Francesco Filidei's Operatic and Orchestral Works at Présences 2023

Italian composer Francesco Filidei is featured in two major Parisian events in February-March 2023. Invited by the Présences 2023 festival at Maison de la Radio (February 7-12), he presents a cello concerto, 'Giardini di Vilnius,' performed by Sonia Wieder-Atherton, alongside a portrait of composer Unsuk Chin. Simultaneously, his opera 'L'Inondation,' co-created with director Joël Pommerat, is revived at the Opéra comique (February 27-March 5), originally premiered in 2019. The opera, based on a Soviet story by Yevgeny Zamyatin, reorders the narrative by placing the murder scene at the beginning. Filidei discusses his approach to tradition, destruction and rebirth, and his use of unconventional sounds (rhombes, bird calls, toy moo boxes, suspension springs) to animate instruments. He cites influences from his teacher Salvatore Sciarrino, the sinopie frescoes of Pisa's Camposanto, and childhood trauma of seeing his grandmother beat his grandfather's coffin. The composer aims to make music that is not to be listened to but for listening, as a therapeutic experience.