Nicola PiovaniLa Vita Nuova

Nicola Piovani – composer and conductor
Oreste Valente – narrator
Maria Rita Combattelli – soprano
Prague Philharmonia
Marina Cesari – saxophone
Vittorino Naso – percussions solo

Performance in Italian, Czech subtitles.

The cantata La Vita Nuova (New Life) on the text of Dante Alighieri's poems was composed for reciter, soprano and orchestra. It will be performed in Prague by its author himself: the Italian Oscar-winning composer and conductor Nicola Piovani. "This is a piece of music inspired by Dante's amazing poetic work, stunning both in its narrative content and in its amazing form – a prosimetrum that connoisseurs of Dante's poetry still marvel at today," says Nicola Piovani. La Vita nuova is the first known work of Dante Alighieri. It was created in 1292–1293 and consists of 42 chapters in which poetry and prose alternate in a balanced way (this literary genre is called prosimetrum). Their theme is Dante's platonic love for his beloved Beatrice. Nicola Piovani's cantata was performed for the first time in the summer of 2015 at the Ravenna Festival.

The Italian composer Nicola Piovani won the 1998 Academy Award for the Best Original Dramatic Score for Roberto Benigni's La Vita è bella (Life is Beautiful). He has more than 130 film scores to his credit, including Federico Fellini's Intervista, Ginger and Fred, and La voce della luna (The Voice of the Moon). He also collaborated with French movie directors (Danièle Thompson, Philippe Lioret and Éric-Emmanuel Schmitte); in May 2008 he received the title of Chevalier (Knight) of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres at the Cannes Film Festival. He also works in musical theatre and composes concert and chamber music. In 2023, he was awarded the World Soundtrack Academy Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Italian soprano Maria Rita Combattelli specializes in the roles of the Bel canto repertoire. She performed on many important Italian opera stages such as Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Rossini Opera Festival and Teatro Comunale di Bologna, she was a guest at the Royal Opera House Muscat, Oman and Opéra de Tenerife. She has been working with Nicola Piovani for a long time and performed in a number of his compositions. Italian stage and film actor, director and educator Oreste Valente studied classical literature (Greek language and literature) and graduated from Bottega Teatrale in Florence under Vittorio Gassman. The great Prague Philharmonia orchestra will also participate in the first Prague performance of the cantata La Vita Nuova.

The concert is organized by the Italian Cultural Institute and the Italian Embassy in Prague for the Czech audience. Entry is free, however tickets need to be booked via "buy a ticket" button at www.nachtigallartists.cz.

www.nicolapiovani.com