The national Bio-Economy Day returns to Ravenna, and doubles in length to explore the issues underpinning ecological transition and the fight to climate change. Intended as the economy that uses renewable biological sources as raw materials for industrial, energy, food and feed production, in 2020 the Italian bio-economy was worth 317 billion euros, and employed around 2 million people. The issues of this meta-sector, which proved to be resilient during the pandemic, and which forms the basis for the European Green New Deal, will be discussed by key stakeholders from the world of industry, agriculture and finance. This will also be an opportunity to discuss sustainable development, the UN 2030 Agenda and green jobs, and to award the schools that took part in the Bio-economy4You competition.

Why set out on a hike with Dante? Because walking is a “Dantesque” form of art. And because walking through a landscape is an act of art, which can transform one’s point of view and way of listening. Because creating poems, songs, stories and artworks together with the ‘Poet of Exile’ will be an extraordinary opportunity, good for one’s soul and heart. Musicians, singers, poets, ottava rimaimprovisers, musical chefs, puppeteers and hikers will set off together, walking from Florence to Ravenna to celebrate the Supreme Poet in the places where he lived, in the 700^thanniversary of his death. This highly symbolic event opens in Florence, touches on charming villages and on the places Dante celebrated, to end with a concert in the Apennines, near Ravenna.

From South to North, from North to South, using the same track both ways: in a frantic search for his beloved, a young man, heedless of the battle raging around him, stages two long chases back to back in the midst of the American Civil War. For this comic epic of the silent screen, Buster Keaton arranged exact replicas of period locomotives, as well as 4,000 military uniforms: “It’s got to be so authentic it hurts”, he told his staff. Timothy Brock’s score was inspired by the songs of the American civil war, by their lyrics, rhythm and bite, drawn directly from 1860s sheet music. And if the current health restrictions make it impossible to perform the original 2005 score for a large orchestra, the reduced orchestration helps keep the momentum going and provides a framework for several solos.

The Programme

Hordes of bat-like demons wielding sharp pitchforks; legions of Heaven’s pure souls floating in the sky; Paolo and Francesca gliding down from on high and then suspended in mid-air; Bertrand de Born holding up his severed head, and a gigantic soul-devouring Lucifer. In 1911, two pioneering directors adapted Dante and Virgil’s journey into the first full-length feature film in the history of Italian cinema, and they certainly spared no expense on special effects. Inspired by the famous engravings by Gustave Doré, the film was an unprecedented colossal: 3 years to make, a cast of 150, 100 sets and a huge box office success in Europe and the US. Edison Studio have now put their skills, expertise and live electronics technology at the service of a “perfect” soundtrack for the most visionary of Italian silent films.

The Programme