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Ezio Frigerio

Ezio Frigerio

Art

Biography

Ezio Frigerio (16 July 1930 – 2 February 2022) was an Italian costume designer and art director. After finishing architecture studies, he approached theatre art by realising the costumes for Casa di Bambola and L'opera da 3 soldi, two plays directed by Giorgio Strehler at Piccolo Teatro in the 1955-56 theatre season. From then on a fertile artistic marriage started between art director and producer, setting up several unique productions as I giganti della montagna (1966), Santa Giovanna dei macelli (1970), Re Lear (1972), Il temporale (1980), L'Illusion Comique, which premiered in 1984 at Théatre de l'Odéon in Paris, La grande magia, which premiered in 1985 and was reprised several times. The collaboration with Strehler made Frigerio enter the world of opera: Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte were realized by Strehler and Frigerio between 1973 and 1996. Così fan tutte was being staged just before Strehler died. Frigerio also created stage designs for the Burgtheater in Vienna: Trilogie der Sommerfrische (Trilogia della villeggiatura) by Carlo Goldoni, directed by Strehler, 1974; Judith by Hebbel, directed by Gerhard Klingenberg, 1975. Other operatic stage designs include: Cherubini's Medea, directed by Liliana Cavani, for the Opéra National de Paris; Strauss' Elektra, directed by Nuria Espert, for De Munt Theatre in Brussels; Verdi's Ernani, directed by Luca Ronconi, 1980, Beethoven's Fidelio, directed by Werner Herzog in 1999 for the Teatro alla Scala in Milan; Bellini's Norma, directed by Piero Faggioni, for the Vienna State Opera in 1977; Verdi's Rigoletto, for the Polish National Opera in 1997. The team of Frigerio and Squarciapiano also designed the Met Opera's gorgeous and sensational Zandonai FRANCESCA DA RIMINI in 1984 (Scotto, Domingo, MacNeil, Levine). Frigerio also created the sets for Liliana Cavani's movie Galileo e i Cannibali and Jean-Paul Rappeneau's Cyrano de Bergerac, which got an Oscar nomination in 1991. He designed the grave of Rudolf Nureyev. Frigerio often collaborated with Italian costume designer Franca Squarciapino who was also his life partner. Frigerio died on 2 February 2022, at the age of 91. Source: Article "Ezio Frigerio" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Known For

Pyotr Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake

Prince Siegfried is celebrating his coming of age. The Queen Mother informs him that, the following day, during the grand ball held to mark his birthday, he must choose a future wife. Displeased at not being able to choose her out of love, he goes into the forest during the night. It is then that he spots a flock of swans. He raises his crossbow, prepares to shoot, but stops immediately: before him stands a beautiful woman dressed in white swan feathers, followed by twelve other women dressed in the same way, four of whom are nicknamed ‘little swans’. ‘Swan Lake’ is a ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, comprising four acts and four scenes, or three acts and four scenes. The staging is based on a libretto by Vladimir Begichev and Vasili Geltser. The story is an ancient German legend recounting the tale of the beautiful Princess Odette, transformed into a swan by the curse of the evil sorcerer Rothbart. Recorded live at the Palais Garnier, Paris, on 17 December 2005.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake

2005Movie