La Bayadere |
PierLuigi Samaritani was born in
Novara, Italy, where he completed his
classical studies. He later attended the
Academia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan
before going to Paris to study art. In
Paris, Samaritani met the celebrated set
designer and painter Lila De Nobili who
awakened his interest in the theatre, and
he enrolled at the Centre Dramatique de
la Rue Blanche. At the age of 21 he was
invited by director Raymond Rouleau to
create sets for Dencker's play Le Fil
Rouge at the Theatre de Mary Bell.
After this initial success Samaritani
decided to extend his knowledge of
theatre technique, working as assistant
to Lila De Nobili (at the Spoleto Festival
of the Two Worlds), again to Lila De
Nobili and Fabrizio Clerici (Teatro alla
Scala, Milan), Franco Zeffirelli (Opera
de Paris; Teatro Romano, Verona), and
Giorgio De Chirico (Teatro dell'Opera,
Rome). In 1967, Massimo
Begianckino, general manager of
Rome's Teatro dell'Opera, invited
Samaritani to design sets and costumes
for Manfred (Schumann/Byron)
-- the success of that production placed
him among the foremost designers of
today. The next production that
Samaritani designed was I Capricci di
Callot at La Scala of Milan in 1968,
followed by Semiramide
(Rossini) for the Maggio Musicale
Fiorentino and Tristan und
Isolde (Wagner) at the Spoleto
Festival of the Two
Worlds.
In 1969, Samaritani designed sets and
costumes for La Clemenza di
Tito at Rome's Teatro dell'Opera,
The Medium and El Retable
de Maese Pedro for the Spoleto
Festival of Two Worlds, Maria di
Rohan for Teatro alla Scala; in
1970, he designed La Vestale
for Palermo's Teatro Massimo,
Marie Golovin for the Opera de
Marseille and the Opera de Paris. In the
next four years, he designed
Amahl and the Night
Visitors and Help, Help the
Gobolinks at the Grand Theatre de
Geneve, Teatro dell'Opera, Rome, and
La Piccola Scala, Milan, Carmen
for the Teatro alla Scala, Don
Pasquale for the Theater in
Gartnerplatz in Munich, Giovanna
d'Arco for the Teatro La Fenice in
Venice, Les Dialogues des
Carmelites for the Opera de Paris,
Lucia di Lammermoor for
Teatro La Fenice, Mose for the
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino,
Sebastian for the Teatro
Massimo in Palermo, La
Boheme for the Opera de Paris,
La Boheme for the Teatro
dell'Opera in Rome, Maria di
Rohan for Teatro La Fenice, and
Don Quichote (Massenet) for
the Lyric Opera of
Chicago.
In 1975, Samaritani designed a new
production of Don Pasquale for
the Spoleto Festival, where he also made
his directorial debut in The Old Maid
and the Thief. During the next
three years, he designed the sets and
costumes for: Trittico and La
Falena at the Teatro Verdi in
Trieste, Eugene Onegin for the
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, I
Racconti di Hoffmann for the
Dallas Civic Theatre, Orfeo e
Euridice for the Lyric Opera of
Chicago, Gemma di Vergy for
the Teatro San Carlo in Naples,
Otello for the Hamburgische
Staatsoper, Luisa Miller for the
Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Re
Cervo for the Maggio Musicale
Fiorentino, Egiste for the Teatro
La Fenice, Medea in Corinto for
the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, and
La Traviata for the Teatro
dell'Opera in
Rome.
In 1978, Samaritani staged and
designed the sets and costumes for
Massenet's Werther for the
Teatro Comunale of Florence, a
production which was later brought to
the Lyric Opera of Chicago. In 1978
Samaritani also created the sets and
costumes for Cosi fan Tutte for
the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and
for Thais for the Teatro
dell'Opera in Rome. Also in that year,
Samaritani was commissioned to design
Vivaldi's L'Incoronazione di
Dario in Sienna -- a production
which received considerable critical
acclaim and was greeted by much public
controversy. In 1979, he staged
Madama Butterfly at the Teatro
Comunale of Florence and was invited to
stage and design La
Sonnambula for the opening night
of the Spoleto Festival. The latter was
seen at the Festival of the Two Worlds in
Charleston in May, 1980. Late in 1979,
Samaritani designed the new production
of Gounod's Faust for the
televised opening night of the Chicago
Lyric Opera's 25th anniversary season.
His plans for 1980 included the staging
of Francesca da Rimini for the
Teatro Filarmonico of Verona (he also
designed the sets and costumes), and
designing the sets and costumes for
Lucrezia Borgia at Rome's
Teatro dell'Opera. In June, 1980
Samaritani staged and designed
Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin
for the Maggio Musicale
Fiorentino. |
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