Only a few hours have passed since the new dispute in France, in Nice, for Beatrice Venezi, conductor and adviser for Gennaro Sangiuliano’s Ministry of Culture. And from the stage of the Summer Festival, in her Lucca, Venezi has decided to respond with a provocation. Even if in intentions, at least declared, it is not so. But rather a conciliatory choice. “I can’t accept censures and I don’t think Puccini would have accepted them either,” she said before announcing tonight, July 12, that she would finish with the performance of theHymn to Rome the concert on the opening day of the Puccini Centenary Celebrations.
The choice to perform theHymn to Rome it will certainly cause discussion. The piece was written in 1919 by Fausto Salvatori with music by Giacomo Puccini. During the twenty years, however, the fascist regime appropriated it and in the post-war period it was then chosen by the Italian social movement to be used at its rallies. The song was not included in the lineup and is unscheduled, as he recalls Ansa. “I hope that the performance of this piece is an invitation for the country to reconcile with its historical memory and that art and culture will return to the center beyond political positions,” Venezi said.
The decision was communicated in the afternoon to the Promoting Committee of the Puccini celebrations, and in the evening there was the forfeit of the mayors Giorgio Del Ghingaro (Viareggio), Andrea Bonfanti (Pescaglia) and the president of the Province of Lucca, Luca Menesini. When the news leaked, Venezi defended his intentions: «I have always done it and I will continue to do so. We are waging a war on Puccini’s intention,” he told The nation, «Then what should Germans do with Wagner’s music? It seems to me that they have made peace with their historical memory. Puccini wrote it in 1919, it’s a patriotic hymn. I find it old-fashioned and outdated to continue reading these things from an ideological point of view»