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THYSSEN. OPERA SONORA
"If to Turin you ask about Thyssen workers, they point you to the cemetery." Just over a month has passed since the tragedy in which seven workers died in flames at the Turin plant of the German steel giant on the night of Dec. 5-6, 2007. Ezio Mauro, a Turin-based editor of La Repubblica, is again taking on the role of reporter for a lengthy report that will be published in the newspaper's pages on Jan. 11, 2008.
It is a long narrative, impassioned even in the need not to betray the objectivity of the chronicle, where the memories of a survivor of the plant, Giovanni Pignalosa, are interwoven with the story of a city, Turin, the engine of Italian industrial development, where, as in the rest of the country, workers have become invisible.
The journalistic reportage now becomes a 'opera sound, directed by Pietro Babina and in the onstage performance of Ezio Mauro himself. The newspaper editor will be himself, narrator and journalistic voice, in a staging that entrusts the voices of the testimonials to Umberto Orsini and Alba Rohrwacher. Their recorded interpretation will be part of the musical score conceived by Babina himself together with composer and musician Alberto Fiori, where their voices join the sounds of the city and the notes of music.
by and with** Ezio Mauro**
directed by Pietro Babina
audio concept Alberto Fiori & Pietro Babina
musical composition and performance **Alberto Fiori **
with the vocal participation of Umberto Orsini and** Alba Rohrwacher**
Elastica Production Ltd.
Born to Dronero in 1948, he began his profession as a journalist in 1972 at the Gazzetta del Popolo in Turin, covering, among other things, events related to political terrorism. He then moved to to La Stampa, to Rome, as a correspondent on domestic politics. Also for La Stampa, he carried out reports and investigations abroad, particularly in the United States. In 1988 he began his collaboration with La Repubblica as a correspondent from the USSR, based to Moscow. For three years he followed the great transformation of that country during the Perestroika period, traveling to the republics of the Soviet Union. On June 26, 1990 he returned to La Stampa as co-director, and then took over as editor on September 6, 1992. In 1994 he received the Ischia International Prize for Journalism. He has been editor of La Repubblica since May 6, 1996. In 1997 he received the Alfio Russo International Prize for his contributions to journalism. In October 2009 the Harvard Kennedy School, a training center for government personnel, and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard awarded him a commendation in recognition of his role to Repubblica "at a time of grave danger to press freedom in Italy." In 2011 he published with Gustavo Zagrebelsky "The Happiness of Democracy. A Dialogue" published from Laterza. He published for Laterza a new book, "Babel, a dialogue" with Zygmunt Bauman.
Born in 1968, he is one of the most educated and interesting theater directors on the contemporary scene. He is the founder between 1989 and 1990 of the Compagnia Teatrino Clandestino, with which he has produced some 40 shows, as well as videos and performances of various kinds. With many of these productions he participated to festivals in various countries and received national and international awards. Since 2010 he has taken a new artistic course, founding Mesmer. His most recent direction is_ The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor_, from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Michajlovič Dostoevsky, for which he curated the dramaturgy together to Leonardo Capuano and Umberto Orsini, who are also performers.
Born to Rome and raised to Berlin, a composer, pianist, improviser and sound explorer, he has spent many years searching for new approaches and dynamics in music. A graduate with honors in Applied Music from the Frescobaldi Conservatory in Ferrara, he is a resident artist at the Arts Center in New York. He has written music for theater, dance and film. His performances have taken place in numerous theaters and festivals, including: Sophiensaele (Berlin), Roulette (New York), Velvet Lounge (Chicago), Sziget Festival (Budapest), Auditorium Parco della Musica (Rome), Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro Manzoni (Bologna), Teatro Regio di Torino, Teatro Farnese (Parma), Engelwood Jazz Festival (Chicago).