In 2004, with extraordinary public acclaim, L’acqua e la neve was produced, the first DVD in the newly launched series dedicated to the major exhibitions organized by Linea d’ombra. The magic of animated images is combined with a carefully measured fusion of poetry and music, evoking the exhibitions Gli impressionisti e la neve and Monet, la Senna, le ninfee through suggestive storytelling.
In 2005, the DVD dedicated to Gauguin-Van Gogh was released. In addition to a chapter featuring three-dimensional animation of the artworks, it included a series of short narratives in which Marco Goldin, with the help of an actor and “inside” the artwork, critically explains their creation and historical significance.
From 2005 onward, Marco Goldin also conceived theatrical performances that toured major Italian theaters to promote the exhibitions. That year saw Lontano il mondo, a one-act play written by Goldin and performed by Sandro Buzzatti and Gilberto Colla, who also directed the piece. This performance was later adapted into a DVD of the same name and the CD L’immensa notte, which gathers music composed for the occasion by Maestro Paolo Troncon.
In 2006, the project, entitled L’abitudine della luce, became even more ambitious, taking the form of a multidisciplinary show. The visual direction was entrusted to Fabio Massimo Iaquone, while set design and costumes were created by Erminia Palmieri. Marco Goldin wrote a play, Di Corot e un cieco. Di Monet, performed by Sandro Buzzatti, Gilberto Colla, and Loriano Della Rocca. A highlight of the show was the participation of Antonella Ruggiero. For this extraordinary artist, Goldin composed eight songs inspired by the theme of landscape, with music arranged by Roberto Colombo. The pieces were performed live by the Arkè String Project, which also composed five musical pieces later included in the eponymous CD produced by Linea d’ombra Libri and Libera Music.
In 2007, on the occasion of the exhibition America! Stories of Painting from the New World, Marco Goldin commissioned Paolo Troncon, musician and director of the Conservatory of Castelfranco Veneto, to compose the original music, collected in the CD L’ora della sera, to accompany the themes of the Frontier and the Civil War, which were explored in two multimedia rooms along the exhibition route. The CD also features a new song written by Marco Goldin for Antonella Ruggiero, “La canzone del vento”. For the same exhibition, the eponymous DVD was produced with three distinct features: a detailed introduction to the exhibition by curator Marco Goldin, who explains its genesis, themes, protagonists, and sections; an evocative video, created by Masha Starec and Alessandro Trettenero, with three-dimensional animation of a significant selection of masterpieces from the exhibition; and, finally, an exceptional historical video of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, edited with archival footage and accompanied by a commentary situating this legendary figure. In 2008, this DVD won the award for Best Cinematography at the BrixenArt Film Festival in Bressanone.
At the end of 2010, the DVD Mediterraneo da Courbet a Monet a Matisse was released. Marco Goldin presents the exhibition in a live recording from an evening held in the magnificent Salone del Maggior Consiglio at the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa. On this occasion, the curator, together with an actor and two musicians, created one of his signature storytelling performances on painting, which in recent years have toured major Italian theaters to great public acclaim.
At the end of 2011, a new DVD was released, Van Gogh e il viaggio di Gauguin. Marco Goldin narrates the exhibition in a live recording of the new theatrical performance written by him, which toured major Italian theaters with the collaboration of three actors, three musicians, and a full string orchestra to promote the important Genoa exhibition. The DVD also includes a second part featuring additional contributions from the live performance recorded on 12 November 2011 at the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa, presented in the form of poetic readings accompanied by music
In September 2012, another DVD was produced, including the complete recording of the exhibition presentation Raffaello verso Picasso, held by Marco Goldin on 15 May at the Teatro Comunale in Vicenza before an audience of over 1,300 people. The event was a true performance, featuring two actors (Gilberto Colla and Loriano Della Rocca) interpreting Cantata per i tuoi occhi, an unpublished text by Marco Goldin with refrains set to music by Maestro Paolo Troncon, performed live by a six-piece ensemble with the extraordinary solo voice of Tosca and the choir Schola di San Rocco of Vicenza (directed by Maestro Francesco Erle). At the conclusion of the reading, Tosca performed the song specially composed by Goldin and Troncon, “Quello che sei”, continuing the theme of vision. The second part of the performance featured Marco Goldin presenting his passionate narrative on painting, enriched with three musical interludes composed for choir and orchestra by Goldin and Troncon.
In September 2013, the DVD Verso Monet – Marco Goldin racconta la mostra was produced, a complete recording of the presentation performance held on 8 May 2013 at the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, which was sold out. Over two and a half uninterrupted hours, Marco Goldin analyzed and explored the themes and protagonists of the exhibition, which included over one hundred works divided into five sections, first displayed at the Palazzo della Gran Guardia in Verona (26 October 2013 – 9 February 2014) and later at the Basilica Palladiana in Vicenza (22 February – 4 May 2014). The narration was introduced with a theatrical segment in which Gilberto Colla performed Di un amore, a text written for the occasion by Marco Goldin and opening the exhibition catalogue. During the reading, and in five other moments throughout the evening, Mauro Martello (flute), Renzo Ruggieri (accordion), and Piero Salvatori (cello) performed original compositions written for the event. Gilberto Colla also interwove the curator’s narrative with readings from the writings of Caspar David Friedrich, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, and Vincent van Gogh. As a special contribution, the DVD includes an additional thirty-minute video, recorded on 8 November 2012 at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, in which Gilberto Colla reads the story written by Marco Goldin, as a tribute to Christina Olson, the true muse of the American painter Andrew Wyeth.
In 2014, the DVD La ragazza con l’orecchino di perla was produced, containing the recording of the theatrical performance held at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna on 19 and 20 January 2014. The show was conceived, written, and directed by Marco Goldin, with the extraordinary participation of Franco Battiato, who composed the music and performed on stage alongside Alice and Francesca Michielin.
The DVD begins with Marco Goldin narrating the exhibition and its paintings, and continues with the theatrical performance itself, written by Goldin as a one-act play with music by Franco Battiato. Rather than focusing solely on Vermeer’s life, the performance explores the emotional and artistic inspiration behind the creation of La ragazza con l’orecchino di perla.
The theatrical action is composed of four scenes – from the beach at Scheveningen to Vermeer’s studio in Delft – linked by a recurring musical theme. Giulio Brogi plays Vermeer, imagined as existing in a world beyond life, from which he speaks. Other actors on stage are Gilberto Colla, Loriano Della Rocca, and Fiorenzo Fiorito, portraying characters encountered on the street, in a church, and at the market, respectively.
Goldin also envisioned and staged a dialogue with the painting’s protagonist, imagined at two different moments in her life, interwoven with songs performed by the extraordinary voices of Alice and Francesca Michielin. This sung dialogue unfolds across various settings, suspended in time and space, against the backdrop of 17th-century Holland. The visual scenes were realized through evocative video creations by Fabio Massimo Iaquone, in collaboration with Luca Attilii, while Erminia Palmieri designed the sets and costumes. Light design was by Filipa Romeu. The entire performance is built around Franco Battiato’s magnificent music, which for this occasion was adapted from his original composition for the 2011 production Telesio, in collaboration with Maestro Carlo Boccadoro, who also performed on the piano and coordinated the musical ensemble. Battiato not only composed the music but also performed on stage with Alice, singing two pieces: “Nel mercato di Delft” and “Insieme nel mondo”, the latter closing the performance and serving as a final seal on Goldin’s narrative. The on-stage ensemble included Carlo Boccadoro on piano, Angelo Privitera on keyboards and programming, and The Modern String Quartet, composed of Cesare Carretta (first violin), Aldo Capicchioni (second violin), Aldo Zangheri (viola), and Enrico Guerzoni (cello). The sound engineer was Pino Pischetola. The show was produced in collaboration with International Music and Arts.
In September and October 2014, the exhibition Tutankhamun, Caravaggio, Van Gogh was presented by Marco Goldin through a genuine road show. Over ten dates in theaters across the main cities of northern Italy, the curator passionately shared the reasons behind the exhibition and introduced its protagonists. Thanks to a significant collaboration between the Municipality, the consortium “Vicenza è”, Linea d’ombra, the Vicenza Fair, the Chamber of Commerce, and main sponsor Segafredo Zanetti, an elegant structure was set up during the same days to showcase Vicenza’s cultural, touristic, and gastronomic excellence to the public.
The DVD Tutankhamun, Caravaggio, Van Gogh captures the presentation held at the Teatro Comunale “Mario del Monaco” in Treviso on 30 September 2014. Throughout the tour, Marco Goldin was joined on stage by Gilberto Colla, who read Il vecchio e la betulla (a text by Goldin himself) and Poesia del tramonto (Walt Whitman), as well as by three musicians who composed original music for the occasion: Mauro Martello (flute), Renzo Ruggieri (accordion), and Piero Salvatori (cello). On the Treviso date only, Paolo Troncon also performed, playing pieces by Ludwig van Beethoven and Frédéric Chopin on the piano.
From April 20 to May 5, 2016, the Generali Tour took place: Marco Goldin presents the exhibition Storie dell’impressionismo. In nine theaters, six thousand people attended the new narrative/performance conceived and directed by Marco Goldin. Each performance revolved around the stories behind the works that would later be displayed in the Treviso exhibition. Each evening, the curator offered unique insights and details, accompanied by the acting of two actors (Gilberto Colla and Sandro Buzzatti), who performed excerpts from the letters of Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Cézanne. Music played a decisive role, with original compositions created specifically for the project by Mauro Martello, Paolo Troncon, and Renzo Ruggieri. Martello and Ruggieri also performed as soloists (on flute and accordion, respectively), alongside Anna Campagnaro on cello. Troncon conducted the string ensemble of the “Agostino Steffani” Conservatory of Castelfranco Veneto live on stage. A key presence was singer-songwriter Massimo Bubola, author of many important songs in Italian music history, including works written for Fabrizio De André. For this occasion, together with Marco Goldin, he wrote the lyrics for two previously unpublished songs: Il futuro di una bambina, inspired by Renoir’s The Clown, and Storie della luna, inspired by Van Gogh’s Wheat Fields with Rising Moon. Bubola also composed the music for these songs and performed them live each evening on stage, accompanied by the soloists and the string ensemble. The performance concluded with an encore of his famous song Il cielo d’Irlanda, written in 1990 and later popularized by Fiorella Mannoia. A DVD documenting this tour was produced by Linea d’ombra in the autumn of 2016.
