Catalogue
English

Teatro Vittorio Emanuele, ''Bellini Black Comedy''

Messina

Puteaux, surroundings of Paris, September 23, 1835.Vincenzo Bellini spends the last hours of his life in the austere residence of the Levys.In solitude. Or perhaps not entirely, because he will receive visits from some historical figures ...
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... that have marked his life, for better or for worse.These are actually hallucinations caused by pre-mortem delirium, whose deceptiveness is theatrically underlined by the plasticized costumes by Dora Argento, inspired by the empire style which was contemporary of Bellini, but intentionally made improbable with the use of bizarre materials.
Bellini, by contrast, and the servants who cause his death by poisoning him, wear clothes that realistically quote those of the time and, similarly, the staging exposes in a plausible manner all what is real.
The supernatural presence of Countess Samoylova is shown in a striking way with a surprising evening dress ...
... on the left the sketch by Dora Argento and, on the right, the dress during its making.Indulging with irony the black humor of the black comedy, the dress was made by applying to a slip made of recyclable cellophane film ... some green bags for storing frozen foods!
The bags have been suitably padded and frayed.The Russian noblewoman who torments Bellini's agony was the lover of another composer from Catania by birth, almost the same age and bitter antagonist of the author of The Sleepwalker.This is Giovanni Pacini ...
... whose vision in the play brings a blue QLA - Laccato film cloak on a black synthetic organza shirt.It seems that, to favour her lover, the Russian countess even contributed to provoking the fiasco of the premiere of Norma at La Scala by paying a hostile claque.
The sketch of the costume of another oneiric presence, also in this case easily identifiable due to the use of plastic films with a striking colour.The hat is made with a turban band made of a light red polyethylene film and completed by a synthetic tulle of the same colour.
Bellini Black Comedy
Text
Simona Celi Zanetti
First night
Messina, Teatro Vittorio Emanuele, 19/09/2021

Scenographic workshop
Costume design
Dora Argento
Costume tailoring
Sartoria Pipi Costumi Teatrali
Light design
Franco Buzzanca
Technical direction
Nunzio Laganà
Stage direction
Simona Celi Zanetti

Season
2021

Video & Documentation

Teatro Vittorio Emanuele di Messina, ''Bellini Black Comedy'', Costumes

Materials used in this production

QGH - Ghiaccio

Decorative films

QGS - Glamé Star

·Limited fabrics·

QLA - Laccato

Decorative films

QSG - Super Glamé

·Limited fabrics·

ZFG - Backdrops made of QGH - Ghiaccio

Mirror / transparent backdrops

Information on data processing