Page 18 - Demo

Data Pagina Foglio
18 luglio 2017 traduzione inglese 4 di 5
“Some of the places we played at are especially important to me, like Damascus, where I rehearsed with the Syrian orchestra of young musi- cians. They had a conservatory, a beau ful opera house, and a wonderful playground for drama c performances. I do not know what’s le there today, but I’m sure that the message that we tried to convey then is s ll relevant.”
“I remember Nairobi, where Kenyan musicians and a chorus of local women and children performed with us. We played Italian music, and the children sang “Va, pensiero” - the famous chorus from Verdi’s Nabucco. I was extremely impressed with the training of the choristers and their pronuncia on - it was much be er than in many foreign opera houses.”
“Another important concert for me was in 2010 in Trieste, where the three presidents - the President of the Italian Republic, the President of Slovenia and the President of Croa a, first met together a er the war. The musicians of the orchestra “Luigi Cherubini” and the orchestras of Slovenia and Croa a played enthusias cally together, the anthems of the three countries were heard. The presidents were proud that the mee ng was really held on a friendly note.”
“But the most difficult and, it is possible to say, sensa onal “Roads of Friendship” concert took place just now in the capital of Iran in Vahdat Hall.“ Riccardo Mu brought to Tehran a composite orchestra composed of the musicians of Luigi Cherubini and other Italian orchestras, famous singers and the choir of the Municipal Theater in Piacenza. The Italians performed Verdi’s music in Tehran with the musicians of the local sym- phony orchestra under the direc on of Shardad Rohani and the Teheran Choir. Of course, this concert, which gathered more than two hundred musicians from Iran and Italy on the stage, will go down in history as an example of a humanis c gesture that overcomes confronta on and dead-end poli cal decisions that can not adequately respond to the pressing problem of human civiliza on - peace between states. The diffi- culty in implemen ng this project was not so much in the poli cal situa on as in the fact that a er the 1979 Islamic Revolu on, music in the country was banned for many years. The opera house in Tehran was closed, the crea ve life of the Iranian orchestras prac cally stopped.. As an example, two years ago in Tehran the orchestra was banned from performing the Iranian anthem at an event due to the fact that there were women among the musicians. Only under the current president Hassan Rouhani the situa on began to change gradually. “We were wai ng for Mr. Rouhani’s re-elec on,” said Mu , “opening the door for a broader vision of the future, and a er many months of yes, no, yes, no, they finally agreed to our concert. I did not have the slightest hesita on to go there. “
For the musicians of the Tehran Symphony Orchestra and their leader, conductor and composer Shardad Rohani, this concert was not only a unique opportunity to work with the famous maestro, but also an absolute breakthrough for the country into a new cultural and humanitarian space.
Shardad Rohani: “This is prac cally the first me in history when Iranian musicians work together with Italian musicians. Before the revolu on, Iran had a rich musical life, great musicians came to Teheran: Herbert von Karajan, Zubin Meta, Vladimir Horowitz, the ballet of Maurice Bejart and others. Then came a difficult period for the musical life of the country. But now we have an incredible rise of interest in classical music, and not one of our concerts takes place without being sold-out. We perform two or three mes a week, performing the music of Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Brahms, etc. The Rudaki Founda on, our employer and the sponsor of the orchestra, grants me the right to choose one or other repertoire. This item is registered in my contract.”
How is the life of the Iranian orchestras organized today? Where are the musicians ge ng their educa on?
Shardad Rohani: ”The Teheran Symphony Orchestra has a rich history, which began in the distant 1933. Today it consists of 86 full- me musicians and 60 freelance musicians. In recent years, there has been a change of genera ons: many musicians have gone with age, someone emigrated to the US, someone started teaching. Most ar sts are young: the average age is about 23 years. Basically all our musicians graduated from the Tehran Conservatory (in Tehran there are two of them - male and female). But I must say that although classical music is popular in Iran, we have to face difficul es, including the problem of insufficient support - both financial and public. The state provides us with all possible assistance: musicians have a fixed rate, they work 5 days a week, but their salary is not comparable with payment in orchestras of other coun- tries, and they have to look for side earnings.”
“The second problem is the quality of the musical instruments: there are no Italian instruments in the orchestra at all, we play on Chinese and Iranian instruments, and most of them have already reached the age of 40, which is cri cal for the sound of, say, the brass. We do not have a hall for performances of the orchestra. Vahdat Hall was built as an opera hall, however, the last me an opera was performed here was in 1979.”
Since the revolu on, is this concert one of the most significant events in the cultural history of Iran?
Shardad Rohani: “Ar sts from other countries, including Italy, come to Iran. But it is this visit of Maestro Mu and the fact that he conducts an Iranian symphony orchestra which is a huge breakthrough for Iranian classical music. The combined orchestra consists of 54 Iranians and 52 Italians. In general, you could no ce that the audience of the Tehran hall is s ll young, whilst in Vienna and other European halls classical music concerts are a ended mainly by people of more mature age. Of course, the interest of young Iranians in concerts is connected with certain pro- hibi ons in society, depriving people of entertainment and leisure. In Iran there are no clubs, no discos, which, perhaps, increases the interest in classical music. So I’m op mis c about the future of classical music in Iran.”
Meanwhile, not all the plans of the “Roads of Friendship” were realized in Iran. It turned out that according to the religious laws of the country women can not perform solo on stage, including performing opera arias. As a result, it was all male soloists on the Tehran stage - tenor Piero Pre , baritone Luca Salsi and bass Riccardo Zanellato – who impressed the audience with arias and duets from “Don Carlos”, “Macbeth”, “Simon