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Achille Perilli at La Scala

by Vittoria Crespi Morbio, On the Brink of Light
Appendices: biography; catalogue of works; chronology of performances
Amici della Scala – Grafiche Step Editrice, Parma 2021
Italian – English edition, pp. 199

Achille Perilli (1927–2021) designed the set and costumes of his only production for La Scala in 1965: Mutazioni is a ballet with music by Vittorio Fellegara and choreography by Mario Pistoni.

Incisive yet light, Perilli’s style instils the sketches, composing its antirealistic vocation with a narrative idea. What arises is an utterly unique work in his avant-garde production.

The outcome is a successful one, yet above all it represents a temporary milestone in a theory of the theatre derived from different matrices (Futurism, the Bauhaus, the experience of Schwitters, the paintings of Kandinsky, Klee and Mondrian), to continually redefine itself not only as an intellectual object but also as an experience that is alive and brilliant.