Felice Casorati at La Scala
by Vittoria Crespi Morbio.
Essay by Vittoria Crespi Morbio, Melancholy of the Gaze.
Appendices: Biography; Catalogue of the Works; Chronology of Productions.
Collection «Performing Artists at La Scala».
Amici della Scala – Grafiche Step Editrice, Parma 2016.
Italian – English edition, pp. 192.
Felice Casorati (1883-1963), a painter of hushed geometries and pensive immutability, may seem quite remote from the spectacular and colourful world of opera. And yet the artist devoted to the musical theatre an enduring passion and as of 1933 a considerable part of his legacy.
As scenographer for the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Opera di Roma, and La Scala Casorati lavished on the stage the principles of his painting, inspired by the motto NUMERUS MENSURA PONDUS, number, measure, weight. In operas like Fidelio or The Valkyrie, as in ballets on the music of Petrassi, Falla and Bartók, the scansion of spaces and colours thrills with a persistent and mysterious musical sensibility.