Project

 

The Quartetto Mansi is a multidisciplinary project that, thanks to the collaboration of a group of artists and thinkers (violin-makers, composers, musicologists, musicians, photographers, videomakers,  scenographers, and directors), experiments with new and expressive forms of contemporary language.
The project envisions the realisation of an original theatrical exhibit, which is characterised by a string quartet in concert, with music and instruments that were created specifically for the occasion, and with the construction of these instruments playing an integral role in this video installation. Together, the music and the video create a synergy which transforms the music into a new and innovative form of theater.

Violin maker Fabio Piagentini, from the Italian city of Lucca, developed the concept of a string quartet, after being inspired by models of violins created by the Amati family. The backs of these violins are decorated with images from the allegories of Water, Air, Earth and Fire that were painted in fresco on the ceilings of the National Museum of Mansi Palace in Lucca.

The original scores were created by a variety of composers: Girolamo Deraco from Calabria, Saverio Rapezzi from Lucca, and a group of Isreali Americans, namely Sivan Eldarm, Yohana Chendler, and Florie Namir.
The unedited pieces will be showcased alongside Puccini’s famous quartet Crisantemi. They pay homage to the great maestro from Lucca for the 150th anniversary of his birth. A dialogue is then exchanged between the music of the past and present which comingle and at times are interchangeable and indistinguishable from one another.

The video theatrical work is characterised by a hemi-spheric element within the scenery that  serves to encompass and exhibit the artistry the four instruments, it is as if an ikebana is being presented to the public, gently rotating in space like a ballerina in a music box. A screen will portray a visionary outlook of the evolution of elements at play, artistically depicted through fragmented imagery.
The theatrical set was conceptualised by director Nino Cannatà, including the musical execution in a scenic and multi-sensory space, animated by a dialogue between the elements. At the same time, this visionary perspective is swept away by images and music; together they comprise a single, harmonious entity.

If on the one hand the Quartetto Mansi offers a unique, abstract quality as a musical event, on the other hand, through the creation of alternate dimensions, it maintains its tangibile effect, bringing about a universal perception of art through sound and image. It accomplishes this objective through a sensory interplay between listening and viewing, of the paradoxical act of “seeing” the music.

 

 

 

A PROJECT THAT LOOKS AT THE FUTURE

 

The opening of the exhibit will take place on Sunday, November 30th, 2008 in the spectacular Music Room of the Museum of the Mansi Palace Music Room of the Museum of the Mansi Palace in Lucca.

A so interesting project that it could not preview a performance by talented performers as the Quartetto Fragmente, former students of the renowned School of Music of Fiesole and first parts of the Italian Juvenile Orchestra.

Following their performance, the instruments will remain on exhibit in the form of a dynamic installation in the Music Room of the Mansi Museum until December 15th. Afterwards, they will be relocated to an art gallery in Frankfurt, where they will be made available for musicians to play.

The Quartetto Mansi project has, in fact, already captured international attention through the collaboration of chinese producer and curator Sarina Tang. Her activities have substantially enhanced the support and distribution of contemporary art.

The project’s potential drives its continual metamorphosis within various contexts in which it journeys. In light of this international tour, for each destination the artistic direction will commission the composers to create new and original scores created in homage to the Quartetto Mansi. The myriad destinations create opportunities for art to mingle within the diverse cultural,  historical and geographical contexts of the composers who interpret it. A continuous evolution, threading together the artistic vision of this project, makes it possibile to promote a rich international exchange, and in turn, the appreciation of Italian art, culture, and tradition.

All of the original scores created for the Quartetto Mansi will be collected by the Villanuccia Experimental Group and made available throughout the world as a strong and valid contribution to the repertory of contemporary music.

 

 

PROJECT IN DETAILS

 

Realization of a string quartet

In September 2008 violin maker Fabio Piagentini concluded the construction of a string quartet (two violins, a viola and a cello) requested by a german collectionist musician Andreas Martin,  an appassionato of old instruments of great makers of the past, in particular of the pieces created by the Amati family. Paola Gatto offered her precious collaboration in the decoration of the back and sides of the instruments with images drawn from paintings belonging to Lucca examples of 16th and 17th  century.

The string quartet is inspired by models of Amati family from 1566 to 1649 (Violin model-Andrea Amati 1566, Cello model-Andrea Amati 1500?, Viola model-Antonio and Gerolamo Amati 1615, Violin model-Nicola Amati 1649) and the back decoration of  each instrument reproduces details of old allegories – Water, Air, Earth, Fire – shown by the frescoes of the ceilings of National Museum of Mansi Palace in Lucca. The side floral decorations are inspired  by similar works of art present in the same building.
All four string instruments are made of a unique kind of wood - spruce fir of Val di Fiemme, Trentino, Italy – very well known by master makers of stringed instruments. That material has been considered best in the world in the centuries and still maintains its high reputation.

 

 

Original musical scores

During this multimedial concert Quartetto Mansi the public will be offered premieres by Girolamo Deraco, Saverio Rapezzi, Silvan Eldar, Yohanan Chendler, Florie Namir. Sara Matteucci, musicologist from Lucca, will give her introduction and comment; performed by Quartetto Fragmente.
Throughout their collaboration with Villanuccia Experimental Group the composers found their inspiration in the alchemy of the allegorical symbology of Water, Air, Earth, Fire, the driving creative force behind the entire initative.

The score by Saverio Rapezzi is inspired by the same four archetypal elements. Girolamo Deraco composed a brief lyric comedy, with a libretto created by Tommaso Sabbatini, that tells the hilarious story of vehement woman who suddenly finds herself in another place and time. The Israelis Sivan Eldar, Yohanan Chendler, Florie Namir who reside in Boston and San Francisco will create a score in three movements.

 

Program of the premiere

 

Giacomo Puccini, Crisantemi – for string quartet

Saverio Rapezzi, Spiriti ( Elements symphony) – for string quartet

Sivan Eldar, Yohanan Chendler, Florie Namir, Triptych – for string quartet

Girolamo Deraco, Poster-Gas – for soprano and string quartet

libretto Tommaso Sabbatini

 

performers Quartetto Fragmente

soprano Raffaella Marongiu

doorbell Matteo Cammisa

 

The video installation

The theatrical set, conceptualised and created by Nino Cannatà, is characterised by its multimedial forms and dynamic images. Together, they proffer a unique flavour of theatricality to the musical event, transforming the filming of a very traditional concert into a multimedial spectacular.

Not only the video will include shots of the city of Lucca, with its famous monuments, piazzas and picturesque sights during the passing of the seasons, it will also uncover, through a series of unexpected images an historical retrospective which narrates many unheard stories of Lucca. These images,mingle with others of the violin maker’s work on spruce fir from the woods of  Val di Fiemme, a detailed portayal of the creation of these instruments, the composers writing their original scores, and finally, images of the concert rehearsal.

A live-shooting of the concert will be projected on the screen, mixed with all the previous shots, bringing the audience closely in contact with the music and the musicians.

 

 

Objective

Through this proposal, the Quartetto Mansi Project wishes to bring the attention of the modern public towards a little known art- that of the lutemaker- linking the classical music of the past to the contemporary works. It invites the spectator to take a trip through time from 16th century frescoes to contemporary video-art. The intent is to stimulate within the public, in our age of mass consumption and instant gratification, an artistic sensitivity to the enjoyment of the concert by combining scenes of visible art of the past centuries with an interpretation that is at the same time contemporary and universal.

 

 

 

PUBLISHING PROJECT

The Quartetto Mansi Project will also achieve the production of a movie and a book.

 

The movie

It will present the whole creative course of the Project, from the creation of the stringed instruments to the premiere of the concert in Lucca with screenplay and direction by Nino Cannatà.
The first frames display the forest Val di Fiemme in Trentino, Italy, that produce the wood for making musical instruments renowned as the best worldwide. Then, through an original editing of photos and video shots, the manufacturing process is shown in great detail, from the stringed instruments maker, to the composers attending the creation of their scores, to the rehearsals, and finally the making of the concert and the theatrical set of the performance.
All of these audio-visual materials will be integrated within the video installation during the concert and will be edited on DVD with the original scores as the sound track. The DVD will include extras: photos, backstage shots and the complete shooting of the performance-concert.

 

The book

It will contain music criticism texts by musicologist Sara Matteucci and other critical texts about the Project by art and music experts with photos by Marco Giargrandi.
In the book the original scores and the notes and biographies of the composers will also be printed.