium was a “a building of great symbolic value”.

The Auditorium del Parco in L’Aquila was built as a temporary substitute to replace the Castello Spagnolo concert hall and was inaugurated in October 2012 with the Orchestra Mozart conducted by maestro Claudio Abbado. It is an ensemble of three pure volumes – a trio of cubes set at seemingly random angles, a bit like dice thrown on an uneven surface – housing the 238-seat concert hall, the foyer and dressing rooms. The separation of the various segments and the flow of movement through simple, adjacent and connected structures was at the root of the design of these square wooden boxes. Wood was chosen for its acoustic properties, but also because it is flexible, more resistant to earthquakes, less invasive and can be easily prefabricated and quickly assembled. The Auditorium construction site was also turned into an educational opportunity by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and the Foundation, a chance for graduating engineering students from the universities of L’Aquila and Trento to get some real hands-on experience. Their involvement in the construction was a clause in the job bidding process, a first in Europe.

Renzo Piano exlpained: “We used the wood of Val di Fiemme in Trentino, the preferred wood by the great violin makers since the time of Stradivari. All three blocks of the auditorium (concert hall, rehearsal room and restaurant) are made of wood, in order to be disassembled and rebuilt elsewhere. I was inspired by the many buildings and wooden temples built in Japan, which is the most seismic country in the world.”

Theresia’s concert in Autorium del Parco is scheduled for Sunday 10, at 18th: we are sure it will be a great emotion. Stay tuned for our photos!

In tour, da Lodi a Roma

By theresia - April 28, 2015

Theresia is back! Ricominciamo i nostri concerti alla grande, con uno stage che da Lodi ci porterà a L’Aquila e a a Roma e anche… sulle frequenze di Rai Radio 3! Ma andiamo con ordine: dal 5 all’8 maggio Theresia Youth Baroque Orchestra sarà a Lodi per uno stage in cui lavorerà con il proprio direttore principale, Claudio Astronio, su un programma che ripropone un accostamento a noi molto caro: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart e il nostro amatissimo Joseph Martin Kraus. L’8 maggio l’orchestra si esibirà nella Chiesa di Sant’Agnese a Lodi, mentre nella giornata di domenica 10 aprile l’appuntamento sarà doppio: a mezzogiorno l’orchestra sarà a Roma, nella Sala Paolina del Palazzo del Quirinale, ospite della prestigiosa rassegna “I concerti del Quirinale” di Radio 3; alle 18 Theresia si esibirà presso l’Auditorium del Parco de L’Aquila per l’appuntamento conclusivo della stagione della Società Aquilana di Concerti “B. Barattelli”.

Lo stage in residenza a Lodi non è una novità: il ritorno di Theresia, dopo un primo stage l’ottobre scorso, nella cittadina lombarda (a un soffio da Milano, dove negli stessi giorni impazzerà l’Expo) è dovuta a una felice collaborazione con gli Amici della Musica, il Comune di Lodi e il Collegio San Francesco. Il nostro direttore artistico, Mario Martinoli, commenta così la partnership: “Lodi, attraverso le sue istituzioni culturali, ha abbracciato il nostro progetto, condividendone in primo luogo la natura internazionale di formazione e valorizzazione dei giovani talenti: i nostri musicisti vengono da tutta Europa, qualcuno addirittura dal Giappone. Studiano nelle maggiori scuole di musica d’Europa, e sono da noi selezionati tramite audizioni annuali. Tybo opera secondo una logica di stage con concerti, e avere l’opportunità di una residenza a Lodi, che anche logisticamente è ideale, è dunque un sostegno importante al nostro lavoro, di cui siamo grati ai nostri partner.”

C’è molta soddisfazione anche per l’invito ad esibirsi nella stagione dei concerti di Rai Quirinale: il concerto, in programma alle 12 di domenica 10 maggio, sarà infatti trasmesso in diretta in Italia e nei paesi europei che aderiscono al circuito radiofonico Euroradio. Dunque potrà ascoltarci anche chi non potrà essere fisicamente a Roma: e, del resto, i posti nella Cappella Paolina sono limitati e la coda per accedere al Quirinale, aperto la domenica, è lunga fin dalle prime ore del mattino!

Vi racconteremo presto altri dettagli di questa nostra nuova avventura: stay tuned!

Lodi, Chiesa di Sant’Agnese, 8 maggio 2015, ore 21
Roma, Palazzo del Quirinale, 10 maggio 2015, ore 12
L’Aquila, Auditorium del Parco, 10 maggio 2015, ore 18

Wilhelm Friedemann BACH
Sinfonia in re maggiore Fk 64 dalla cantata “Dies ist der Tag” (*)
Allegro e maestoso

Joseph Martin KRAUS
Ouverture da “Afventyraren” VB 32 (**)

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART
Concerto per violino e orchestra in re maggiore K 211
Allegro moderato
Andante
Rondeau

Joseph Martin KRAUS
Sinfonia in mi bemolle maggiore VB 144
Allegro
Larghetto
Allegro

(*) in programma a Roma; (**) in programma a Lodi e L’Aquila

THERESIA YOUTH BAROQUE ORCHESTRA
Claudio Astronio, direttore
Esther Crazzolara, violino