Institute of Theatre and Opera Archives - Page 2 of 11 - Fondazione Giorgio Cini

Istituto: Institute of Theatre and Opera

Romagnola by Luigi Squarzina

The National Committee for the celebrations of the centenary of Luigi Squarzina’s birth (1922-2022), chaired by Maria Ida Biggi and of which the Institute of Theatre and Opera is the coordinating body, promotes the performance of the original production La Romagnola, based on the famous text by Squarzina. 

The new production by the Compagnia Le Belle Bandiere is staged under the direction and interpretation of Elena Bucci.

The version of La Romagnola will then permanently enter the Company repertoire and co-produced by the Teatro Rossini of Lugo.

    Institute of Theatre and Opera

    The Institute was established as the evolution of the Institute for Literature, Theatre, and Music, which was founded in 1957 by Vittore Branca and Pietro Nardi. Interest in melodrama grew with the acquisition, in the same year, of the substantial collection of the Roman physician Ulderico Rolandi, which consists of approximately thirty thousand opera librettos dating from the second half of the 16th century to the early 20th century. The collection also includes a rich thematic library, a large number of scores, and a collection of portraits, posters, offprints, and newspaper clippings. In 1970, the Italianist Gianfranco Folena was appointed director of the Institute, introducing a linguistic approach to the study of theatrical and musical disciplines.

    The annual conferences attracted scholars from all over the world and contributed to the reassessment of the opera libretto, at a time when emphasising its importance was considered a novel approach. Thanks to access to the libretto collection, an international scholarly community emerged, establishing the Fondazione Giorgio Cini as a centre of excellence for research. Between the 1960s and 1980s, several major donations, including the Eleonora Duse Archive (which included collections from Sister Mary Mark and Olga Resnevič Signorelli), allowed the Institute to pursue one of its main research focuses: the study of the actor in the 19th and 20th centuries, in both the Italian and international theatre traditions.

    In the late 1980s, the acquisition of the personal archive of dancer and choreographer Aurél M. Milloss enabled the Institute to become a leading reference for the study of various forms of dance. Over time, the Institute was further enriched by the personal libraries of Gian Francesco Malipiero, Francesco Gallia, Aurél M. Milloss, and Ulderico Rolandi.

    In 2007, it was renamed the Study Centre for European Theatre and Opera. Over the years, intensive digitisation efforts were undertaken, culminating in the creation of the Theatrical and Musical Iconographic Archive, which now houses more than twelve thousand files, ranging from portraiture and set design to theatre architecture, costume design, painting, and graphics. The Study Centre has also expanded with new and invaluable donations concerning post-20th century theatre, including contributions from Luigi Squarzina, Titina Rota, Pierluigi Samaritani, Elena Povoledo, Maurizio Scaparro, Giovanni Poli, Mischa Scandella, Arnaldo Momo, and Santuzza Calì.

    In 2017, the Study Centre became the Institute of Theatre and Opera on the occasion of its 10th anniversary. That same year, it began a project to rediscover the figure of Lyda Borelli, a charismatic artist and one of the most famous Italian actresses of the early 20th century. 

    Since 2007, the Institute has been directed by Maria Ida Biggi.

    Eleonora Duse in Antonio e Cleopatra, photograph by Pau Audouard, c. 1890 Duse Archive © Fondazione Giorgio Cini

    The Institute supports research and scientific dissemination, manages and promotes its documentary and iconographic archives, and organises seminars, conferences, publications, and cultural initiatives.

    Events
    STANZA DUSE

    Inaugurated in 2011, the Stanza Duse is a permanent space dedicated to the memory of the great Italian actress. It was created with the aim of making the valuable heritage preserved in the Duse Archive accessible to the public through temporary thematic exhibitions.

    LYDA BORELLI

    Since 2017, the Institute of Theatre and Opera has been dedicated to rediscovering the figure of Lyda Borelli, an artist of great charisma and one of the most famous Italian actresses of the early 20th century.

    Lyda Borelli (La Spezia, 1887 – Rome, 1959) was one of the most renowned Italian actresses of the early 20th century. A woman of extraordinary charm and an artist of remarkable talent, Borelli quickly captured the public’s attention, first in the theatre and later in cinema, making her debut in 1913. As the leading lady of the company and a performer of undeniable talent, she was also an icon of the Liberty style and elegance, embodying the modern woman: emancipated, a lover of speed, and flight. Muse to writers and artists, she had relationships with the most famous intellectuals of the time and portrayed several characters who have since become legendary. Orio Vergani writes: “La sua vita teatrale fu breve, ma con lei si chiude un’epoca, un gusto, uno stile. Lyda Borelli aveva immortalato e bruciato al tempo stesso le immagini e gli accenti di tutta una generazione” (‘Her theatrical life was short, but with her, an era, a taste, a style came to an end. Lyda Borelli had immortalised and burned at the same time the images and accents of an entire generation’).

    The Institute, which has focused on the history of the actor since its foundation, explores through thematic reviews and exhibitions the artistic career of Lyda Borelli, the first wife of Count Vittorio Cini, to whom the Foundation owes its creation. Her theatrical career, which anticipated and matched with equal success her better-known film career, makes her one of the most interesting actresses of the generation following that of Eleonora Duse, of whom the Institute holds an important archive collection.

    Lyda Borelli in Salomè, 1909-1910, Nunes Vais Archive © ICCD-Gabinetto Fotografico Nazionale, Rome.

    Institute of Theatre and Opera

    DIRECTRESS
    Maria Ida Biggi
    CONTACTS
    teatromelodramma@cini.it

    Institute of Theatre and Opera

    Eleonora Duse mito contemporaneo

    On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the death of Eleonora Duse (Vigevano 1858 – Pittsburgh 1924), the Institute for Theatre and Melodrama opens to the public a temporary exhibition that tells the extraordinary story of this artist.

     

    The exhibition, designed for the spaces of Palazzo Cini in San Vio, aims to portray the famous actress from documents and objects that belonged to her, preserved in the Archives of the Institute for Theatre and Opera. These are unique objects, capable of testifying to the particularity of this revolutionary artist, a point of reference not only for the theater scene of the time, but also for European culture in the decades between the 19th and 20th centuries. Among them, the dresses that belonged to her and pertained to her private wardrobe will have a special relevance. These are haute couture models, perfectly preserved, which restore the charm of distant and particularly evocative years. In addition to the dress made by the Magugliani tailor’s shop, models created by the Jean Philippe Worth atelier, one of the first fashion houses active between London and Paris at the turn of the century, creations by Paul Poiret, the artist who at the beginning of the 20th century made the first form of women’s pants, and some garments made by Mariano Fortuny will be exhibited.

     

    In addition, other precious materials will be on display in the exhibition: autographed letters from various correspondents, rare photographs showing Eleonora Duse in moments of her private life and in stage costume, and precious objects that belonged to her that give back a glimpse of her refined and original taste.

    The exhibition aims to offer visitors a snapshot of the great artist who was a symbol of Italian theater in the world, through significant and extraordinary pieces from the Archives, which the Giorgio Cini Foundation’s Institute for Theater has been preserving, at the behest of the actress’s niece and other donors, for many years.

    Theatre review | Dall’archivio alla scena (‘From the Archive to the Stage’)

    The Institute of Theatre and Opera has conceived and promoted in collaboration with the Teatro Stabile del Veneto – Teatro Nazionale, the theatrical review “From the Archive to the Stage,” which will be held at the Auditorium lo Squero on the Island of San Giorgio from May 16 to June 14. For the occasion, the Institute has worked with the actresses who will be the protagonists of the review: with Sonia Bergamasco, who intends to trace a portrait of Eleonora Duse through the voices of other artists, illustrious witnesses of her art (May 16); with Lucia Poli, selecting a group of letters between the great actress and Giovanni Papini (May 28); and with Elena Bucci, finally, thanks to a work of excavation in the archives among letters and testimonies (June 11).

     

    Also participating in the review are some of the most prestigious theater schools nationwide, training venues that have accepted the Institute’s invitation and offered their young actors to engage with the theater and the art of Eleonora Duse. These are the Accademia dei Filodrammatici, the Civica Scuola di Teatro Paolo Grassi in Milan, and the Accademia Teatrale Carlo Goldoni – Teatro Stabile del Veneto.

     

    About the work she is preparing on Duse, Elena Bucci says, “Eleonora transpires and appears from every letter, every document, she smiles at us through time and exhorts us to revolution, which is nothing other than the fight against prejudice and the search for truth, even though she knows that as soon as she glimpses it flees elsewhere. As Eleonora herself does, with her luminous wake.” Sonia Bergamasco, on the other hand, emphasizes how “The Stanza Duse at the Giorgio Cini Foundation was my first research reference, and it remains among the richest and most precious. An island in the island of Venice, an ideal city for Eleonora Duse as well. Returning to that “Room,” every time, is a profound emotion, it is a chance to make new discoveries.”

     

    16.5.2024 – h 7pm

    Sonia Bergamasco

    LE SUE ROSE CHE CONSIDERO BACI | Eleonora Duse vista dagli altri

     

    24.5.2024 – h 7pm | Civica Scuola di Teatro Paolo Grassi

    IN VIAGGIO CON LA DUSE

     

    28.5.2024 – h 7pm

    Lucia Poli

    S’IO FOSSI DAVVERO POETA | Il carteggio Duse – Papini

     

    30.5.2024 –h 7pm | Accademia Teatrale Carlo Goldoni

    IL BAULE DEI MISTICI – Una ricerca sulla spiritualità di Eleonora Duse

     

    11.6.2024 – h 7pm

    Elena Bucci

    RIVOLUZIONE DUSE
    Inno agli stregati. Parte numero uno, Venezia: Rivoluzione Duse, un archivio vivo

     

    14.6.2024 – h 7pm | Accademia dei Filodrammatici

    IL RESPIRO DELL’ANIMA | Eleonora Duse rivelata da Dora Setti

     

     

    For more information
    teatromelodramma@cini.it

     

    For info and tickets

    +39 041 2402014 | biglietteria.teatrogoldoni@teatrostabileveneto.it

    Singing in the pool, with masks

    The seminar Singing in the pool, with masks organised in collaboration with the Théâtre Performance et Societé of the Université Paris 8 and the École Universitaire de Recherche ArTeC – Nanterre, will be held from 5 to 7
    March. During the seminar, financed by ANR (Agence Nationale pour la Recherche de France), both theoretical and practical teaching on the use of the mask in theatre, with particular reference to aquatic environments,
    will be offered to the students of the University of Nanterre. During the Venetian meeting, which follows an initial seminar held in Paris, curated by Isabelle Moindrot and Giulia Filacanapa, participants will be able to
    work on a selection of graphic and pictorial materials conserved in the various archive funds of the Institute for Theatre and Opera. The Institute will also be involved in a series of lectures on the history of contemporary
    theatre and the theatrical heritage held at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini.

    The Duse Room. Part III Eleonora Duse – the international actress

    Starting in March, the Stanza Duse – an archive that has been open to the public since 2011 – will host the third and final appointment in a trilogy of exhibitions, this time dedicated to the international reception of Eleonora
    Duse’s theatre. The aim is to broaden our gaze, going beyond the national boundaries and tracing the effect Duse’s acting had on foreign audiences
    and contributed to the artistic revolution in early twentieth-century theatre.
    Through the press of the time and the writings dedicated to her, visitors will be guided through the discovery of one of the most fortuitous pages of Italian theatre of all time. Voices from both near and far, among the many
    available, such as those of Charles Spencer Chaplin, Anton Chekhov, Isadora Duncan, Yvette Guilbert, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, George Bernard Shaw, Lee Strasberg and Konstantin Sergei Stanislavsky will describe a revolutionary actress, deeply inspired and capable of leaving a lasting impression on those who were lucky enough to see her on stage.

    Study Day | Mischa Scandella and Italian Set Design in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century

    As part of the activities promoted by the National Committee for the celebrations of the centenary of Mischa Scandella’s birth, of which the Institute of Theatre and Opera is the promoting body, a study day on the Venetian artist and Italian set design in the second half of the twentieth century is planned. The meeting will provide an opportunity to conclude the work of the National Committee and to introduce the public to both the Venetian set designer’s theatre and the activities promoted during the
    Committee’s three-year existence. At the end of the work, the Scandella Prize will be awarded, for the second year running, to students at the Fine Arts Academies for the best set design projects inspired by the work of the Venetian master.
    The scenographer Pier Luigi Pizzi, the scholar Cristina Grazioli and the members of the Scandella National Committee – Maria Ida Biggi, Nicola Bruschi, Lorenzo Cutuli and Marianna Zannoni – will be present at the event.

    «Se mi dura questo entusiasmo finirò come Narciso». Un viaggio fotografico nella vita della grande attrice. Parte II Eleonora Duse e l’Italia

    Pre-empting the major anniversary of 2024, which will mark one hundred years since the death of Eleonora Duse (1858–1924), the Institute for Theatre and Melodrama proposes an exhibition on the famous Italian actress based on documents conserved in the artist’s own personal archive.This new exhibition project follows the one dedicated to the delicate and profound relationship between the actress and the city of Venice, and aims to broaden the focus to the national context in which Eleonora Duse developed professionally, made a name for herself and contributed to major changes.

    Study Day The Theatre of the Actors. Wanda Benedetti, Toni Barpi and their Era

    On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of actress Wanda Benedetti (Treviso, 31 October 1923 – Treviso, 12 July 2017) and of the tenth anniversary of the death of actor Toni Barpi (Feltre, 13 July 1920 – Treviso, 31 October 2013), the Institute for Theatre and Opera intends to promote a study day dedicated to the Veneto theatre scene in the second half of the twentieth century. The two actors, companions both in life and on stage, worked with some of the most important directors of the
    time, including Cesco Baseggio, Carlo Lodovici, Renato Simoni, Maurizio Scaparro and Luigi Squarzina. The meeting will provide an opportunity to recall not only the work of these two performers, but more generally to reconstruct a cross-section of theatre in the Veneto area in the decades following WWII.

    Wanda Benedetti and Toni Barpi, whose personal archives are conserved by the Institute, worked with other artists whose memory is preserved by the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, including stage designer Mischa Scandella, directors Arnaldo Momo, Giovanni Poli and the aforementioned Luigi Squarzina and Maurizio Scaparro.

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