THE VIEW OF TIME
WHEN YOU WATCH MUSIC AND LISTEN TO IMAGES, MAZZANTI’S PHOTOS,
IN THE NAME OF GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
by Elisabetta Rossi
IL MESSAGGERO
What happens when a photographer and a composer meet in the name of Rossini?
At the very least, the viewer finds themselves watching music and listening to images. And if we add that the subject of the artist’s shots is the sea, then the sensory shipwreck is almost inevitable.
All this is the result of the artistic partnership between Pesaro-born photographer Paolo Mazzanti and English composer Paul Statham, who, thanks to the valuable collaboration of curator Victor De Circasia, brought to life the exhibition The View of Time, currently ongoing at Palazzo Lazzarini, in via Rossini (until August 21, 10-12.30/16-20).
An event that, besides paying tribute to the musical genius of our country, aims to demonstrate “that it is not necessary,” explains De Circasia, “to be part of the opera audience to follow and perceive the interaction of music and image.” Eight photographs—actually giant prints—dominate the walls of Palazzo Lazzarini’s gallery. The subject is unique: the sea. But not just any sea. Mazzanti, a true Pesaro native, chose precisely the sea of Pesaro.
The camera lens focused especially on the stretch of sea in front of the small pier, along with a few shots of Vallugola Bay. “My whole life,” says Mazzanti, “has been in contact with the sea. But this is the first time I portray it.” “Statham,” he continues, “took inspiration from my work to compose the music. He did so in a Rossinian key, inserting clear and recognizable citations from the overture of William Tell, the Stabat Mater, and the cello and double bass duet by Rossini.” Statham’s piece, lasting eight minutes, is the exhibition’s soundtrack, guiding the viewer through the images.
Paolo Mazzanti, a photographer for 25 years, with many exhibitions abroad—in China, London, Atlanta—and in Italy—in Florence, Bologna, Cuneo—is hosting his first event in Pesaro. “Unfortunately,” he says with regret, “the situation here is not easy. And our city doesn’t even have much credibility. Just consider the words of the director of Flash Art magazine: ‘an artist who deserves it lives in London, Rome, Paris, NY, not in Pesaro or Casanza.’”
Pesaro, 13 – 08 -2007
Report by Alberto Pancrazi broadcast by TG3 RAI on the ongoing exhibition at Palazzo Lazzarini.
The exhibition is part of the collateral events program of the Rossini Opera Festival ROF.