"Waiting for'" Celebrates Verdi's Legacy

Azzurra Giorgi (April 22, 2013)
At Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò Gesualdo Coggi played some of the most famous Verdi's operas, such as ‘Don Carlos,’ ‘Il Trovatore,’ ‘Rigoletto,’ ‘Aida’ and ‘Simon Boccanegra.’ The operas performed were those that Franz Liszt paraphrased and transcribed.

There are many types of music one can listen to. In the past few years especially, a lot of new artists have emerged, bringing their own ideas and styles. However, in some cases, quality was not one of their main priorities. This is why a lot of these new 'artists' have disappeared after a short period of fame and several successful hits. But besides all this, there exists a kind of music that always finds admirers, no matter what their age is: classical music.

Italy has had some of the most important Italian composers: Doninzetti, Vivaldi, Puccini and Rossini are some of them, but the most renowned is definitely Giuseppe Verdi.

To celebrate the anniversary of his birth in 1813, Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo' dedicated a piano concert to him, held on April 18th, 2013. “We are very happy to bring you this concert because there is nothing more Italian and more proper to the celebration of Italian culture than Verdi. He contributed in a way that probably nobody else did to the cause of Italian unification, to give Italians a sense of belonging to a common motherland,” said Stefano Albertini, director of Casa Italiana, when opening the night.

The Consul General of Italy, Natalia Quintavalle, also participated in the concert night, saying: “Verdi is not only a great composer, but also a beloved part of our national history because of the role his music played in the unification of the country. Some of the operas are powerfully linked to that historical period. This year all the greatest theaters around the world will host Verdi’s operas, such as the Metropolitan Opera.”

To celebrate and stress Verdi’s world recognition, the operas performed were those that Franz Liszt paraphrased and transcribed, and the piano was played by the young and talented Gesualdo Coggi.

The whole concert expressed classical music at its best, offering some extracts from some of the most famous of Verdi’s operas, such as ‘Don Carlos,’ ‘Il Trovatore,’ ‘Rigoletto,’ ‘Aida’ and ‘Simon Boccanegra.’ Coggi, born in 1985 in Frosinone, in the Lazio region, delighted the audience conceding an additional unexpected performance at the end of the concert.

The event, called ‘Waiting for Verdi,’ is part of the larger program ‘Waiting for,’ whose aim is to evaluate and support the young talents in all musical fields.

“I am very excited to be here tonight,” admitted Francesca Parvizyar, organizer of the initiative, who explained how ‘Waiting for’ was born four years ago in Milan, in collaboration with the University of Milan. “At a certain point of my life I decided that what I wanted to do was to help young talents, so I thought to evaluate the two fundamental nutriments of life: music and food. This is why we decided to give scholarships to the faculty of Food Sciences of the University of Milan,” continued Parvizyar. As for the particular choice of Liszt’s adaptations, she admitted: “It was a rediscovery for me last year on the occasion of his 200th anniversary, when I was commissioned to work on the recovery of his piano. He used to say ‘I cannot do anything but open streets for new talents,’ and this is what I want to do.”

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