108 composers have participated in the competition titled “Dante 700 – the sweet symphony of Paradise”
Promoted by the Camerata Strumentale Città di Prato and the Florence Philharmonic Orchestra – La Filharmonie, it will be accompanied by a rich programme of events
108 scores were submitted by participants in the “Dante 700 – the sweet symphony of Paradise” competition, composed by artists from all over the world. The successful international symphonic composition competition dedicated to the Supreme Poet was promoted by the Camerata Strumentale Città di Prato and the Florence Philharmonic Orchestra – La Filharmonie. The jury selected three finalists from Germany, Great Britain and Italy: the composers are Steven Heleein (37 years old), David John Roche (30 years old) and Matteo Rubini (45 years old). The scores in the competition had to have been inspired by the Divine Comedy, drawing inspiration from a figure, image, character or a selection of verses to create a symphonic composition lasting no more than 15 minutes.
The three composers will be invited to attend the rehearsals and the final concert on October 1 at the Politeama Pratese Theater, where their music will be performed by the Camerata Strumentale Città di Prato and the Orchestra la Filharmonie, the organizers of the competition. The winner will be awarded a prize of 5,000 euros, offered by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze. The winning piece will be published in the Stilnovo series of the Edizioni Musiciali Curci di Milano, and promoted by the CIDIM Italian National Music Committee.
The top-level jury is composed of Anders Hillborg, Silvia Colasanti, Mauro Montalbetti, Giovanni Sollima, Jonathan Webb, Alberto Batisti and Paolo Cognetti, who examined over 100 competing scores throughout the hot month of August, exploring the multiple languages that liven trends in today’s music, with a look towards the new generations of composers.
The entrants were made up of many young people, but not only, as composers aged between 17 and 83 years old who were inspired by the Divine Comedy submitted scores from Asia, North America, Europe and Latin America.
Events alongside the competition
The international competition will be accompanied by a rich calendar of concerts and meetings on themes that are closely relevant to the project. Here is the programme:
Sept 9 at 9pm
CONCERT
AURORA IN MEMORY OF FRANCO CIOCI
Music by Paolo Cognetti, Franco Cioci
Ensemble la Filharmonie, Paolo Cognetti conductor
Certosa di Firenze
Sept 10 at 6pm
TALK
The drama of the body in Dante’s Comedy
Curated by Riccardo Bruscagli
Auditorium Cassa di Risparmio Di Firenze
Sept 16 at 6.30pm
TALK
Dante in the figurative arts of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
Curated by Carlo Sisi
Centro Pecci – Prato
Sept 22 at 9pm
CONCERT
Dante’s masterpieces by Liszt
Music by Franz Liszt, Max Reger, Hans Von Bulow
Mariangela Vacatello piano | Adriano Falcioni organ
Conservatorio Cherubini – Sala del Buonumore – Florence
Sept 29 at 6.30pm
DIALOGUE
Portrait of a Contemporary Master
Meeting with Anders Hillborg: composer and president of the Dante 700 jury
Centro Pecci – Prato
Sept 30 at 6pm
DIALOGUE
My Dante: Meeting with Giovanni Sollima
Curated by Giovanni Sollima, cellist, composer and member of the Dante 700 jury
Teatro Politeama – Prato
Oct 1 at 7 pm
DIALOGUE
Contemporary creation: Music and theater, dialogue between the sister arts
Meeting with Silvia Colasanti, Mauro Montalbetti, Massimiliano Civica, Edoardo Donatini
In collaboration with Teatro Metastasio – “Contemporanea 2021”
Teatro Politeama – Prato
Oct 1 at 9pm
CONCERT
Final concert and Dante 700 award ceremony
Music by the finalists of the International Symphonic Composition Competition – Dante 700
Camerata Strumentale Città di Prato | Florence Philharmonic Orchestra – La Filharmonie
Nima Keshavarzi, conductor
Teatro Politeama – Prato
INITIATIVES BY PARTNERS
LAZZERINI MUNICIPAL LIBRARY, PRATO
UN AUTUNNO DA SFOGLIARE
DANTE AND MUSIC | Meetings with Alberto Batisti
Oct 6 at 9pm
Dante and the music of his time
Oct 13 at 9pm
Music in the Comedy
Oct 27 at 9pm
The myth of Dante in the music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
RETE TOSCANA CLASSICA
THE SACRED POEM: A canto a day from Dante’s Comedy
Readings by Ivano Marescotti | Introductions to the canti by Riccardo Bruscagli
from September 23 to December 31, every day at 8.30pm
“CHE LA DOLCEZZA ANCOR DENTRO MI SUONA” – DANTE IN MUSIC
thirteen broadcasts by Alberto Batisti
from September 1, every Wednesday at 6.40pm on Rete Toscana Classica
