Opera is a constantly evolving art form. Moreover, it is no coincidence that the first theory on gesamtkunstwerk was developed by Richard Wagner, a creator attentive to the fusion of theatre and music but already ideally projected towards a conception of art which, in the course of the following century, would become increasingly multimedia and intermedial. Today, new technologies allow us to enter “the centre of the painting”, as the technical manifesto of Futurist painting put it, leaving the spectator himself the task of completing the work.
A clear demonstration of this is the Pagliacci staged at the Carlo Felice in Genoa by Cristian Taraborelli, who has elected to work with Augmented Reality. This is the first time this has happened in Italy, and REAL PAGLIACCI, perhaps even abroad, with the exception of similar productions at the Comische Oper in Berlin. This device, which becomes a key feature of the performance from the twentieth minute onwards, allows the spectator to see the singers perform live both in reality (i.e. on the physical stage, with a green screen acting as a backdrop) and virtually (thanks to a screen at the top of the proscenium that shows the same actions as those performed on stage).
For over twenty years Taraborrelli has accustomed us to shows in which action on the stage and video projection integrate and complete each other perfectly. His double role of director and set designer enables him to construct an imposing scenic and technical apparatus in the complete sense of the term where the moving images are not just simple backgrounds but dramaturgical elements that add new meanings to the performance. (Bruno Di Marino / Theatre Critic)