Perugia’s “Orizzonti” Festival Explores Musical Meaning Through Play and Memory
Teh “Orizzonti” festival, dedicated to contemporary musical research, returns to Perugia tomorrow and Friday, hosted at the Santa Cecilia Auditorium. Curated by the Perugian collective Opificio sonoro and promoted by the Perugia Musica Classica foundation, this year’s edition centers on the idea of musical language as a dynamic space where meaning is constantly redefined.
Festival creator and curator Marco Momi will introduce each evening at 8:00 PM, framing the two concerts as complementary explorations of how “play” can dismantle established meanings and how “memory” can shape them.
The first concert, beginning at 8:30 PM tomorrow, focuses on the interplay of senses and the rhetorical device of paronomasia – the juxtaposition of similar-sounding words with diffrent meanings. Pianist Claudia Jane Scroccaro will perform her Toccata, described as a physically demanding “duel” between the performer and the instrument. The program also includes Scroccaro’s Overdrive for piano, double bass, and bass clarinet, alongside Corde Vuote and Tre Bagatelle by Francesco Filidei, who will also present L’Opera (perhaps), a series of eight short sketches based on a text by Pierre Senges, depicting a darkly comedic love story.
Friday’s 8:30 PM concert will honor the centenaries of composers Pierre Boulez and Luciano berio. Opificio Sonoro highlights thes figures as pioneers who embraced experimentation and technological innovation while remaining connected to musical tradition. The evening will feature a unique pairing of works, creating a “conversation” between the Baroque composer Domenico Scarlatti (through a selection of his Sonatas) and the contemporary Italian composer Salvatore Sciarrino (6 Capricci for solo violin and Canone a 2 for two flutes).