The City of the Sun is a chamber music project with an opera singer, three dancers and an actor. It is set in Naples, Italy, under Spanish rule, June 4th 1602, at the Castel Novo Prison. Our hero, Tommaso Campanella, born in Stilo, Calabria in 1568, author of the now famous book The City of the Sun, is on trial for treason against the Spanish Government, at the time in control of Southern Italy. Campanella’s treason was his attempt to liberate his homeland and to found Utopia on earth, one later described by Campanella in his book.
Campanella escaped the death penalty because the judges believed that his actions under torture were those of a madman. By the Roman Catholic Canon Law, a madman could not be executed.
Campanella knew the law very well and played the game and defeated his Inquisitors. Instead of the death sentence, Campanella received life imprisonment. Only after 27 years, Campanella was liberated and went to Paris, where he died in 1639. Ironically, later, during the French Revolution, the church and the tomb where Campanella was buried were destroyed.
Our City of the Sun is a 90 minute music-event, without intermission. It explores a full range of multi-media, creating a highly provocative mystical, musical, emotional environment. Campanella’s monologue intertwines with the pre-recorded amplified sound of the voices of the Inquisitors, the other inmates, the report of the actual trial and the Pope’s letter that carry the action from initial darkness through a rich tapestry of great music and visual impact. Full stage projection and the dramatic use of lighting represent the actual passage from the prison under the Inquisition to the Utopian City of the Sun where the three dancers act with an actor and a soprano glorify the principles of Campanella’s philosophy. At the end, the entire theater becomes inundated with light, giving the spectators a warm, enjoyable sensation of the pleasure of nature with the sun at its fullest strength.
Our City of the Sun has a multi-lingual libretto written in English, Spanish, and Italian Renaissance idioms by the American poet/performer Charles Matz. The original score, composed by Maestro David Ryder, is inspired by traditional Southern Italian Renaissance music, and explores the religious Latin chanting, and intertwines Tibetan ritualistic motives, bird calls, and children’s voices. The whole theatrical experience evokes Campanella’s subconscious states and the world of illusion in his mind, demonstrates the violence of the torture he underwent, and contrasts his peacefully meditation of his utopian vision.
Campanella escaped the death penalty because the judges believed that his actions under torture were those of a madman. By the Roman Catholic Canon Law, a madman could not be executed.
Campanella knew the law very well and played the game and defeated his Inquisitors. Instead of the death sentence, Campanella received life imprisonment. Only after 27 years, Campanella was liberated and went to Paris, where he died in 1639. Ironically, later, during the French Revolution, the church and the tomb where Campanella was buried were destroyed.
Our City of the Sun is a 90 minute music-event, without intermission. It explores a full range of multi-media, creating a highly provocative mystical, musical, emotional environment. Campanella’s monologue intertwines with the pre-recorded amplified sound of the voices of the Inquisitors, the other inmates, the report of the actual trial and the Pope’s letter that carry the action from initial darkness through a rich tapestry of great music and visual impact. Full stage projection and the dramatic use of lighting represent the actual passage from the prison under the Inquisition to the Utopian City of the Sun where the three dancers act with an actor and a soprano glorify the principles of Campanella’s philosophy. At the end, the entire theater becomes inundated with light, giving the spectators a warm, enjoyable sensation of the pleasure of nature with the sun at its fullest strength.
Our City of the Sun has a multi-lingual libretto written in English, Spanish, and Italian Renaissance idioms by the American poet/performer Charles Matz. The original score, composed by Maestro David Ryder, is inspired by traditional Southern Italian Renaissance music, and explores the religious Latin chanting, and intertwines Tibetan ritualistic motives, bird calls, and children’s voices. The whole theatrical experience evokes Campanella’s subconscious states and the world of illusion in his mind, demonstrates the violence of the torture he underwent, and contrasts his peacefully meditation of his utopian vision.
Tommaso Campanella's philosophical treaties La Città del Sole revisited in a multimedia dance/theatre/video piece featuring music by David Ryder. Charles Matz (libretto). Pamela Hebert (soprano). John Nesci and Alessandro Rossetti (actors). Celeste Hastings, Luciana Leuzzi and Marcelo Coutinho (dancers) performed live at the Byalistock Theatre in Poland. Clare Ann Matz technical director and executive producer. Directed by Antonio Lai da Teulada.
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