2012 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Claude Debussy and we’ll be taking the opportunity to celebrate in grand style. Debussy was not only a great musician, but someone who literally changed the destiny of music. Our inaugural concerts in both host cities featuring the Orchestre National de France, conducted by Daniele Gatti, bring together all of the composer’s allure and depth, with performances of Debussy’s major symphonic pieces. There will also be a marathon of piano concerts featuring a treasure trove of his compositions for piano.
While we revel in the past, MITO Settembremusica certainly does not overlook the present, and this year we put the spotlight on two major living composers, Luis De Pablo of Spain and Kaija Saariaho of Finland, plus music by other contemporary composers including Giacomo Manzoni, Sylvano Bussotti, Fabio Vacchi, Stefano Gervasoni, Filippo del Corno, Gilberto Bosco and Giulio Castagnoli. And we’ll be staging revivals of little heard gems of the past like Monteverdi’s Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria and Messe solennelle by Berlioz.
This year also marks the 400th anniversary of the death of Italian composer Giovanni Gabrieli, during his lifetime revered as a master among masters. Indeed, one of the reasons we’ve dedicated so much attention to Gabrielli is that he is considered the inventor of the sound we listen to whenever we turn on a stereo – which is to say, music that comes simultaneously from two sources, in this case the Venetian polychoral style, of which Gabrieli was the most illustrious exponent.
A big leap brings us from the ancient music of centuries past to the music of today. MITO SettembreMusica has always been a model for new balances and proposals, with programs open to a pleasing variety of contributions and genres. A pair of different conceptions (oppure: spirits) rise to the surface this year. There’s the Italian tradition, with a string of concerts featuring singer-songwriters and folk performances, to recount and bring to the fore the Italian experience. Then lined up are some important international collaborations with the likes of the Montreux Jazz Festival and Harvard University as part of a project that blends music and technology, providing our audiences with a blast of what’s new in music today, from stylistic hybrids to encounters among different genres. The program serves up a series of evening performances where the spotlight’s on jazz, music & high-tech, multimedia sounds, and major international pop and rock artists still little known in Italy. Many performances are MITO SettembreMusic exclusives!
Concerts and shows for young people, conferences with composers and performers featured at the festival, a broad-based educational project, round table discussions and book presentations complete the 2012 edition of MITO SettembreMusica, committed as always to bringing the magic of top quality music to new audiences.