Maestro Antonio Fava is the world's leading practitioner and teacher of the 16th Century Italian comic art form, Commedia dell'Arte, continuing the tradition from his father who is famous for playing the role of Pulcinella. He was in Adelaide this weekend to run an intensive two day workshop organised by Corinna Di Niro, who is Australia's leading performer and teacher, and who is the first person in the world to gain a PhD in Commedia dell'Arte. I was fortunate in being asked her to attend, as one of a small group, to have dinner with him at an excellent Thai restaurant, and the conversation began, as expected, on the topic of the workshop.
The participants were a diverse group, ranging from local actors and teachers to members of a Commedia group from Western Australia who had travelled over 2,00km, as the crow flies, in order to be there. Fava was very pleased with the work of the members and the way in which they were embracing the material, truly authentic Commedia as passed down from one generation to another. This is the second time Di Niro has brought him to Adelaide. Last year he came to run workshops and ended his stay here by performing a work on a double bill with Di Niro's own troupe,
Commedia Con Corinna, to critical acclaim.
This is a brief profile, gleaned from the conversations during that dinner, containing fascinating information that you will not read in any biographies that you will find on the Internet.
The conversation soon moved on to a discussion on the intricacies of Commedia, and to its influence on later genres. Commedia, of course, was the origin of improvised performance, as well as the first form to use professional companies of performers, each playing the same character for their entire life and, as he pointed out, the introduction of music to heighten the impact of an interaction between two characters was the origin of opera. Commedia is the source of physical theatre and it is where circus clowns originated, Arlecchino becoming Harlequin, the clown in the brightly coloured, spangled outfit. Even the term 'slapstick' came from the paddle of that name, that some characters carry with which to hit others.
At this point it became clearer by the minute that this man has a wealth of knowledge, skills and experience way beyond his core profession, triggered by the link between Commedia and opera, as he reveals that, as a boy, he was in the children's chorus at La Scala, Milan in a production of
Giacomo Puccini's opera, La Bohème, which also happened to be the first opera appearance of a young singer by the name of
Luciano Pavarotti. Fava, incidentally, studied music and plays the flute.
Since we were having dinner, the conversation naturally turned to food, and the authenticity of that served in restaurants, revealing that he is also loves to cook, talking us through a very traditional recipe for carbonara, which he cooks using the olive oil from his own trees. This is nothing like the carbonara that is served in the average Italian restaurant, and I am now waiting to get my hands on his recipe.
As the wine flowed, so did the conversation, and this charismatic and charming man had the five of us listening intently to his reminscences and anecdotes, until the restaurant was about to close. It is hoped and expected that Antonio Fava will become a regular visitor here, sharing his vast knowledge and skills with emerging Commedia performers and, with luck, sharing more meals with his new friends.
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