Livorno It is a city with a thousand facets: cosmopolitan, sincere, cultured. Always the protagonist of a dynamic theater scene that enchants and involves citizens and travelers with a wide variety of proposals ranging from classical to contemporary theater, from music to dance, from opera to Mascagni Festivalprose.
One of the symbolic places of the theatre in Livorno is the Goldoni Theatrean 18th-century architectural gem, but the city also has spaces dedicated to experimentation and artistic research, giving voice to independent theatre companies and innovative projects.
This is the world from which the protagonists of the new episode of Grand Tour of Women in Tuscany: an opera singer and an actress, deeply linked to the territory, who embody emotions and reflections linked to the Livorno theatre scene.
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Laura Brioli, a life of singing
Internationally renowned mezzo-soprano opera singer, born in Rimini but adopted in Livorno. Laura Brioli57, is also a teacher of children's singing and youth choir at the Goldoni Theatre, artistic director of the vocal academy of the city of Livorno and of the Mascagni Academy, professor at the conservatory and at the high school with degrees in English and German languages. A life dedicated to music, half of which was spent in Livorno.
“Opera singing entered my life with force when I was 14 years old – he says -. From then on I embarked on an international career, which took me around the world, allowing me to meet very famous artists. I first specialized in the Rossini repertoire, then I reached the masterpieces of the 19th and 20th centuries and in 1998 I landed at the Goldoni Theater in Livorno with Il Barbiere di Siviglia: since then I have never left it”.
What convinced Laura Brioli to stay in the city was love, but also the lively and dynamic cultural climate of the city. “Here I found welcoming people and a very rich cultural environment – she says – that’s why I decided to stay here permanently, after also becoming emotionally attached. Livorno is a city where there is a great spirit of freedom and pluralism. There is no perceived social conditioning. Sometimes she can seem rude, but in reality she is adorably frank.”
In the footsteps of Pietro Mascagni, illustrious native of Livorno
The figure of the composer was fundamental to his career Pietro Mascagnithe most representative character of Livorno, the one who touches its most intimate strings. “My vocal style reflects a lot of realism, that is, the young musical trend followed by Mascagni with the Cavalleria Rusticana,” says the singer, who was able to perform in the city in the role of Santuzza, thus strengthening her bond with her place of origin. of the composer.
“I certainly have a common passion with Santuzza, which I constantly try to give back to the public,” confides Laura Brioni. Her love for the stage and for the city shines through in every story: “I feel good here because I feel free to be myself without ever being judged. And then the sea is beautiful, the climate mild and the people welcoming. Everywhere you breathe culture, between concerts, events and openings. In Livorno there is the only music academy free in Italy, where great artists have stopped over the centuries. That's why, even though my love story ended, I decided to live here and raise my daughter here, because it's a welcoming city for women and travelers.” A land to (re)discover, day after day.
Alessia Cespuglio, acting on mission
Also Alessia Cespuglioa 45-year-old “doc” from Livorno, is linked to Livorno by an intense bond. A professional actress, author and screenwriter, she has become one of the voices of Livorno’s history on stage, as a member of a theatre company and a theatre production company founded in the city in 2004.
“Becoming a professional actress in a small town like Livorno is not easy – she explains – and only a few manage to make a living from this work. Me and a handful of local artists decided to do it professionally with thePilar Ternera Associationrecognized by the Ministry of Culture and the Tuscany Region”.
A young theatre company, often protagonist of the city's events, which in recent years has been staging historical monologues dedicated to the characters who have made the history of Livorno. The story of Alessia, like that of Laura, is a love story for the stage and for the city.
“Since I was three years old, I always wanted to be an actress and go to study in Rome – she says – but at 21 I became the mother of Ines, then at 32 of Irma. I decided to stay in Livorno, a wonderful city to raise my daughters. But I have always been in the direction of the theater: when I am not writing for the theater, I am on stage or under the stage watching the scene.”
Since 2017, Alessia Cespuglio has been a playwright, working in children's theatre as a trainer and artistic director and now working with a new show which will begin in April 2025. “My last two shows and the next one are supported by local patrons, who freely choose to support culture – the actress proudly explains -. Livorno is an enveloping city and above all a free city, which allows one to express oneself, therefore carrying a great existential freedom”.
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Historical Women on the Grand Tour: The Story of Fortunata Sulgher Fantastic
In an ideal dialogue between the women of the contemporary Grand Tour and the most important figures of the past, to follow the common thread of this stage we have chosen a woman of the stage from Livorno, Fortunata Sulgher Fantasticwho was one of the most acclaimed poets and improvisers of her time.
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Born in Livorno in 1755 and died in Florence in 1824, she was received in all the most eminent European circles and became a member of the Accademia dell'Arcadia, a prestigious literary institution, under the name of Temira Parrasid. She was honoured by the protagonists of the Grand Tour of the time who stayed in Florence, such as the Swiss painter Angelica Kauffmann, who dedicated a portrait to her preserved in the Palatine Gallery of the Pitti Palace, and the French writer Madame De Staël, who depicted her in the work “La Signora Fantastici”, as an example of the immediacy typical of Tuscan communication.
Info: Visit Tuscany
BACK TO SPECIAL: Women's Grand Tour in Tuscany 2024
