Lecture by Bruno Mantovani

Nineteenth-century authors and artists helped to create a romantic mythology around the figure of the composer. The latter is often depicted as an austere being, one who is inward-looking, adopting a pensive and thus passive attitude as he waits for a higher power to deliver some inspiration.

And yet the act of creation is supremely active and deliberate, with ideas stemming from a preliminary intuition, of course, but above all from the work of composition.

With this lecture, Bruno Mantovani offers to show us into his studio, describing his varied sources of inspiration in two different fields of music: concert music and opera.

By listening to and viewing a number of excerpts, he will place his own output in a historical perspective, emphasising, on the one hand, the relationship between his pieces and those by his illustrious colleagues of the past, and, on the other hand, the importance of selecting librettos for his stage works. He will also discuss other artistic disciplines that he holds dear, ranging from architecture to literature to gastronomy.