A look at Azio Corghi
Parole chiave:
Azio Corghi, musical postmodernism, twentieth-century musical theatre, stylistic analysis, musical transcriptionAbstract
This article offers an overarching interpretation of Azio Corghi’s (1937–2022) creative trajectory, tracing his development from his early works in the 1960s to the compositions of his artistic maturity. Among the diverse experiences that shaped Corghi’s career, musical theatre emerges as its primary focus, particularly following the start of his collaboration with José Saramago in 1989. At the heart of Corghi’s poetics lies a continuous dialogue with both musical and literary traditions, engaging in a rich, dynamic exchange with the classics of the past and present — from Monteverdi, Rossini, and Verdi to Pasolini, and Yourcenar. Corghi’s work is steeped in cultural memory, where interplay with tradition becomes a means to trigger short circuits of meaning. His approach reflects a postmodern sensibility that moves beyond the conventional opposition between civic engagement and communication with a non-engagé audience. The article also examines the central role of the voice, the word, and the theatrical dimension in Corghi’s aesthetic — privileged tools through which he entrusts music with an ethical and civic responsibility, capable of addressing historical memory and contemporary awareness. The study concludes by analyzing several distinctive features of Corghi’s mature style: his refined exploration of timbre, his use of transcription, his engagement with folk heritage, and the ongoing interaction between logos and pathos, play and tragedy, lightness and historical reflection.
