L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 26 L'Italo-Americano LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY O pera is, in the m i n d s a n d hearts of many, a synonym with Italy: it was, in the end, created in the Bel- paese, and here it developed the most. It shouldn't sur- prise us, then, that operatic music has been an important identity signifier for many Italians and Italian-Ameri- cans, a symbol of their her- itage and roots. This is, in a w a y , w h e r e t h e s t o r y o f Opera Italia LA, founded b y F r a n c e s c a T a y l o r , begins. F r a n c e s c a h a d a l o v e l y chat with L'Italo-Ameri- c a n o , n o t o n l y t o t e l l u s more about Opera Italia LA, its goals, and its present and future programs, but also about the way opera shaped her life as an Italian-Ameri- can. Francesca shared beauti- ful memories and tales with us, and we are happy now to share them with our read- ers... Y o u m e n t i o n e d y o u inherited your love for opera from your grandfa- ther. What attracted you the most to opera when you were a child? As a child, I was enchanted by how opera blended every- thing artistic together: the sounds of music and voices, the visual beauty of costumes and sets, the meaning of the libretto, the feel of elegance in the theater and in the audi- e n c e . . . W h e n m y m o t h e r w o u l d t a k e m e t o s e e a n o p e r a , I f e l t l i k e I w a s immersed in a whole world. It was a world that I could be a part of, and being there with my music-loving Italian family members made it feel communal. It gave me a con- text. My mother's older sis- ter, my aunt, had a lovely singing voice and sang in Pittsburgh, where my grand- father first settled in Ameri- ca. My grandfather was not actually a singer or musician h i m s e l f ; h e s i m p l y l o v e d music and loved opera. He and my Nanna had a record player, a fancy one for its day, t h a t w o u l d p l a y s e v e r a l records in succession, and he would place the vinyl discs in order on the center pole and l e t t h e m p l a y a n d p l a y . I would listen to Verdi and Rossini and Bellini this way in their house, playing with my dolls and puzzles on the floor. Grandpa would be in the kitchen adjacent — he was a chef by profession — and I knew that after the "home opera," we would have a delicious Italian dinner together. T e l l u s s o m e t h i n g about Opera Italia: what brought you to create it and why? Somewhere in the middle of the pandemic, my piano teacher and I got to chatting about "putting on an opera." M y t e a c h e r , O l i v e r C h a n , spoke often about his side work accompanying opera singers at UCLA, Santa Moni- ca College, and other schools. I s h a r e d m y n a t a l l o v e o f opera with him, and we held f a s t t o t h e i d e a a n d l e t i t grow. At the Casa Italiana in L o s A n g e l e s , t h e r e w a s a small non-profit opera com- pany, the Casa Italiana Opera Company, that performed there for several decades. I took my children to see their p r o d u c t i o n s b e c a u s e t h e atmosphere was welcoming and they always served a lun- cheon. That nice company closed around 2015, and I really missed it. When Oliver and I talked about a venue for an opera, I thought of Casa Italiana immediately. Oliver is now my Music Director, and he conducts the Opera Italia Orchestra with finesse and professionalism. At the Casa, we position the orches- tra right in front of the stage, and the audience truly enjoys seeing the musicians in live action as well as watching the onstage show. What's Opera Italia's main goal? My aim with Opera Italia is to awaken the love of opera for Italians, Italian-Ameri- cans, Italophiles, and our Los Angeles community at large. I wish to see the youth of our c o m m u n i t i e s e x p e r i e n c e opera as fun and meaningful, s o m e t h i n g t h e y c a n o w n themselves. We have pro- duced classic operas, modern operas, and we are preparing to inaugurate Young Opera Theater, a new non-profit for children and youth that will connect the genre of opera to young minds and hearts. I can't wait to see where it will lead! In May, you're present- i n g a c o n t e m p o r a r y w o r k , N a t a l i a V a l l i ' s P i n o c c h i o , w h i c h i s based, of course, on the famous Italian fairytale by Carlo Collodi. Can you t e l l u s w h i c h f a c t o r s m a d e y o u c h o o s e t h i s particular work? I met Natalia Valli herself through a wonderful connec- tion from our Italian Ameri- can Museum of Los Angeles, w h e r e a f a b u l o u s s p e c i a l exhibit, all about Pinocchio, is on display right now. She and I shared a great supper together in Milan when I vis- ited Italy recently. I love her music: this is an opera with varied themes and moods, and it re-creates Pinocchio authentically to Carlo Collo- di's original character. The singing, the colorful person- alities, and the percussion- rich score make it wonderful for young people. We will fea- ture a Corps de Ballet and an Opera Chorus, as Natalia composed it. I chose this opera also for its message, a message that Collodi emitted in his original Pinocchio in 1883. The wily puppet was created in the sweep of the Italian Risorgi- mento (the Unification of Italy), and the government of the new, united Italy was vig- orously pursuing a nation- wide push for literacy and for a minimum achievement of fourth grade education for all Italian children. This was no small feat, as simple as it may sound to our modern Ameri- can ears. Pinocchio's refusal to go to school and his subse- quent misadventures were meant to illustrate how a y o u n g I t a l i a n c o u l d o n l y develop into a worthy adult by studying and learning. W h a t c a n w e e x p e c t from Opera Italia in the next few months? W e j u s t h e l d o u r f i r s t Opera Night for Kids last Saturday, which was a huge success! Joined by two of my singers for Pinocchio, I led kids through all the fun of singing, painting props, try- ing out costumes, and then making up their very own mini-opera. We are offering Opera Nights for Kids every other month; our next one is May 20 th . Over the summer, we will inaugurate Opera Camp, hopefully in two dif- ferent locations in LA. August w i l l s e e u s p r e s e n t i n g a n "Opera Double Bill" with Per- golesi's La Serva Padrona a n d W o l f - F e r r a r i ' s T h e Secret of Susanna,to be performed both at Casa Ital- iana and at a venue in San Pedro. For October, Italian H e r i t a g e M o n t h , w e a r e preparing a "bill of bells" with Donizetti's Il Campanello ( T h e D o o r b e l l ) a n d a f u n mini-opera, Menotti's The Telephone. In early 2024, w e p l a n t o p r o d u c e D o n Pasquale in its entirety at a large venue, and then take its humorous excerpts to smaller local venues for community and school audiences. Opera Italia brings a cherished symbol of the Belpaese to the LA community STAFF The "doctors" are characters both in Collodi's tale and in the "Pinocchio"opera (Photo courtesy of Francesca Taylor and Opera Italia LA)

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