Images of great impact leap out from the billboards of Bologna: colours and forms that give info “flashes” on the plot of an Opera: who is behind this campaign?
We put a few questions to Maurizio Tarantino, Head of Communication and Marketing of the Bologna Municipal Theatre Foundation.
What is the goal of the campaign? Can you tell us about the concept?
"The image of the Opera 2025 season is more than just an illustration: we have imagined it a bit like a poster that tells of the soul of Bologna. Also this year, we relied on the talent of Riccardo Guasco, an artist who managed to restore a visual identity of great stylistic and communicative value to the Theatre's external relations.
This new visual concept is dedicated to the city, its symbols, its timeless beauty and its extraordinary cultural importance. The visual refers to an embrace: a symbolic embrace of the Two Towers, the porticoes and the music. But it is also an embrace of the community, the public and those who love Bologna.
At the centre of this visual narrative are the Two Towers, those silent witnesses of the history and
vicissitudes of Bologna, together with the porticoes, recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage site for their architectural uniqueness and ability to tell the story of a city that has always been open to the world. In particular, the portico of San Luca, with its grandeur and symbolic resonance, perfectly represents the link between the city and its inhabitants. What we would like to highlight is the close link between the tangible value of the monumental heritage and the intangible value of art and knowledge, the Bologna of the Two Towers and the porticoes and the Bologna 'UNESCO City of Music', a title that embodies the beating heart of the city: art and music.
Bologna is the city where music is not only heard, it is breathed. It is the city of Gioachino Rossini,
who lived here for many years and left an indelible mark, and of Gaetano Donizetti, who chose the
Stabat Mater Hall for the performance of the Requiem in memory of Rossini. It is here that Richard Wagner obtained Italian citizenship from Mayor Casarini, after the Italian debut of Lohengrin, which was staged for the first time at the Municipal Theatre. Bologna was the first Wagnerian theatre in Italy, and this link between the composer and the city marked an important page in the history of music. Not to mention Bologna as the city of songwriters: Morandi, Guccini, Bersani, Carboni, Cremonini, Neffa; the city’s great underground scene; up to the unforgettable works
staged by Lucio Dalla, or the upcoming jazz event in collaboration with Paolo Fresu, now
in preparation and starting on 28 March. The Municipal Theatre is a place where the past talks to the present, and where music becomes a bridge to the future.
It is an invitation to rediscover the Municipal Theatre, which with the Comunale Nouveau project is undergoing a transformation stage. But we are eagerly looking forward to returning to the splendid Bibiena Hall, one of the most beautiful and important halls in the world. Here we will continue to celebrate the Opera, our heritage, and the city that has been, and always will be, the centre of an extraordinary musical history.”
What is your target? Are you aiming beyond Bologna?
With this campaign our target is to bring the public ever closer to opera, especially through the Comunale Nouveau project. This transition period, although arising from contingent needs, has allowed us to make a leap in quality, not only artistic, but also in terms of accessibility. The goal is to expand our audience and work to involve population groups that can discover and appreciate the importance and attraction of the opera.
In the past we have undertaken initiatives that have brought young people and University of Bologna students closer to the Municipal Theatre, creating a key to opening up to the new generations. Now, with theComunale Nouveau, we are expanding this approach, offering schedules and formulas that give subsidised access, allowing a broader audience to experience live opera.
The image chosen for the Opera 2025 season is intended to awaken the collective imagination
of the city and to celebrate Bologna as a community with a strong historical and cultural identity. The campaign is aimed mainly at the people of Bologna, inviting them to rediscover the Municipal Theatre as shared cultural heritage, but is also geared towards tourists, who often pass under the Two Towers and can be attracted by the uniqueness of our theatre. Bologna is not just a city of great local value: it is an internationally recognised symbol of culture and music, and this
campaign intends to unite these two core identities, the popular and the global, and to enhance their
richness and meaning.
Riccardo Guasco has already proven to be a very effective interpreter of the Municipal image: how was this partnership born?
The choice of Riccardo Guasco as artist for the image of the Opera 2025 season is a partnership
that began in 2020 and is the result of a shared journey with Cheap OnBoard, a collective of
activists and avant-garde daredevils in the field of visual creativity, artistic and militant communication a sort of contemporary agit-prop arts group. Through this partnership, we have
had the opportunity to meet several artists who could visually represent the Municipal Theatre.
In 2017, for example, we collaborated with Riccardo Tozzi, creating a calligraphy-based graphic concept, which was a great success. The following year, we worked with Alice Pasquini, one of the great Italian street artists, for the campaign 'L'Opera è Donna'. This project, entirely dedicated to street art, got a number of passionate and even very young people involved. It was so successful that some posters were even “stolen” by students in Via Indipendenza, an episode that made us smile.
Next, we chose Riccardo Guasco, whose talent led us to establish an ongoing collaboration in the following years. Guasco has an extraordinary ability to express all the key elements of an opera in a single image: from characters, to props, to symbols. Every detail is taken care of, be it a sword, a cloth or a castle, as in the case of his work for 'Lucia di Lammermoor'. In a few strokes, Guasco manages to transmit the deep sense of an opera, combining symbolic elements, characters and settings in a single dynamic and harmonious composition. We then enriched the project withStefano Meazza, another great creative with whom we collaborate on an ongoing basis. As soon as I saw the sketches of Riccardo Guasco's works, I sensed that their style was perfect for short, incisive animated narratives. This partnership with Riccardo and Stefano allows us to tell the story of the operas in a few seconds through animations thatcapture and convey the heart and soul of each opera. In fact, one of the most appreciated aspects of his style is precisely the dynamism of the forms, which recall Futurism. His work is distinctive for the use of intersecting planes and intense colours that create images to capture the eye, in life and online. This reference to Futurism has been noted by many of our subscribers and tourists, who find his posters irresistible. They often stop to look at them closely.
The choice of Guasco was driven by several factors: the uniqueness of his style, his great
renown (he is one of the top graphic designers not only in Italy but also internationally) and above all, his incredible ability to convey a work through visual art and to arouse the viewer's curiosity. This approach not only communicates the essence of the opera, but draws observers in to find out more.
Since we started working with Riccardo Guasco, his creations have always obtained unanimous approval. Personally, I don't remember a single negative criticism of him, and this is an
extraordinary result, considering how normal it is for visuals to generate discussion and conflicting
opinions. His ability to win everyone over is one of the reasons we continue to choose him year after year.
We thank Maurizio Tarantino for answering our questions and for giving us some images by Riccardo Guasco, whom we hope to interview in the not too distant future.
At this URL you will find a video showing an animated sequence of illustrations for the operas in the programme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dGYCRu2J-E
And here is an animation video featuring porticoes and towers: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mcchtx49zqc0mlm0f0xhr/2025-locandina.mp4?rlkey=crq3pm5ejodiyfgkqgb3isle3&e=1&st=b3ysc2cl&dl=0
Immagine di Riccardo Guasco