Pinocchio, burattino di talento

Libretto by Paolo Madron, based on 'Le avventure di Pinocchio' by C. Collodi; German version by Hanna Francesconi; English version by Benjamin Gordon; Spanish version by Pablo Valdes (I,G,E,S)

S,B,11 child soloists; children's chorus; 1.1.1.1-2.1.0.0-perc:3timp/hit-hat/susp.cym/tamb.basque/2wdbl/3tom-t/2SD/BD/2cowbell/bongos-
5amateur perc:guiro/glsp/cym/tgl/claves/cowbell/maracas/b.conga/2t.bells-strings(6.5.4.3.2);
Marionette band: recorders(ca. 30)-BD(parade)-military drum-cym;
Marionette orchestra: 3rec-tgl-glsp-metallophones(2S,A,B)

Geppetto's house, Mangiafuoco's theatre, an inn, in front of the Fairy's house, in the shark's body

The old puppet maker Geppetto has created the perfect marionette, Pinocchio, who is able to move on his own. Geppetto sends Pinocchio to school, but the lively and wilful little boy goes to the theatre instead. Mangiafuoco, the director, is tired of telling the old tales over and over again and gives Pinocchio money to travel around and bring him new stories. But Pinocchio is robbed by a pair of scoundrels and has to flee from the police because he is not able to pay for the meal he had at an inn. A pigeon brings him to the fairy Turchina's house, where he meets his old friend Lucignolo. Both boys plan to travel to the idlers' land where every wish instantly comes true and where nobody has to work or go to school. When chided by the fairy, Pinocchio denies everything, but his lies make his nose grow longer and longer. The fairy leads him to Geppetto who has been swallowed by a great shark and now lives in its stomach, weeping the loss of his 'son'. Pinocchio regrets what he has done, and carries the old man out on his shoulders.

"Valtinoni’s score shows an ability to modulate the stylistic suggestions according to the dramatic context. In the context of a language that is generally open to effective communicativeness, the agile orchestral team is flanked by a piano and drums. Rhythms, colours and expressive shading are graded with effective and extrovert elegance, moving from the unrestrained samba of Pinocchio ... to more sophisticated studies that seem to take on the elegance of the ‘Groupe des Six’, or certain detached Stravinsky geometries. The vocal character is extensive, functional to the text and the story, condensed into short ariosos, more often recited but softly ... It is easy to predict that the public’s enthusiasm will always be sky-high" (L’Opera)

Poetic