I Virtuosi Italiani: Fandango

About the Event

Experience classical music like never before in this astonishing performance of masterworks by Luigi Boccherini at Verona's remarkable San Pietro in Monastero.
“Arte trasversale” is the evening that features artists such as guitar virtuoso Giulio Tampalini, one of the most acclaimed and spectacular of the moment — together with the string quartet I Virtuosi Italiani and the dancer specializing in Spanish dance, the charismatic Anna Violetta Beschi. Anna Violetta Beschi will dance in two episodes: in the famous “Retreat from Madrid” and also during the Fandango, both originally by Luigi Boccherini (1743 — 1805). The evening is in fact dedicated entirely to the great composer from Lucca, with all original pieces. “The Virtuosi Italiani string quartet is one of the major groups in Italy: they are all soloists and they play together. It is a very evocative show — assures the guitarist — the music, like the ancient dances of the Fandango and the Sarabanda, are all for dancing. Boccherini's pieces don't really emphasize the dialogue between dance and music, but rather, I'd say, they bring the art of sound back to its origins».


Between 1798 and 1799 Boccherini transcribed twelve quintets, originally composed for different ensembles, and brought them together in two collections, entrusting them to a rather unusual instrumental formation: to the classical string quartet (consisting of two violins, viola and cello) the composer added the guitar. The choice of instrument is a tribute to the commissioner and dedicatee of the two collections, the Marquis of Benavente. An excellent amateur guitarist and sincere admirer of Boccherini, the Madrid patron hosted a permanent orchestra in his palace, frequented by intellectuals, musicians and painters (among whom the name of Goya, a close friend of Boccherini, stands out) the marquis had entrusted the Italian with the role of music director.
The use of the guitar is also justified by Boccherini's interest in the folklore of the country where he had been living for a long time. On numerous occasions, paintings, folk dances and scenes of Madrid life enrich the pages of the Italian composer's classical music.
The transcription of the quintets and the addition of the guitar date back to the last years of Boccherini's life, when the maestro returned to his music to rework some of his most loved works he drew from his vast chamber music production, in which the quintet genre played a central role. If the assiduous use of the Quintet testifies, on the one hand, to the continuous contact maintained by Boccherini with Viennese classicism (in particular with the music of Haydn), on the other hand it reveals his creative autonomy: Boccherini's work, especially in the case of quintets with two cellos and those with guitar, boasts absolute originality. His style developed in a direction that was independent of Viennese classicism. Boccherini's forms can only be fully understood by accepting the almost complete lack of connection between the composer and the modus operandi of the classical sonata form.
The genre of the Quintet, in particular, becomes the privileged place within which to channel his abundant melodic vein: the themes flow frequently, one after the other, often refusing to bend to the dialectical principle of dramatic opposition, so typical of classical sonata form they are capable of going beyond the limits they have been given (the formal limits of the Exposition, so to speak) and of invading areas such as those of the Development, commonly dedicated to the reworking of themes already heard. Boccherini speaks, he tells a continuous story through his music, a story that knows no sudden setbacks: his themes follow one another like waves refracting on the reef they are characterized by a common spirit, they are incapable of “fighting” each other. All this also affects the harmonic language, which has little in common with that of the Viennese: the often unpredictable succession of tonal planes leads to absolutely original results.