Language: English

Durante and the Bad Loves continues the operatic exploration of the work of Dante Alighieri (whose real name was Durante) which began with Bad Dante Bad English Bad Opera (2021).

Dante has finally left Ante-Purgatory and reached Purgatory proper, where souls are purged and prepared for Paradise. Passing though the 7 Terraces, each corresponding to a deadly sin (pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth), we encounter fictional characters which represent them and their divine counterparts (modesty, abstinence, mercy, compassion, generosity, humanity and patience). It’s a sort of human zoo, in which these sins and virtues merge in a very elementary and touching manner, providing an opportunity to speak about the most basic of human drives, which go beyond the Christian value system. The bad loves in the title (a rough translation of Dante’s mal amor) are the passions that distract humans from divine righteousness.

This emotional kaleidoscope is mirrored in the music, which irreverently plunders melodies and harmonies from Purcell, Vivaldi, Rossini, Schumann, Puccini, Wagner and others, as well as the soundtracks of Clockwork Orange and The Wizard of Oz. The ‘classical’ string trio heard in Bad Dante Bad English Bad Opera is replaced by 4 Moog analogue synthesisers, creating a sound world somewhat reminiscent of Wendy Carlos and other pioneers of early electronic music.

The show dives freely into Dante’s 700-year old text, exploiting its narrative richness while adding wit and pace, in search of what a medieval perspective can bring to the interpretation of our time and its new invasive moralism. Durante and the Bad Loves creates a dialogue between the two eras, which lately feel as close as they are far apart.