THE CASSANDRA CASE a 20th century story

Bologna, December 5, 1905: the première performance of Cassandra by Vittorio Gnecchi, with libretto by Luigi Illica. The conductor: Arturo Toscanini. Dresden, January 25, 1909: the première performance of Elektra by Richard Strauss, with libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The conductor: Ernst von Schuch. April 1909: Critic Giovanni Tebaldini publishes a series of synoptic tables in the Rivista Musicale Italiana journal demonstrating the surprising musical similarities between Elektra and Cassandra. Newspaper headlines wrote: “Richard Strauss, a plagiarist?” This marks the beginning of an investigation that appeared in newspapers at the turn of the last century and was considered a genuine inquiry mainly caused by a circumstance: one of the accused was a musician of such stature and international fame that he quashed the name of the other, despite his talent. Young Milanese composer Vittorio Gnecchi seemed to be the only victim of a “case” that escaped the control of its alleged instigators. Even the theaters -- including La Scala in Milan -- went back on their word and cancelled all plans to stage Cassandra. When La Scala’s Artistic Director listened to Gnecchi play his entire score, he said that the opera was a powerful work with a grandeur that suited the La Scala stage, but he added, “We are on such good terms with Strauss, whose Elektra we have just staged, that it would seem an insult to him to announce Cassandra for next year.” The “case” proved to be one of those irreversible misfortunes that change the course of a life from the very beginning, when much could still have been achieved.

Composer, musicologist, and conductor Marco Iannelli graduated with an Arts Degree from Università Cattolica in Milan. His artistic career and research activities began at a very young age. This eclectic musician won several awards: the most recent was Special Mention at the Turin Film Festival (2001) and the Critic’s Award at the Diesel-U-Music Awards (2003), an honor that he shared with the deejay MrQ. Marco works with choreographer Gheorghe Iancu, for whom he prepared the music for the ballets “Synthesis” (Venice Biennial Festival, 2001), “Donne” (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, 2002), and “Scheherazade” (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, 203). In 2003, he and saxophonist Sandro Cerino composed the music for the video-installations of the “Ta Matete” Living Gallery in Rome and published 5 CDs. He is a music critic for several Italian and foreign publications (Musica, Opera, Classic CD, Lyrica, Diapason) and a musical consultant for several theaters and musical institutions, including Teatro Smeraldo and Teatro Lirico in Milan and the Festival de Radio France et Montpellier. Marco is the editor of the “Suite Classica” music magazine, and he contributed to the 2003 edition of the Garzanti Film Encyclopedia (“Film soundtrack composers” section). He is a musical consultant and editorial director of the United Europe Chamber Orchestra Foundation, and he is also the supervisor of the Document Archives of the “Vittorio Gnecchi Ruscone” Musical Association. Marco teaches Piano and the History of Music at the “La Nuova Musica” Academy in Milan, and he is also responsible for the Sound Design course at the School of Industrial Design of the Milan Polytechnic Institute.