Between DRAMA and reality – Lyrical concert

Cesare Kwon baritone – Nawon Lee soprano
Kihwan Park dancer
directed by Ahn Joo-eun

ZANETTO
Zanetto – Mariangela Zito
Silvia Alessia Battini
directed by Siria Colella
conductor Alfredo Stillo
Orchestra of Teatro Goldoni di Livorno and P. Mascagni Conservatory of Livorno

An evening filled with emotions and intense stories, with a verista vocal concert at the beginning that promises to transport the audience between drama and reality. Next, a small Mascagnan jewel will be staged: Zanetto.

In a Tuscany that seems suspended in time, among gentle hills and sunsets fading into gold, lives Silvia. She is a courtesan, rich in experiences and disillusioned, who has chosen the solitude of an isolated villa to protect herself from the world. Her life flows peacefully, imbued with melancholy and silences, until one evening an unexpected sound breaks the quiet: a young wandering troubadour, Zanetto, appears at her door. Zanetto is everything that Silvia is no longer: young, naive, full of dreams and hopes. He seeks a city where he can find fortune and perfect love, an ideal that he holds dear in his heart like a talisman. Fascinated by his purity, Silvia invites him to stay for the night, eager to taste, even just for a moment, that innocence she has lost.

Throughout the evening, Zanetto tells of his journey, of his search for a perfect woman, without ever realizing that the ideal woman could be right in front of him. Silvia, listening to his words, feels the weight of her past and understands that she can never be that woman for him. Her disillusionment is too deep, her heart too scarred by the scars of life. So, in a gesture of supreme altruism, she decides to let him go. She does not reveal who she truly is, allowing him to continue his journey towards a future filled with hopes and dreams uncontaminated by reality. Zanetto walks away, unaware of the truth, with a light heart and eyes turned towards tomorrow. Silvia remains alone, immersed in the silence of the Tuscan night, reflecting on her decision. She knows she made the right choice, even if painful. She sacrificed a moment of happiness to keep Zanetto’s dream intact. And in that solitude, there is a poignant beauty, a poetry that only those who have loved and lost can understand. “Zanetto” is a story that sings of idealized love, silent sacrifice, and disillusionment that often accompanies life. Mascagni’s music envelops these emotions, transforming them into delicate and lyrical notes that resonate in the hearts of the audience, leaving behind an echo of sweetness and melancholy.