IL MINOTAURO (Silvia Colasanti) Spoleto 2018
IL MINOTAURO by Silvia Colasanti
Teatro Nuovo Gian Carlo Menotti di Spoleto, Italy
2018
CAST
Minotauro GIANLUCA MARGHERI
Arianna BENEDETTA TORRE
Teseo MATTEO FALCIER
____________________________________________
Conductor: Jonathan Webb
Orchestra: Orchestra Giovanile Italiana
Chorus: International Opera Choir
Chorus Master: Gea Garatti
Stage Director: Giorgio Ferrara
Stage Designer: Giorgio Ferrara
Costume Designer: Vincent Darré
Lighting Designer: Fiammetta Baldiserri
============================================
The Minotaur: the myth of a terrifying monster is transformed, in this work, into a “human” drama, the drama of a being who has to deal with himself, or rather with the infinity of selves reflected in the mirrors of the labyrinth.
He is contrasted by man as the real executioner – capable of deception and false friendship – here represented by Theseus and Ariadne.
The opera’s three vocal protagonists are joined by the Chorus of Birds, a harbinger or witness of death, which comments on the action, like a sort of modern Greek chorus, and a small orchestra that frames the protagonists’ vocal lines and itself becomes a protagonist at certain formal moments in the action. The Moon and the Sun accompany the monster’s implacable fate.
The Minotaur’s solitude is contrasted by the young victims destined for him, who surround him menacingly before being killed, one after the other, in a percussive and abstract battle.
The finale is entrusted to the Chorus of Birds: a long, intimate and painful prayer set to the somber tolling of bells.
Silvia Colasanti
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Minotauro is an opera in ten scenes by Silvia Colasanti (music) with a libretto by René de Ceccatty and Giorgio Ferrara based on the 1985 ballad Minotaurus by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. It premiered on 29 June 2018 at the Teatro Nuovo Gian Carlo Menotti in Spoleto .
PLOT
The opera deals with the fate of the Minotaur , a mythical Cretan monster who, as the son of Pasiphae and a bull, was himself half-man and half-bull. He was condemned to a life in the labyrinth of Knossos , built by Daedalus . Every nine years, the Athenians, defeated by the Cretans, must sacrifice seven youths and seven virgins to him.
In Dürrenmatt’s story and the opera based on it, the walls of the labyrinth are made of glass, so the Minotaur finds himself surrounded by countless reflections of himself. He cannot distinguish reality from his dreams. Suddenly, he sees a strange being among the images: a young woman, wandering fearfully through the labyrinth. The Minotaur approaches her, fascinated, observes her, dances around her, and plays with her until he inadvertently kills her. A flock of birds descends beside him. They complain that he has left them so little food—only scraps of skin and a few drops of blood. The Minotaur begs them to grant him the sleep of oblivion. Now another being appears, similar to the girl before, but different. The Minotaur is happy to no longer be alone. He dances around the man. The man plays along, but then plunges his sword into the Minotaur’s chest. The Minotaur is not seriously injured. He doesn’t understand what’s happening to him, begins to doubt the man’s friendship, attacks him, and finally kills him as well. Now other young men and women appear, who look around, circle the Minotaur, and humiliate themselves before him. However, the Minotaur no longer cares about friendship. He kills them one by one. The birds descend once more. They address their lament to the moon.
The Minotaur is alone again with his reflection, which provides no answers to his questions. He reflects on his own humanity. Before, he was merely an “abyss of hunger,” now he feels like a “river, a storm of words.” Once again, a girl enters the labyrinth. It is Arianna . She has marked her way back with a red thread and is looking for the other young people, whom she wants to promise salvation. She herself will be the last victim, regardless of whether she perishes or wins. Her friend Teseo will follow her with the help of the thread. She flatters the Minotaur and explains to him that she is his sister, a daughter of his mother Pasiphae and the Cretan king Minos . The Minotaur sees a second Minotaur, who at first behaves like his reflection, but is actually a different person – Teseo wearing a bull mask. The two dance around each other. Arianna and Teseo promise the Minotaur a way out of the labyrinth and a new world without hatred or blood. After gaining his trust, Teseo removes his mask and kills the Minotaur with his dagger. The chorus of birds comments: Only the stars, the sun, or the moon can understand the Minotaur’s loneliness and fears.
Quoted from Wikipedia