Illica 2023 Festival in Castell’Arquato, one of the most beautiful villages in Italy

The Festival Illica, now in its 10th edition, has renewed its Artistic and Musical Director in Maestro Jacopo Brusa and is a musical event that pays homage to Luigi Illica, an eclectic and versatile, illustrious librettist and avant-garde journalist.

The fascinating setting of the medieval village

The appointments of the Illica Festival find space in a fascinating and timeless village: the Town Hall Square, the Rocca Viscontea with its 42-metre high keep, the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria Assunta (protagonist in 2021-2022 of the Jubilee, on the occasion of the 900 years of the foundation of the Church), the thirteenth-century Palazzo del Podestà, the gardens of Palazzo Vigevani-Gravaghi, the Giuseppe Cortesi Geological Museum, the lanes, the medieval stone houses and the luxuriant nature. Casa Illica, of course, refuge of Luigi Illica (1857-1919): here's what to see between a concert and a show of the 2023 review.

“Nozze Istriane” and the artistic direction of Jacopo Brusa

Following the awards ceremony, at 9.30 pm, the Opera Evening will see the representation of the opera in scenic form “Nozze Istriane”, Maestro concertatore and Conductor d'Orchestra Jacopo Brusa, directed by Davide Marranchelli: a lyric drama in three acts which, in its popular setting, it tells a story of thwarted love, balancing the realism of Verga and the cynicism of a combined love.

"At this year's Festival - says the Artistic Director Jacopo Brusa - we will deepen the "realist" Illica of the Istrian Wedding by Antonio Smareglia, a "rebel" composer with a very peculiar style that draws both from the Italian than from the post-romantic German one".

"Nozze Istriane", as well as "Il 3001", make use of the precious collaboration of the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini of Parma.

XXXIII Luigi Illica International Prize

At 8.30pm on Friday 7 July, in the evocative and monumental setting of Piazza del Municipio, the awarding ceremony of the "Premi International Luigi Illica”, now in its XXXIII edition. The Prize was founded in 1961 by the musicologist Mario Morini and by Cesare Pecorini, President of the Pro Loco of Castell'Arquato and journalist and to commemorate Luigi Illica through awards assigned every two years to personalities from the world of opera, culture and journalism.

This year, the Golden Illica Award will be presented to Raina Kabaivanska soprano, while the other prize winners will go to: Gregory Kunde , tenor, Davide Luciano, baritone, Gian Paolo Minardi, music critic and Giangiacomo Schiavi journalist.

The rebel genius. Luigi Illica a bohemian life.

Saturday 8, at 18.00 in the gardens of Palazzo Vigevani Gravaghi (Town Hall), the presentation of the book “IL GENIO RIBELLE. Luigi Illica una vita da Bohème”, presented as a preview to the winners of the XXXIII Illica Prize during the Opera Evening on Friday 7 July.

The volume highlights the modernity of Illica, capable of forming a unique tandem with Giuseppe Giacosa in the Italian librettist panorama, with reflections on the role of women in opera and unpublished correspondence with the musician Tebaldini and Toscanini's wife, which document the passion civil society and the rebellious spirit of the great librettist.

Edited by Giangiacomo Schiavi, columnist for Corriere della Sera, the book is the result of a work started in collaboration with the IULM University of Milan , within the Master in Journalism, and is promoted by the Comune of Castell'Arquato, Culture and Tourism, and by the Donatella Ronconi Enrica Prati Foundation of Piacenza.