"L'Inferno" (1911): Jazz Concert and Film Screening

• Event Date: Sunday, May 7, 2023
• Time: 7:00 pm–8:30 pm (CDT)
• Location: Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL
• Cost: Free

• Film

The European Union Center, Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago, Center for Advanced Study, and Spurlock Museum present a screening of the groundbreaking 1911 silent film "L'Inferno," accompanied live by pianist Stefano Maccagno and double bassist Furio Di Castri on the mesmerizing musical score composed by Maestro Maccagno. This event is free and open to the public. Guests may RSVP (external link). RSVPing is optional, but appreciated.

About the Film

"L'Inferno" is a 1911 Italian silent film, loosely adapted from the first canticle of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. The movie took over three years to make, and was the first full-length Italian feature film ever produced. L'Inferno's depictions of Hell closely followed those in the engravings of Gustave Doré for an edition of the Divine Comedy, which were familiar to an international audience. The movie production also employed several special effects, some of which were considered groundbreaking at the time, establishing the movie as a leader in innovation of cinematic techniques.

Furio Di Castri

Furio di Castri is a self-taught double bassist. He recorded his first album in 1973 (Dedalus – Trident rec.) at the age of 17. After living in Tunisia, he moved to Rome in 1978 where he played with the Maurizio Giammarco and Massimo Urbani bands. From 1979 to 1981, he played as a sideman with Chet Baker, Art Farmer, Walter Davis Jr, Jimmy Knepper, Freddie Hubbard, Al Grey, Franco d’Andrea, Tete Montoliu, Sal Nistico, Enrico Pieranunzi, Dave Samuels. Throughout the 80s’ he was part of the Enrico Rava quartet and Michel Petrucciani trio and took part in international tours and concerts with Dino Saluzzi, Joe Henderson, Chet Baker, John Taylor, Steve Lacy, Lee Konitz, Paul Motian, Joe Lovano, Pharoah Sanders, Charles Lloyd, Ray Anderson, Daniel Humair, John Abercrombie, Cristian Escoudè, Philip Catherine, Aldo Romano, Franco d’Andrea. In the 90s’ he played with Richard Galliano, Paul Bley, John Surman, John Taylor, Kenny Wheeler, Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano, Andy Sheppard, Paul Motian, John Scofield, Nguyen Le, Franco Ambrosetti, Antonello Salis, Stefano Bollani, Uri Caine. He has collaborated with Paolo Fresu for over 20 years. Since 2000, he has dedicated himself to his own projects and to composition for orchestras, dance, theatre and contemporary art performances. Since 2001 he has been a professor in double bass at the Jazz Department of Turin Music Conservatory.

Stefano Maccagno

Stefano Maccagno is a pianist, composer, conductor, professor of improvisation, orchestration, composition and orchestration of music for images. He is the official composer of the National Cinema Museum of Turin, for which he has composed and orchestrated the music for numerous silent cinema masterpieces including Cabiria, Royal Tiger, Maciste, The Whispering Chorus, Blood and Sand. He has collaborated as soundtrack composer with the "Italian National Film Archive" in Milan. He has been pianist accompanist of the biggest masterpieces of silent cinema at Cannes Film Festival, Bologna international film festival Il Cinema Ritrovato, Lumiere Festival in Lyon Pordenone Silent Film Days, Cinémathèque Française and Tokyo National Film Center. On commission of the Teatro dell'Opera di Florence he wrote a composition for a large symphony orchestra on music by Led Zeppelin performed by the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra, which he directed himself at the Teatro dell'Opera in Florence. He has composed the music score for Susanna Nicchiarelli’s "Nico, 1988", recording with actress Trine Dirholm (best actress award at Berlinale 2017). He is the official pianist of the Cabiria restoration project, which has accompanied at Cannes and Berlin film festivals as well as in Belgrade, Budapest, Lyon, Luxembourg, Madrid, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Tokyo, Vancouver.

Download Event Flyer (PDF) Download L'Inferno Intro Sheet (PDF)