Date: 10 September 2024
Time: 8:00pm
Venue: Jockey Club Auditorium, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
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The Italian Cultural Institute is bringing a special concert in commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of Giacomo Puccini. Join us on a musical journey to explore the fantastic world of Giacomo Puccini and his deep-rooted fascination with Oriental cultures.
You’ll discover this connection in an extraordinary chamber music recital with the fantasies of the How I met PucciniⓇ project. In September 2022, the Museum of Oriental Art in Turin commissioned a piece from the duo The Girls in The Magnesium Dress dedicated to the exhibition “Buddha at the Tenth.” The composition was conceived by Valentina Ciardelli as a trio for harp, double bass, and Guqin, an ancient instrument from the Chinese tradition originally intended as a tool for individual meditation accompaniment.
The creation of a musical composition that enhances the tradition of a popular Chinese instrument and two Western instruments was the artistic choice that the duo The Girls in The Magnesium Dress wanted to propose. The study of the history from Taoism to Japanese Zen Buddhism was fundamental and an integral part of the research on methods and books of Guqin to learn the notation of the instrument. The writing in Chinese notation is attributed to the artist Chiu Yung Chan, who patiently translated, from the staff written by Valentina Ciardelli, into traditional Chinese notation.
Performers
Valentina Scheldhofen Ciardelli – Double Bass / Composition
Anna Astesano – Harp
Alvaro Siculiana – Piano
Chiu Yung Chan – Guqin
Programme includes
Butterfly Effect V.S. Ciardelli/ G. Puccini For harp and double bass
Gold – Suite for Guqin, Harp, and Double Bass V.S. Ciardelli commissioned by the Museum of Oriental Art in Turin 2023
A Female with a Crown on her head! V.S. Ciardelli/ G. Puccini