Maestro Andrea Morricone, Award-winning Italian composer and conductor, will present his premier U.S. concert at the Ann and Jerry Moss Theater, The Herb Alpert Educational Village at New Roads School in Santa Monica, on April 29, 2014.
Organized under the auspices of the Consulate General of Italy, and in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles and the Coalition for Engaged Education of Santa Monica, the performance will feature the American Amor Symphonic Orchestra with special guests Italian soprano Elisabetta Russo and tenor Gianluca Sciarpelletti.
A unique opportunity to appreciate Maestro Morricone’s talent and original style, this awaited event will certainly win the hearth of classical and contemporary music lovers alike. But let him tell us more about it.
What should the LA audience expect from this concert?
It will be something truly innovative, due in particular to the use of the voice. About three years ago, in fact, I decided to dedicate at least part of my work to the role of the voice within the orchestra and the relationship between them. The reason is because, in my opinion, there aren’t good examples of it in contemporary operas, compared with the greatest and unforgettable melodies of the XIX century by artists the likes of Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, or Gaetano Donizetti. New forms of theater and music were developed in the 1900s, but they also represented a break with tradition.
Therefore, contemporary composers need to take this evolution into consideration and to reinvent their music language by incorporating, for example, synthesizers, percussions, and electronic music into the classical structure of the composition. Embracing modern technologies is also the only way to reach out to a larger and younger audience. This is what I did in some of my new arias and mainly in the duets, where the composer’s fantasy can explore innovative sounds and combinations.
And yet, I still consider myself a classical author on the basis of my music education and artistic sensibility: I firmly believe that classical means timelessly beautiful, just like Bach’s melodies are still fresh and fascinating after four centuries of music history.
How did the collaboration with lyricist Paola Lorenzi, tenor Gianluca Sciarpelletti, and soprano Elisabetta Russo come about?
Paola and I have been friends for about 10 years. She authored the original lyrics of my brand-new melodies and compositions, and we had already worked together in the past on the occasion of a Christmas concert in Rome, hosted in the Basilica Santa Maria della Minerva and organized in collaboration with Fondazione Pro Musica e Arte Sacra. That concert also featured tenor Gianluca Sciarpelletti, who has now been invited to join us again here in Los Angeles. He is considered by the critics as the new Luciano Pavarotti for the style and power of his voice, and he studied with soprano Elisabetta Russo, an extraordinary LA-based artist. I am sincerely glad to collaborate with all of them, and I also count on the high quality performance of the 45-piece orchestra. It will certainly be an amazing concert.
How did you prepare for it?
Moving to the United States, I have been working hard to perfect my composing technique, which is crucial for any composer and conductor as it enables to understand the deepest essence of music. Since I was a child, I have always had the gift of creativity to write original music, but I have also trained all my life to combine inspiration with professional know-how, developing my own secret codes that lie behind my scores. In addition, contemporary technology allows an immediate feedback on my work, something that was impossible a few years ago. I have also produced a number of film scores – like the new arrangement of the Academy Award-winning “Love Theme” in Cinema Paradiso – to experiment new sounds. Now I feel ready, focused, and determined. I look forward to this Los Angeles premiere, that will be followed by more dates in the U.S. and probably in Italy during the summer.
What is the added value of this concert?
Through these original melodies and lyrics – all of them in Italian -, it is meant to contribute to promote and make our traditional culture known in all its forms to the American public. Even if I live here now, I want to represent my native Country in the best way possible through my music.
Finally, what kind of message would you like to pass on to the new generations of composers?
I believe that the secret to compose great music is to aim higher and higher, never resting on one’s laurels or being easily satisfied. Every artist or professional should call into question his or her own work from an external and unbiased perspective, in order to evaluate how it can be improved even by removing redundant elements. Self-criticism is essential to rise above mediocrity and to create something really outstanding.
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