Umberto Brunelleschi at La Scala
by Vittoria Crespi Morbio.
Essay by Vittoria Crespi Morbio, Le Petit Watteau des Champs-Elysées.
Appendices: biography; catalogue of works; chronology of performances.
Collection «Performing Artists at La Scala».
Amici della Scala – Grafiche Step Editrice, Parma, 2015.
Italian – English edition, pp. 170.
Scenographer, costume designer, renowned illustrator in Paris in the early 20th century, Umberto Brunelleschi is mainly remembered for a missed performance. Puccini was eager for him to create the costumes for the first Turandot: Brunelleschi failed to deliver them in time, gambling away the greatest opportunity of his career. Master of Art Déco, the artist took refuge in the sham and sparkling world of the Parisian music hall (his performances were the most lavish at the Folies Bergère), escaping from the tragedies of History for the facile loves of masks, on which the sensual grace of his line bestowed an exquisite, dated and everlasting outline.