Filarmonica della Scala
Sound, Music! 2025
A chamber Peer Gynt
Musical educational project for primary schools in Milan
Stories of trolls, witches and slackers for voice and chamber orchestra
Text and music by Luigi Maio
based on Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen and Edvard Grieg
Filarmonica della Scala
Francesco Muraca conductorLuigi Maio ir
Luigi Maio director and actor
March 14
9:30am and 11:30am
reserved for schools
March 15
15:00
open to the public
free admission,
reservations on the Filarmonica della Scala and the Teatro Elfo Puccini website
From Friday, March 7 at 2 p.m.
Teatro Elfo Puccini, Sala Shakespeare
A foolish young man in search of easy success, Peer Gynt is always on the run from everything and everyone, a sort of Pinocchio from Norwegian folklore: banned from his village, the young man agrees to marry the daughter of Old Brose, king of the trolls, so as to inherit his kingdom. Wearing a troll's robe, headdress and tail, Peer has therefore renounced his human nature. But before the responsibilities and codes of his troll life, the boy backs down, unleashing the ire of King Brose and his subjects. Once again he must flee. After witnessing his dying mother, the young man leaves his beloved Solveig to set out on a journey. From adventure to adventure, he becomes a businessman, prophet and gold digger, but his every venture is doomed to failure. Now old and poor, he sets sail to return to Norway, but the ship is shipwrecked. Having reached dry land, Peer Gynt discovers that he is not worthy of Heaven or Hell: he has renounced both his humanity and his Trollity. He never knew how to choose in his life and, therefore, he was never 'himself'! Having escaped the clutches of the mysterious Button Moulder, who wants to merge his soul with other equally flawed ones, Peer Gynt finds refuge with his beloved Solveig, who has been waiting for him all those years. He falls asleep in her arms, while in the distance you can hear the voice of the Button Moulder, who is waiting for him at the gate. In the theatrical masterpiece by Henrik Ibsen and Edvard Grieg, the ending remains pending. In the rhyming version of Luigi Maio, on the other hand, young spectators will have the opportunity to choose between three different endings. In reality, there is only one possible ending: Peer Gynt must go back to school!
Only then can he finally learn to be himself.
Didactic Materials
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