Italian composer and director Aldo Tarabella, an eclectic man of theater and opera, today combines composition with operatic stage direction. His experiences at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan as composer of Giorgio Strehler; the Commedia dell’arte, Harlequin, the Masks and the profound love for comic opera have influenced the desire to compose numerous works inspired by these worlds. Projected towards a light, bubbly style of great originality, such as “Il Servo padrone”, an ideal continuation of Pergolesi's famous intermezzo, performed with excellent acclaim at the Ravello Festival and at the Mittelfest in Friuli; “Opera bestiale”, commissioned by CIDIM, an amusing irony on the world of opera performed by five animal singers together with the designer ALTAN, and “Arlecchino finto morto”, a dutiful act of love towards the “mask” par excellence, commissioned by the Chigiana Academy of Siena. Another opera, “Clown”, is dedicated to the circus world and in particular to musical clowns, with the ORT Orchestra della Toscana and director Antonio Ballista.
His artistic development began truly with the music linked to the last mask of Italian theatre, Il Signor Bonaventura by Sergio Tofano. The close collaboration with the cartoonist Altan, the attendance at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan with the theatrical works on Harlequin and the masks, have over time directed Aldo Tarabella towards the composition of works for children, effectively becoming a true and passionate specialist of this genre. Over the years, “Il Maestro cantore” for baritone and children's choir was added; “Tubeo and Violetta”, a fun parody of Romeo and Juliet in a dispute between the string and brass families who have always been at odds: the protagonists are the treble voices, both solo and choral. At Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; “Casearia” or The country of cheeses, a comic intermezzo, with a surreal and funny libretto and finally the opera “Pinocchio” for soloists and treble voices written for Teatro del Giglio in Lucca, Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna and Orchestra della Toscana. For his work dedicated to Pinocchio, the Collodi Foundation recognises the composer with their prestigious 2024 annual prize.
