Events of the Italy Network

Program:

13.00 Welcome

1.05 p.m. - 1.50 p.m. Prof. Dr. Martina Sitt and Jan Eining (University of Kassel) in conversation about: The great era of Italian opera in Kassel

13.50-14.35 PD Dr. Richard Erkens (German Study Center in Venice)

Once and never again? Opera buffa in Kassel or La Frascatana from 1779

14.35-15.00 Break

15.00-15.30

The Italian class Q2 of the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Schule Frankfurt:
"La libertà si coltiva con la memoria - On the murder of Italian forced laborers in Kassel on March 31, 1945".

15.30 - 16.00 International study experiences: Erasmus students from Italy at the University of Kassel

16.00 Closing remarks and drinks

The 11th Italy Day at the University of Kassel will examine the very different traces of Italy in Kassel. The first two lectures will focus on music and art history. Martina Sitt and Jan Eining (University of Kassel) will focus on famous singers and successful musicians in the heyday of Italian opera in Kassel 1763-1776. They will talk about the musicians and their living conditions, the music and the libretti and musical models on which it was based, their relationship to Dresden and the ephemeral stage sets of the impressive performances. Kassel is not usually associated with Italian comic opera, but Giovanni Paisiello's successful Venetian opera La Frascatana made it to the Kassel court theater in March 1779, possibly the only musical comedy of the 18th century. Richard Erkens (German Study Center in Venice) sheds light on the production-historical conditions of this one-off production against an international horizon and discusses the crucial question of the extent to which we can speak of a "once and never again".

The fact that the history of Italians in Kassel has very painful aspects is shown by the remembrance work of the Italian class Q2 of the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Schule Frankfurt. It dealt with the murder of Italian forced laborers in Kassel on March 31, 1945. In a multimedia presentation (directed by Alina Vracan and Marco Lefeld), the events of March 31, 1945 are examined for their significance beyond the purely historical. In some cases, very individual, surprising and moving perspectives emerge, which illustrate how original formats of historical remembrance work can lead to lasting insights. A final item on the program takes us into the present: three students from the "Languages, Literatures and Cultures" course at the University of Verona, who are currently studying at the University of Kassel as part of an exchange program, will present the key differences between the German and Italian higher education systems. As part of their contribution, they will talk about their relationship to the German language and their experiences in Kassel to date.

On October 18, Italicum students took part in the Frankfurt Book Fair in Frankfurt, where Italy was this year's guest country! They attended a reading by the Abruzzese writer Donatella Di Pietrantonio, whose book "L'Età fragile" (in German "Die zerbrechliche Zeit") was published by Verlag Kunstmann. They also had the opportunity to talk to the translator Klaudia Ruschkowski, thanks to the collaboration with the Römerweg publishing house. An unforgettable experience, organized by Jacopo Romei and Julia Leitherer!