For the inaugural appointment of the Music Biennale, the Golden Lion, Giorgio Battistelli, and the Silver Lion, the Ars Ludi ensemble, bring a shared project to the Fenice: Jules Verne.
At Fenice Theatre, on September 14, Giorgio Battistelli’s opera Jules Verne will premiere. A new, fascinating encounter between Golden Lion-awarded Battistelli and Silver Lion- awarded drummer trio Ars Ludi (Antonio Caggiano, Rodolfo Rossi, Gianluca Ruggeri). Director Battistelli pictured the opera as a show of imagination for three drummers, three voices, trumpet, and piano. Battistelli has always been fascinated by Verne, whose stories never failed to open new dimensions for imagination.
In this piece, Verne is paid homage to by three literary heroes: Professor Lidenbrock from Journey to the Center of the Earth, Doctor Ferguson from Five Weeks in a Balloon, and Captain Nemo from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas. The protagonists meet in a parlour, tools in tow, and each of them tells their story, trying to convince the other two that he is, in fact, Verne’s favourite. It all ends with the three playing, singing, and making music together. Battistelli wanted the opera to show how theatrical execution can be, and the ideal interpreters of percussive theatre could be none other than the Ars Ludi trio, histrionic and charismatic musicians who love to share their passion for performance, never failing to show how much fun they’re having in a world where they fit in perfectly – the ideal home of sound chasers.
