Tuesday, February 21: Mardi Gras Concert. Teatro Verdi at 9 pm. Tickets are available for purchase before the event on Ticketone.
To bring on the Mardi Gras festivities, the Teatro Verdi will present a special concert showcasing the talents of the Tuscan Regional Orchestra (ORT). This performance also marks the debut of conductor Diego Ceretta in Florence for the first time and highlights the skill of violinist Giuseppe Gibboni through a special solo. Featuring pieces from Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, and Milhaud, this concert is an enjoyable way to continue the Carnival celebrations.
Don’t let Diego Ceretta and Giuseppe Gibboni’s young age fool you: these men have progressed in their careers far beyond their years. Born in 1996, Ceretta was the only Italian finalist for the “Cantelli” award in 2020, honored as Daniele Giotti’s best student during his time at the famed Chigiana Academy, and collaborated on Rome Opera’s production of renowned conductor Giorgio Battistelli’s Julius Caesar. Gibboni has proven to be no less impressive. After beginning studies at the Stauffer Academy and Chigiana Academy at the age of 14, he became one of only three Italians to win the most important violin competition in the world in 2021, bringing back the Paganini prize to Italy after almost 25 years. To see these two extraordinary young men perform together will be quite the sight during this Mardi Gras concert.
A special selection of music has been chosen for this event, beginning with Giuseppe Gibboni’s solo during Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major. This highly famed piece was originally inspired by the outstanding talent of a pupil of Tchaikovsky’s, making it the perfect piece for the Gibboni. The concert continues with a tribute to a Carnival clown figure in Igor Stravinksy’s Suite from “Pulcinella” (1920), one of the first works in the neoclassical style and continues with Édouard Lalo’s Aubade, second movement of the Divertissement (1872), an innovative blend of rhythm and melody created for a dance scene in the opera “Fiesque.”
To close, the orchestra will perform “Le boeuf sur le toit” (1919) by Darius Milhaud, the very piece which helped bring Milhaud and his ballet to international fame. A succession of traditional Brazilian folklore, the upbeat and irresistible composition recreates the atmosphere of Paris in this period, and was specially chosen for the Mardi Gras concert at Teatro Verdi. (Antionette Damico)