Resplendent melodies: the 19th century in matinees, Lugano

The 100th anniversary of Giacomo Puccini's death provides an opportunity to rediscover 19th century music and the innovations it brought with it that laid the foundations for musical modernity. These include the transition from Classicism to Romanticism, the development of harmony, the expansion of classical forms and the birth of the Symphonic Poem, and the entry of emotionality into music. At the same time, orchestration became more complex and the potential of individual instruments was explored, giving ample room for virtuosity.

One of the greatest Italian opera composers, Giacomo Puccini sensed and adopted the innovations of his time: he used chromatic and modal techniques that added emotional depth to his music, while his refined orchestration offered a wide range of colours to support and amplify the dramatic action. Together with Puccini, the protagonists of the five matinees at the Boschetto del Parco Ciani will be pages by Bizet, Rossini, Chopin, Verdi and Schubert, interpreted by five different ensembles.

The first appointment will be on 23 June with the Eddy Quartet, a guitar quartet that will perform transcriptions for guitar from Rossini and Bizet, and pieces of chamber music - which experienced a golden age in the 1800s. On 30 June, the Lugano Chamber Orchestra performs a signature version for piano and strings of Chopin's Concerto No. 1 in E minor, with pianist Diego Petrella. The Saxofollia saxophone quartet brings an "Italian cookbook" to Lugano, featuring Rossini, Verdi and Puccini as well as forays into cinema (07.07). The one proposed by the Idyll Ensemble, on the other hand, is a concert that explores the fascination of Puccini and the surrounding area through the eyes of the string quartet, with the piece "Cristantemi", three minuets for string quartet, and "La Morte e la Fanciulla" by Franz Schubert (25.08). To conclude the series of 19th century matinees, on 1 September the Gandria Mandolin Group will present a programme of mandolin pieces, which flourished in the 1800s. The group will perform together with soprano Ayanadis Garbani.