The Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago, in collaboration with UTK’s Italian Program, World Languages and Cultures, Cinema Studies, and the College of Music, is pleased to present the film concert of Tigre Reale (1916), with a live performance by Italian musicians Stefano Maccagno (piano) and Furio Di Castri (double bass).

Tigre Reale, a silent film made by Giovanni Pastrone in 1916, is a poem about the power of love and the destructiveness of memory, the cliché of the femme fatale, and the obsession with guilt. Over the troubled love story between the Russian countess Natka and the young diplomat Giorgio La Ferlita, weighs the tragic past of the woman. In the sweetened and rarefied world of a fictional aristocracy, unattainable Dannunzian characters are driven by extreme passions. The film becomes a luxurious stage for the divine Pina Menichelli, who offers here a symbolic interpretation of the excessive and artificial acting that marks and distinguishes some of Italy’s silent cinema.

The music score harmoniously combines jazz and a classical-inspired musical language offering the audience a musical experience distant but at the same time perfectly matching the film’s flow. Stefano Maccagno’s piano echoes late romantic and impressionistic influences in combination with an always balanced contemporary touch emphasizing the film’s dramatic tension. Furio Di Castri’s jazz scores wonderfully match all interior sequences while his solo improvisations give the film narration an intriguing atmosphere.

Year: 1916
Country: Italy
Duration: 78’
Language: silent, with Italian intertitles and English subtitles

Free, no registration required.

TOUR DATES

All performances will be free and open to the public

Wednesday, February 21 at 7:30pm CT
Varsity Theatre/ Marquette University
1326 W Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, WI
Presented in collaboration with the Marquette University

Saturday, February 24 at 7:00pm CT
Logan Center for the Arts
915 E 60th St., Chicago IL
Presented in collaboration with The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts

Monday, February 26 at 7:00pm CT
Lincoln Hall Theatre
702 S Wright St., Urbana, IL
Presented in collaboration with the European Union Center

Thursday, February 29 at 6:00pm ET
Cox Auditorium
915 Volunteer Blvd, Knoxville TN
Presented in collaboration with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Saturday, March 2 at 7:00pm CT
Cinema St. Louis
3547 Olive St. Ste 260, Saint Louis, MO
Presented in collaboration with St. Louis Film Festival

Sunday, March 3 at 7:30pm CT
Swarthout Recital Hall
1530 Naismith Dr, Lawrence, KS
Presented in collaboration with the University of Kansas

Tuesday, March 5 at 7:00pm CT
The Main Cinema
115 Main St. SE, Minneapolis, MN
Presented in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Center of Minneapolis/St. Paul and Cinema Ritrovato on Tour

THE ITALIAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO is the cultural office of the Consulate General of Italy in Chicago. Founded in 1985, the Institute is one of five cultural agencies of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in the United States. It is located in the heart of Chicago along the Magnificent Mile. The Institute serves as a convenient source for information about Italian life and culture that showcases Italy’s classic and contemporary heritage with particular reference to art, music, cinema, design, architecture, literature, fashion, theater, cuisine, science, and technology. Learn more.