As per tradition, the new season at Milan's La Scala kicked off yesterday evening: celebrities and guests arrived to show off their dresses. Bizarrelly, quite a few women opted for grand D&G opera inspired dresses replicated from their A/W 2009 collection (was this proof the design duo's unfortunate incident with China has already been forgotten or are D&G giving out gowns for free to restore their credibility?).
While the opening was taking place groups of protesters organised a demo against the government (the opening of the season at La Scala is usually accompanied by protests – in the past many of them were against the lavish furs donned by the ladies going to the first performance of the season) and in particular against Matteo Salvini, far right deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Interior, and his recent decree that includes new regulations against migrants. In the meantime, in Paris the protest of the gilets jaunes is still going on.
In this social and political climate, Giuseppe Verdi's "Attila", an opera about power, oppression, love for one's homeland and revenge, seemed an apt choice.
The opera, with an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the 1809 play "Attila, König der Hunnen" (Attila, King of the Huns) by Zacharias Werner, was first performed at La Fenice in Venice in 1846.
The story revolves around Attila, who is impressed by and falls in love with Odabella, one of the women brought to his camp as a prisoner after the siege of Aquileia, in which her father and lord of the town was killed. Odabella uses this chance to get near him and eventually obtain her revenge.
Directed by Davide Livermore with conductor Riccardo Chailly, the version currently on at La Scala - featuring Ildar Abdrazakov (Attila), Saioa Hernandez (Odabella), George Petean (Roman general Ezio) and Fabio Sartori (Foresto) - is set in the 1900s.
Costume designer Gianluca Falaschi opted for classic '40s styles and for plenty of uniforms and military coats accessorised with guns. Livermore added surprise elements such as real horses and vehicles on stage, plus a striking video projection on a giant Led Wall (a great idea actually as the projections weren't just a decorative part of the set, but they were an integral part of the story), perfect expedients to keep alive the attention of younger members of the audience.
Falaschi, who represents a new generation of Italian costume designers, is a fan of Maurizio Millenotti, Milena Canonero and Odette Nicoletti and has so far already worked with a few Italian contemporary directors.
His interests go from architecture to costumes, but he has become known in his practice for the way he often introduces in his designs a dreamy component.
In the case of "Attila", he used colours in ingenious ways: while he employed somber shades for most of his characters, he dressed the procession of boys and girls led by Pope Leo (the children's choir Coro di Voci Bianche of the Accademia Teatro alla Scala) in watercolour pastel brocade robes characterised by a style suspended between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. These costumes distanced themselves for style, silhouettes and colours from the designs donned by the main characters, bringing soothing shades on stage.
Odabella also goes through an intriguing colour-coded change: as a prisoner she is dressed more demurely, but, as the story progressed we see her dressed in a forest green sequinned sparkling gown, that becomes very symbolic when she kills Attila.
The forest green of her dress, the white of Attila's shirt and the ruby red blood pouring out of his wound recreate an abstract and symbolical version of the Italian tricolour, hinting at the complex themes in the opera and at the introspective angles, subtle accents and psychological nuances introduced by the director, but also at female empowerment.
Feedback for the performance was very positive with a 15 minute ovation that proved "Attila" was more successful than the operas that opened the 2016 and 2017 seasons - Umberto Giordano's "Andrea Chénier" and Giacomo Puccini's "Madama Butterfly".
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