With Studio Azzurro he collaborated on the video direction of CAMERA ASTRATTA produced with the Giorgio Barberio Corsetti company (Documenta8, Kassel, 1988), and on KEPLER'S TRAUM a video opera with music by Giorgio Battistelli (Festival Ars Electronica, Linz, 1990).
Later, still working with Studio Azzurro, he furthered visual experimentation in the area of musical works directing DELFI with vocal and musical concepts by Moni Ovadia and Piero Milesi, (Festival Suoni e Visioni, Milano 1994), and for STRIAZ an itinerent night-time work for chorus and 12 video installations with music by Luca Francesconi, (Mittelfest, Cividale del Friuli, 1996).
In 1993 he started a collaboration with the director Daniele Abbado with whom on the one hand he works on the use of new video technology in multimedia stage performances such as FIUME DI MUSICA, again with music by Piero Milesi (Romaeuropa Festival, 1993), FRAMMENTI SULL'APOCALISSE (Centro Videoarte, Ferrara, 1994) with music by Nicola Sani, DOKUMENTATION N. 1 with music by Helmut Ohering, (Teatro Caio Melisso, Spoleto, 1996), LABORINTUS 2 by Luciano Berio, (Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa, 2001); and on the other on visual concepts for lyric opera works such as TOSCA (Teatro Regio, Turin, 1995), COSI' FAN TUTTE (Teatro Massimo/Politeama Garibaldi, Palermo, 1997), FREISCHÜTZ (Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome 1998), THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA (Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa, 1999 - Teatro de La Maestranza, Siviglia, 2001 - Teatro Comunale di Modena, Teatro Regio di Parma, Teatro Romolo Valli di Reggio Emilia, 2003), TANNHÄUSER (Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome 2001), LOHENGRIN (Teatro Comunale di Bologna, 2002 - Teatro Eskalduna, Bilbao, 2003), JEANNE D'ARC AU BUCHER (Teatro Massimo di Palermo, 2003 - Granada Festival, 2003), RE PASTORE (Teatro delle Muse, Ancona 2003) JR BUTTERFLY by S. Saegusa (Tokio Bunka Kaikan, 2004 - International House, Kobe, 2005), VOLO DI NOTTE (Teatro Comunale, Firenze, 2004), COSI' FAN TUTTE and DON GIOVANNI (Teatro Filarmonico, Verona and Teatro Valli, Reggio Emilia, 2006) revived in USA, Greece and Spain.
He has managed video direction for productions including LA CLEMENZA DI TITO, directed by Denis Krief (Teatro Comunale, Ferrara 1998), IL VIAGGIO A REIMS, directed by Luca Ronconi (Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro, 1999), SADKO', directed by Egisto Marcucci (Teatro La Fenice, Venezia, 2000), SIMON BOCCANEGRA, conducted by Claudio Abbado and directed by Carl-Philip von Maldeghem, (Teatro Comunale di Ferrara, 2001 - Teatro S. Carlo di Napoli, 2003) ATTILA, directed by Franco Ripa di Meana (Teatro Comunale, Firenze 2001), LA MEMORIA DELL'OFFESA - DER KAISER VON ATLANTIS, DER KINDERTOTENLIEDER, A SURVIVOR FROM WARSAW by Ullmann, Mahler, Schoenberg (Teatro Massimo di Palermo, 2002) and DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER (Teatro Massimo di Palermo, 2003), CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA (Teatro Regio, Torino 2007) directed by Roberto Andò and the ballet ROMEO AND JULIET by S.Prokov'ev, choreography by Giorgio Mancini (68°Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Comunale, 2005).
Other projects include VECCHI TEMPI by Harold Pinter directed by Roberto Andò (Ert - Modena, Teatro Stabile di Catania 2004), LE TALISMAN by H. de Balzac directed by Dominique Pitoiset (Teatro Stabile di Torino 2004), IL MAESTRO E MARTA by F. Arriva directed by Walter Pagliaro (Teatro Stabile di Catania, 2005), SALMODIA DELLA SPERANZA by David Maria Turoldo directed by Giulio Mandelli (Milan Cathedral, 2005), SETTE STORIE PER LASCIARE IL MONDO di Marco Betta (Teatro Bellini, Catania, 2006), NATURA MORTA PER I DIRITTI CIVILI by Roberto Andò con Isabelle Huppert (Mittelfest 2007) and DE PROFUNDIS by Oscar Wilde, director Riccardo Massai (Festival di Spoleto 2009).
Although the main focus of Luca Scarzella’s work is producing video and images for stage productions he also has a large body of film work which, if commercial commissions are excluded, extends even further into the world of art.
In 1991 he won the Filmmaker Prize with the short film PASSAGGI. In 1993 he directed the documentary FLUXUS/ZAJ, a vote of recognition from the twenty artists involved, it was presented at the Venice Biennale. During this period he made numerous portrait documentaries with Studio Azzurro for the Fondazione Mudima about contemporary artists like Wolf Wostell, Nam June Paik, Yoko Ono, Pierre Arman and many others. Between 1995 and 1996 he made more than 30 works about art for TV, Canale 5, programs such as L'ANGELO and CORTO CIRCUITO. In 1998 and 1999 he made numerous documentaries about art for broadcast on Flash Raisat Art.
Recent works include: CICLICO GERUNDO document on the work of the artist Giuliano Mauri, L'EVOLUZIONE DELLA MATERIA dediacted to the English sculptor Tony Cragg, EXPÊRIMENTUM MUNDI video about the works of Giorgio Battistelli (finalist for the Prix Italia - Rai), L'EBREO CHE RIDE about the work of Moni Ovadia for the publishing house Einaudi, and CARLO MARIA GIULINI – A PORTRAIT a documentary for Suisse Television about the great conductor. In 2004 and 2005 he made two works that straddle dance and art, CODICE APERTO with the choreographer Enzo Procopio which was singled out in numerous international festivals, and VARANAM ON NAVA RASA an exploration of Bharatanantyan, a ritual dance form in the south of India, with the dancer Nuria Sala Grau. In 2008 he directs and produces INTEGRA - FUSING MUSIC AND TECHNOLOGY, a DVD for a European project commissioned by the Conservatory of Birmingham that focuses on development of new technologies in electronic music and acoustic instruments during live performances in contemporary music. |
