Official Bee Gees Fan Club – GSI

At first our plan was to visit this Italian premiere with our Italian and German friends but unfortunately we couldn’t go and will see another premiere soon. However, thanks to my friends, I will be able to report on GSI about this special event anyway. In the afternoon the crew was still very busy building up the hall for the premiere but our German friends could take a quick look inside already. My friends from Germany, Anja and Detlef as well as Gerlinde and Rudiger were already at the hall that evening at around six. Lateron Enzo of the Italian website/facebookpage arrived and some more fans and shortly before the hall opened, my Italian friends arrived: The Egiziano brothers: Walter, Davide and Pasquale (a.k.a. The Italian Bee Gees) with Roberto (the keyboard player of their band) and their friend Mario.

Dwina Gibb and son Robin John arrived shortly before eight, so not really time to have a chance to meet but….. there finally were some few minutes to have a chat in the VIP area of the hall before the start of the show which was of course very exciting. There was a chance to take some photos which was very nice. My friends had also a chance to talk to the director of the event Mr. G. Raffa who told about the making of this production and that it took them over a year and also some parts of the original performance of 2012 in London had been used but unfortunately in London then the hologram effects didn’t work. One of my Italian friends Davide Egiziano some years ago already had a meeting with Mr. Raffa in Rome. Together with an audience of over 1500 people, they then saw the premiere show in the Palamazzola venue. The concert lasted a little over one and a half hour and it was a performance without a break.

             
It was about 21.15 when the 4 dimensional stage was ready as well as the orchestra and the choir and at that time the presenter of the evening Matthew Schinaia, director of TarantoEventi.it started to introduce the event which, like he mentioned, would be the first of an international tour that will be going to visit several Italian cities and some major European capitals. Then he invited on stage Robin John, who was accompanied by interpreter Ilaria. He was emotional of course and thanked the audience and started to describe what, shortly thereafter, the audience would be about to see. It’s been a job consisting of feeling and love and passion for the music. The way you can only find in a father son relation. Applause by the audience.

 Photo report  (8 images)
             
Then the concert started with the song Triumph, which retraced the steps of the construction of Titanic, a wonder of the industrial revolution which goes back about 100 years. In the composition, clearly the use of the Tridentine Mass was heard, to represent communication and interaction and the many people who made possible the construction of this luxurious boat. In Farewell, Robin and Robin John describe the phase of embarking on the ship. Dozens of extras make it even more real. The virtuality of 4D seems to make it tangible to the public. The ship as an icon of salvation: an icon that, shortly thereafter, will be for passengers traveling to oblivion. The travel on the Atlantic Ocean began: in Maiden Voyage you can almost smell the open sea and the sounds of waves and seagulls flying around the Titanic. It’s like being on board, reliving those emotions. New York Suite translates the joy for the passengers of going to see the New World for the first time, the largest business city of the world. In Sub Astris, it’s all about happiness, light and joy. Nice rooms and shiny jewels worn by beautiful women. But the tragedy is lurking in the Kyrie and the ship comes in the fog and then in an iceberg destined to ruin dreams and plans of thousands of people. “We put together Introit and Kyrie of the Requiem Mass in Latin to express the moment as extremely dramatic,” explains Robin John Gibb.

A successful experiment in Palamazzola, salt pathos mixed with dismay. Feelings well transmitted also by Sos: confusion, disbelief and panic. This piece was adapted from a piece called Cyprus, written by the son of Bee Gee Robin Gibb and inspired by the ghost town of Famagusta. Soon the passengers realize that there are not enough lifeboats for everyone, and in Distress, which is part of the sequence in Messa Da Requiem, you relive those moments where the people try to survive. Salvation is based on the strong fit between the harrowing images of the search for survivors and a melancholy melody, the same can be found in Reflections, through whose notes the shock of the tragedy seems to involve the viewer. Even through her tears, however, there is always room for love. In Daybreak one of two lovers dancing on the ship aware that their love goes beyond death Christmas Day about a child who lost his father, revises into a star in the sky that has watched over her in the tragedy. Libera Me tells the liberation of souls: the sumptuous music describes the antithesis between the ascent to heaven of the same and the disastrous fall of the Titanic at the bottom of the ocean. Resignation gives way to fear and sadness. Eternity, however, is the theme of Do Not Cry Alone: a man, died at sea, using his soul to encourage his lover, telling her not to cry because you will never be alone, his spirit will be with her. It was the original song by Robin Gibb himself which you could hear. The grand denouement occurs with In Paradisum, the end of the Requiem Mass, the blessing of souls ready to ascend to heaven.

Followed by a number of favourite photos of the Gibb Family in memory of Robin, who keeps alive thanks to these images and his musical work with son Robin John. The whole show was spectacular and the dance, solo performances and the special effects like the hologram views gave you the idea of being right in the story. “The end”. not really!! Fifteen hundred people standing, eleven minutes of applause followed then by Robin John returning on stage, this time with his mother Dwina. Right after the standing ovation for the whole cast. All the artist working on this Titanic Live Concert made the project unforgettable. As well as all the people working behind the stage to make this project possible. The solo performers of this show probably will also travel with the show abroad. The orchestra will most likely be formed by musicians in the next countries the Titanic show will visit after Italy. Last but not least it’s good to know that part of the sales will be donated to the Alzheimer project (l’Associazione Falanthra dei presidenti Cesare Natale e Daniela Lelli), promotors of the event. Conclusion: an extraordinary artistic event in which joy, sorrow and resignation have turned in their highest form of art, in hope and love.

After the show there was a chance to have a talk with other guests and the actors and singers and of course to drink and eat something.

                     
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Marion / GSI, October 2015.