A Musical Journey Through Italy at the Winter Palace of Peter the Great

On 16 February 2008 at the Winter Palace of Peter the Great a Musical Journey through Italy: An Invitation to the Opera in Naples, was held as a theatrical evening, prepared by a group from the students’ club Lo Studio Italiano along with the Kamerton vocalist ensemble.

Spectators were presented with a creative project developed by the musician and member of Lo Studio Italiano, Yekaterina Shishmareva. Arias were performed from operas by Pergolesi The Servant Mistress, Paisiello the Miller’s Beautiful Wife and other well known works accompanied by harpsichord.

The students participating in the musical arrangement tried to recreate the atmosphere of the theatre from the 18th century. They handed out the librettos of the operas to the audience in accordance with the theatrical traditions of the time.

The coordinator of the programme and the MC for the evening was Marina Vladimirovna Vlasova, a researcher at the State Hermitage Museum and director of Lo Studio Italiano. She suggested a virtual walk around Naples. On a screen mediaeval castles and narrow side streets appeared, palaces and cathedrals, famous views of Naples, everything that makes up the unrepeatable, poetic appearance of a city, possessing a distant history were recreated for viewers.

The poetic images were created by students. They read extracts from Pavel Muratov’s Images of Italy, devoted to Naples. The cloaks and masks which they made and the very territory of the Peter’s Palace drew the audience into the magical atmosphere of the art of the 18th century.

Students of Lo Studio Italiano – participants of the theatrical performance

Soloist from the Kamerton Ensemble