Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Associated with Dante and the Divine Comedy is also one of Franz Liszt’s most experimental works: his Dante-Symphonie, which the composer had originally hoped to present in an audio-visual performance of new conception. The work, which... more
Associated with Dante and the Divine Comedy is also one of Franz Liszt’s most experimental works: his Dante-Symphonie, which the composer had originally hoped to present in an audio-visual performance of new conception. The work, which was praised also by Wagner as an example of music with a strong and innovative significance, was never performed in the composer’s lifetime as he had originally conceived it, but only in concert form. The events in Rome for the sixth centenary of Dante’s birth, however, gave Liszt the opportunity to connect the work to an exhibition of paintings on Dante subjects organized by Romualdo Gentilucci and inaugurated in Rome on 26 February 1866. On this occasion the composer was the recipient of a poetic tribute from Domenico Venturini, a writer from Roman academic circles, who dedicated two sonnets to the composer and his Dante-Symphonie, that were also published by L'Osservatore Romano.