May 10, 2016
TEATRO ALLA SCALA – THE TEMPLE OF WONDERS
November 24th and 25th in Italian cinemas.
TEATRO ALLA SCALA. THE TEMPLE OF WONDERS, by Luca Lucini, Silvia Corbetta, Piero Marenghi is a filmic event dedicated to one of the most exclusive temples of music and world performances, a place where art is created, represented and lived.
The film that arrives in 250 Italian cinemas on November 24th and 25th as part of the Grande Arte al Cinema project by Nexo Digital, tells the story of the theatre that more than any other has captured and tied inextricably to itself the biggest names in music. Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Arturo Toscanini, Maria Callas and Luchino Visconti founded the myth of the place, continued by artists like Claudio Abbado and Riccardo Muti, that still today provokes a sense of sacredness: in the film this will be told by many, including the conductors Daniel Barenboim and Riccardo Chailly, the singers Mirella Freni and Plácido Domingo, the dancers Carla Fracci and Roberto Bolle as well as by the superintendents Pereira, Lissner and Fontana.
Inaugurated in 1778, La Scala in Milan is the place where the tradition of the great Italian opera was born. The emotions absorbed by the velvet curtains, by the wood of the stage, by the stalls are still alive today and return to the surface every night at the very moment when the lights are dimmed, the audience stops chatting and the curtain rises. Accompanied by the narrative voice of Sandro Lombardi, the video camera travels down the corridors and lets us take in 237 years of history: a majestic sequence of discoveries and revelations will be a delight for the spectator.
The authors Luca Lucini and Silvia Corbetta have said:
“It was clear immediately that if we wanted to understand the secrets of nearly 250 years of history of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan we would have to tell what the Scala really is: a factory of emotions and an unique place in the world where passion, sacrifice, talent and dedication are assembled. We gave up the rigidity of a strictly chronological narrative and we let ourselves get carried away in the rapids of the river made of lights, music, images and silence.”
TEATRO ALLA SCALA. THE TEMPLE OF WONDERS has cinematography by Luca Bigazzi and the extraordinary participation of Bebo Storti playing the part of Domenico Barbaja, Francesca Inaudi in the role of Marietta Ricordi, Filippo Nigro in the role of Bartolomeo Merelli, Giuseppe Cederna in the role of the engineer Giuseppe Colombo, Andrea Bosca in the role of the concierge of the Grand Hotel in Milan, Gigio Alberti in the role of Luigi Illica and Pia Engleberth playing the part of Biki.
The locations of excellence shown in the film include the National Museum of Science and Technology with the Regina Margherita thermoelectric plant , that forms the background of the reconstruction of a scene in which the engineer Giuseppe Colombo “activates” electric lighting at the Scala.
TEATRO ALLA SCALA. THE TEMPLE OF WONDERS, distributed worldwide by Nexo Digital, is produced by Skira Classica, Arte France, RAI Com and Camera Lucida, coproduced by Maremosso, and made in association with Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. in accordance with the rules on Tax Credit and with the contribution of Pirelli and Edison. Thanks to the Teatro alla Scala for the collaboration.
