© Zani-Casadio
The Vespers at San Vitale
Hermann
Sacra rappresentazione per controtenore, tre viole da gamba, cornetto e voce recitante
musica di Paolo Baioni
testi di Paolo Baioni e Franco Costantini
personaggi
Hermann Carlo Vistoli controtenore
Fra Bertoldo, suo amico Franco Costantini voce recitante
Carlo Vistoli controtenore
Rosita Ippolito viola da gamba (3-6 giugno)
Antonello Mostacci viola da gamba (1 giugno)
Marco Casonato viola da gamba
Laura Secco viola da gamba
Stefano Ensabella cornetto
Franco Costantini regia
Manuela Monti costumi
Hermann is a cantata for countertenor, three bass viols and a cornett, inspired by the singular figure of Herman the Cripple, a Benedictine monk who lived on the island of Reichenau from 1013 to 1054. Born with serious physical malformations, Hermann was renowned as an astronomer, a music and liturgy scholar and a poet, the author of Salve Regina. The score and lyrics for Hermann are by Paolo Baioni, a composer born in Bagnacavallo and educated in Bologna and Salzburg, the author of saxophone, piano and wind ensemble works, as well as music for the theatre. Hermann is part of a series of works recently composed for the viol, and is a step in a study of pre-Romantic vocals and instruments, aimed at reviving and increasing their expressive potential. It is an invitation to the listener to relinquish the heritage of the Romantic musical tradition and the conventions of bel canto.
