November 27, 2018 – In celebration of the opening of the La Scala Season, Fondazione Pesenti supports the traditional publishing initiative of the “Amici della Scala” (Friends of La Scala), a project promoted over the years by the Association and its founder and president, Anna Crespi.
For the opening of the 2018–2019 La Scala season, Amici della Scala has chosen to publish the volume:
“GIORGIO STREHLER and His Set Designers”.
THE BOOK
A large-format, bilingual edition, richly illustrated with images, the book traces the career of director Giorgio Strehler, following his productions at Teatro alla Scala, Piccolo Teatro di Milano, and major international venues such as Paris, Vienna, and Salzburg.
What makes this book unique is its focus on Strehler’s productions through the lens of the set designers who worked alongside him.
Readers will discover how Strehler’s theatre achieved its distinctive identity thanks to collaborations with artists such as Leonor Fini, Renato Guttuso, Fabrizio Clerici, Felice Casorati, Gianni Ratto, Ludwig Sievert, Giulio Coltellacci, Alexandre and Nicola Benois, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Ezio Frigerio, and Luciano Damiani.
GIORGIO STREHLER
Giorgio Strehler was one of the most important directors, playwrights, and theorists in Italian theatre. He was born on August 14, 1921, in Barcola, a small village near Trieste.
He studied music and theatre from a young age, later moving with his mother to Milan, where he attended Liceo Parini and then studied law, before enrolling at the Accademia dei Filodrammatici due to his strong passion for theatre.
Drafted into the army during World War II, Strehler took refuge in Switzerland, in the Mürren camp, where between 1942 and 1945, he staged several plays including Murder in the Cathedral, Caligula, and Our Town.
Upon returning to Italy, he fully devoted himself to the theatre as a director, actor, and critic, writing for the journal Momento Sera.
In 1947, together with his friend Paolo Grassi, he founded the “Piccolo Teatro della Città di Milano”, Italy’s first permanent public theatre. The debut production was “The Lower Depths” by Maxim Gorky, in which Strehler also played the role of the cobbler.
That same year, he also directed his first opera at La Scala: Verdi’s La Traviata, which was a resounding success.
From then on, Strehler focused on staging some of the most important works in theatre history, especially those by Shakespeare, Goldoni, Pirandello, Chekhov, Brecht, and Eduardo De Filippo.
In 1968, he founded a new theatre company, “Il Teatro Azione”, though he eventually returned to work exclusively with the Piccolo Teatro.
Beyond the stage, Strehler also had a political career, serving as a Senator of the Italian Republic and Member of the European Parliament for the Socialist Party.
He passed away on December 25, 1997, in Lugano, leaving behind a remarkable artistic and cultural legacy.
Friends of La Scala
The Amici della Scala Association enriches the legacy of the theatre through restoration projects and the publication of valuable monographs, supported by leading figures from the worlds of culture, art, and civil society. It also contributed to the founding of the La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra.
In over forty years of activity, the association has published 119 books dedicated to the history of music and theatre, forming a vast catalogue that serves as a key reference for scholars and researchers worldwide.
www.amicidellascala.it Comunicato Stampa Corriere Cultura
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