2015
Show by AGON/Esther Flückiger, inspired by the four elements (earth, water, air and fire) in the writings of Leonardoda Vinci: a musical journey, to use his words, through those “works of nature” more difficult to understand “than a book by a poet”.
With music, between Leonardo’s words and live sculpture, Cosmo proposes to explore the four elements of the key themes of Expo 2015.
«And we will put white for the light without which no colour can be seen, and yellow for the earth, green for the water, and blue for the air, and red for the hearth, and black for the darkness, which is above the element of the fire, because there is no matter or thickness where the rays of the sun match to percote, and consequently aluminate».
Thus, in the Treatise on Painting, Leonardo investigates the secrets of nature decomposed into its essential elements, giving life to a comparison between art and science: painting, music, poetry, sculpture, experience and knowledge.
And, in the same spirit, the Cosmo scene comes alive on the music of Esther Flückiger and Pietro Pirelli, performed with many instruments/materials – from the piano, to the Sound Stones, to the hydrophones, to the metal, to the wood, to the skins of the percussions – accompanied by Massimo Marchi’s live electronics, by voices elaborated on Leonardo’s texts with the words of Anna Felder. While the sculptor Luca Mengoni realises, under the eyes of the public, precious works of clay and ice in real time.
Cosmo is a musical exploration, between the words of Leonardo and live sculpture, an itinerary in the mind of one of the very few men whose genius has been able to recompose in a higher unity observation and imagination, science and art, ingenuity and poetry.
Earth, water, air and fire in the studies of Leonardo da Vinci: fundamental elements of nature and man, at the same time physical matter and immaterial knowledge, technical knowledge and cultural landscape, atoms and thought.
A timeless scenario, where the interpreters give life to an instant event, always different and constantly evolving.
The stage thus becomes the place of creation of a universe in which the text of Anna Felder and the quotes from Leonardo da Vinci meet the visionary suggestions of musicians and artists, daily explorers of sounds and expressions, new technologies and ancient knowledge, science and art.
An allegorical and fascinating journey in search of beauty and the soul that unites the four elements. In the show, musical instruments, words, live sculpture and sound sculptures are used that reveal the hidden voice of the stones; live electronics explores, catalyses, reworks the hidden essences of the elements by transporting them to new territories.
The acoustic and electronic music is composed, improvised and improvised by the musicians who in the live performance blend their experiences into the different musical styles. From classic to contemporary, from ethnic to jazz.