LUDVIG VAN BEETHOVEN
CORIOLANO
Coriolan is a soldier and a commander, and at the same time a man exhacerbated by his senses of honour and guilt that will ultimately bring him to death.
The genius of Beethoven is so powerful that these feelings become, so to say, almost physically present in the execution. And so it can happen that Coriolan flows into the interpreter-Conductor, who gives his identity back to him.
The physical and emotional intensity of the character, which bursts out from the film of the concert, is “crystallized” in the selected frames that show some of its moments made still-stock. The Conductor’s gesture and body bearing make his metamorphosis apparent: by letting the Music flow into himself, he becomes himself a soldier and a commander, and at the same time a man divided and suffering from the inner conflict that will be fatal to him.
Latest Series: In The Moment
Patrizia Genovesi captures and photographs the performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Coriolano.” The power of the composition is such that it viscerally conveys the emotions driving the protagonist, making them almost “physical.” In this way, Coriolano enters the consciousness of the conductor-interpreter, who in turn gives him back his own identity. The physical and emotional intensity of the character, bursting forth in the concert video, crystallizes in 12 frames that freeze select moments in time. Skillful image manipulation removes extraneous details and accentuates the drama. Gesture and posture highlight the Maestro’s metamorphosis as he becomes Coriolano himself: the commander leading his troops into battle, while simultaneously a man torn by internal conflict that will ultimately lead him to his death.
In this intersection of seemingly disparate expressive mediums, the camera becomes an instrument of the orchestra. It dutifully follows and reveals the slow transformation of the Maestro who, in demanding a rendition from his orchestra, becomes himself an instrument of Music—physically evoking its ghosts and nuances.
The Coriolano project arises from the meeting of two authentic and complementary artistic sensibilities. Giorgio Proietti, the conductor, and Patrizia Genovesi, a photographer and video artist, decide to create a space where grand musical tradition marries modern multimedia tools, thereby amplifying its power in a language both new and familiar to the contemporary observer.
