BELLINI FESTIVAL, CATANIA, SICILY,
12-24 SEPTEMBER 2009
Catania’s finest musical export, the composer of bel canto opera Vincenzo Bellini, was born in 1801 and though he didn’t hang around long, is nevertheless warmly remembered by the city, who have inaugurated an annual festival dedicated largely to his music. Festivities this year spanned two rather soggy weeks in September, during which time a series of free concerts was organised around the city in various piazze, churches and other interesting spots. Each evening saw crowds milling around outside that night’s selected venue, clamouring for the best seats, the climax of the fortnight being a production of his most celebrated opera Norma at the city’s Teatro Massimo.
Most of the concerts featured Bellini arias in at least part of the programme, but the performance I caught, entitled ‘Soave Melodie’, restricted itself solely to his work – a selection of songs for voice and piano, some of them relatively obscure. The venue was the floodlit courtyard of the Castello Ursino, the mighty Mediaeval fort just to the south of the city centre. Happily the rain kept off, and the audience poured in, squatting round the edges of the courtyard and hanging over the stairway if necessary. The soprano, Francesca Mazza, somewhat overshadowed the tenor (Alfio Marletta), provoking gasps of delight from the crowd with her rendition of the gorgeous Vaga luna che inargenti, though both singers showed there’s more to Bellini than operatic arias: a magical hour-and-a-half on a Sicilian September night.