Monday, October 05, 2009

Striking a New Note: The Playhouse (1921)

Viewed at Teatro Verdi, Pordenone, 4 Oct 2009.

US 1921. PC: First National. D: Buster Keaton; CAST: Buster Keaton, Virginia Fox, Joe Roberts; P: Joseph M. Schenk; dvd, ca 25’; from: Cinemazero, Pordenone.
English and Italian intertitles
Music performed by:
Orchestra della Scuola Media Centro Storico di Pordenone
Teachers: MariaLuisa Sogaro, Antonia Maddalena, Patrizia Avon
Clarinet and flutes: Alessio Mazzeo
Alto and tenor flutes: Beatrice Bove, Laura Riccio Cobucci, Chiara D’Onofrio, Matteo Magris, Ruken Orkun, Laura de Manzano, Damiano Doimo, Augusto Del Zotto, Maria Grazia Castoro
Soprano and alto Glockenspiel: Elena Castagna, Melania Greco
Alto Xylophone: Ali Karinca
Bass Xylophone and alto metallophone: Edoardo Turozzi
Violoncello: Federico Tauro
Pianoforte: Eugenio Spuria
Sound effects: Teresa Mutuale, Roberto Perosa, Idzret Asani, Roberta Roppo, Alessandra Simoni

From Maria Luisa Sogaro's introduction: the music adapts themes of Béla Bartók, taken from the collection For Children, which includes traditional Slovak and Hungarian melodies. For the gag of the Minstrels we have used Claude Debussy's cakewalk Le petit nègre and also "Oh! Fifi", a one-step by Marf and Mascheroni.

Wonderful and delightful, the Striking a New Note performances were the musical highlights of the 2009 GCM together with The Merry Widow.

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