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Coro
Palestrina - Its
History
In
2006 the Coro Palestrina celebrated its 60th anniversary, witness to the
stong commitment of all its members. Over such a long period five
different choirmasters have conducted the choir, which still today displays the
different marks of each of them, as for the choice and the development of its
repertoire.
The
Coro Palestrina was born in Suzzara (a town in the Po Valley, Northern Italy,
near Mantua) in 1946 as an initiative of Maestro Aldo Dalboni, who
focused his activity on liturgy and opera. The operas performed were Tosca,
Trovatore and Cinderella. When
Mr. Dalboni became teacher at the Conservatory of Parma in 1960 only the male
section of the choir continued to train and perform inside OM Fiat, a van
manufacturing company in Suzzara, under the training and conduction of Maestro Ettore
Maffetti whose repertoire focused on folk songs.
 In
1970 Don Lino Boselli (see picture) was appointed to rule the parish
church of Immacolata (Immaculate Conception), in Suzzara; keenly interested in
music and musically competent, he brought new life to the choir by letting the
female section in again, persevering with the study
of a wide range of sacred music pieces. He was choirmaster of the Coro
Palestrina over a period of 25 years, until 1995, when, due to his illness, he
handed his baton over to Maestro Carlo Benatti, from Mantua, a renowned
organist, still accompanying the choir.
Since
September 2002 the Coro Palestrina has been trained and conducted by Maestro
Lelio
Capilupi, who had occasionally collaborated with the choir. As a student
at the conservatory of Mantua, Maestro Capilupi was one of Mr. Dalboni’s
pupils and still today he cannot forget the emotional potential characterizing
Maestro Dalboni during his rehearsals. Eventually
a circle has been ideally closed, then, with new great enthusiasms in the wake
of tradition. Maestro Capilupi is
orienting the choir’s repertoire towards two specific domains: opera choruses
and sacred music. A singing-master and a renowned opera singer himself, he has
favoured the cooperation of the Coro Palestrina with young opera artists
from his school. Moreover, since his conduction Maestro Capilupi has dedicated
the musical arrangements of several polyphonic choral pieces to the choir.
At
present the Coro Palestrina is made of 45 amateurs. The repertoire is
quite extensive: from Gregorian chant and sacred music to opera, operetta and
contemporary authors.
The Coro Palestrina’s great professionalism in performing concerts and
liturgical ceremonies has won the choir great support and fame in many different
cities.
The
choir participated in several “Cantare Insieme” exhibitions, at the Bibiena
Theatre, in Mantua. “Cantare Insieme” is organized by the provincial
delegation of USCI (the Italian society of choirs) together with the Local
Authority of Mantua. In 2000 the Coro Palestrina was conferred the prestigious
Silver Rigoletto Prize.
 Among
the most awaited events are the Coro
Palestrina’s Christmas Concert, in the Immacolata parish church, in
Suzzara (see picture), a real tradition - it was the 31th concert in
2006! - and the St. Biagio’s Day
Concert - St. Biagio is the patron saint of Suzzara - which is held on
February the 3rd at Parco La Quercia Auditorium. The
several Christmas Concerts held in December 2006 (the year of the choir’s 60th
anniversary) were all performed under the sponsorship of the no-profit UNICEF
Provincial Committee of Mantua.
Among
the choir’s numerous performances in Italy and abroad, the most significant
ones were:
1970: SOMBOR, (ex-Jugoslavia);
1983:
Barcellona (Spain); Vatican City, Convention of Scholae Cantorum;
1987: Rome, Chiesa Santa
Maria Transpontina; Mantua; Basilica St. Andrea and Bibiena Theatre;
1988: Spain: several locations on the occasion of the rebuilding of the Liceu Theatre
of Barcellona;
1999: Vatican City, St. Peter’s Basilica; Pomezia, Church St. Benedict;
2000: Salò, Brescia, Duomo;
2001: Rome, Church of Santo Spirito, Sassia;
2003: Pegognaga (Mantua) Teatro Comunale; Mantua, Church St. Appollonia, with
the Chamber Orchestra “I Cameristi Virgiliani”; Vatican City, Convention of
Scholae Cantorum;
2004: Pegognaga (Mantua),
Teatro Comunale; Mantua, Bibiena Theatre; Suzzara (Mantua), “European Festival
of Choral Music”;
2005: Assisi, St. Francis’s Basilica; Guiglia (Modena), the castle;
2006: Mantua, Bibiena Theatre; Guiglia (Modena) Church St. Giminiano; Brioude
(France), Eglise de la Borie d’Arles and Basilique Saint Julien.
2007:
"Alta Pusteria International Choir Festival"
2008: Mantua, Bibiena Theatre, with
the "Colli Morenici" Philarmonic Orchestra
2009: Festival "Singen in
der Bergen" - Wolfsberg (Austria)
Among
the most noteworthy concerts are:
The concerts held at Bibiena Theatre and Circolo Cittadino in Mantua, at Teatro
Comunale in Pegognaga, in Church St. Appollonia in Mantua (accompanied by the
Chamber Orchestra “I Cameristi Virgiliani”); the participation in the
“European Festival of Choral Music”, held in 2004 in Suzzara, the rich
artistic calendar specially realized for the choir’s 60th
anniversary, the participation in the "Alta Pusteria International Choir
Festival" and in the International Choir Festival "Singen
in der Bergen"
(Austria).
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