Wednesday, December 27, 2023

A Memorial Video for Gian Francesco Malipiero

This morning the OMNI on-Location video series, curated by the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts, commemorated the 50th anniversary of the death of Gian Francesco Malipiero with a brief recital by guitarist Alberto Mesirca. The video was recorded in Malipiero’s home in Asolo, Italy, coupling his prelude for solo guitar with an excerpt from “Machere,” an homage composition by Angelo Gilardino (who died last year at the age of 83). The entire video was less than six minutes in duration.

During the composer’s lifetime, “Casa Malipiero” became a hub for cultural activities. Participants included not only musicians but also intellectuals and artists. The house served as a venue in which artists could have their work displayed, and example of which can be seen in the video of Mesirca’s performance:

Screen shot of Alberto Mesirca performing in front of one of the art works that Malipiero selected for display

While the music itself is engaging in its own right, the video explores not only the artifacts in the house’s interior but also an external view of its setting.

Most of the video is devoted to Malipiero’s prelude, which lasts a little less than four minutes. That leaves only a few minutes remaining for the excerpt of Gilardino’s homage. However, those few minutes are enough to leave the attentive listener curious about “Machere” in its entirety. Hopefully, the crew that created this video will find the time to return to Casa Malipiero to capture the full scope of Gilardino’s undertaking.

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