• summer at MAXXI L'Aquila • talk + music Wilde come se
corte
free admission subject to availability
event in Italian
An in-depth look at Oscar Wilde’s personal and public life, exploring contemporary issues such as justice, individual freedom and the role of culture.
A central figure in late 19th-century European culture, Oscar Wilde embodies the power of art and the written word as instruments of freedom and provocation. A leading figure on the cultural scene of his time, Wilde became a symbol of brilliant, non-conformist intellect, but also a target of a rigid and repressive Victorian society.
Set in late 19th-century Victorian England, Roberto Ippolito’s book Wilde come se, published by Sem Feltrinelli, tells two stories that are worlds apart yet tragically destined to intersect: that of the young soldier Charles Thomas Wooldridge and that of Oscar Wilde. Both end up in Reading Gaol, a place that symbolises isolation and psychological annihilation. Here their lives brush against one another, united by their status as outcasts and by the violence of the judicial system. The prison experience leaves a deep mark on Wilde, who transforms his pain into writing, giving rise to an intense and desperate poetic testimony on justice and human suffering.
The evening is enhanced by musical accompaniment inspired by Oscar Wilde, featuring a vocal-piano duo performing selected works by Fauré, Debussy, Satie, R. Hahn, Elgar and Strauss.
speakers
Roberto Ippolito writer and journalist
Valentina Notarberardino author and cultural communications consultant
musical accompaniment
Seungyeon Ko soprano
Massimiliano Caporale piano
Under the patronage of the Municipality of L’Aquila and with the support of ALES. In collaboration with the “Alfredo Casella” Conservatory of Music.
