Concert of the Capodistrian Mandolin and the MO Euterpe

An international musical meeting in which the Slovenian Mandolinistica Capodistriana from Koper/Capodistria, conducted by Sergio Zigiotti, and the Mandolin Orchestra "Euterpe" from Bolzano conducted by Ugo Orrigo will perform.

MANDOLINISTICA CAPODISTRIANA

The establishment of the original nucleus of the mandolin group dates back to the early years of the activities of the Italian Popular Culture Club Antonio Gramsci in Koper. Between the 1940s and 1950s, a mandolin group was formed within the framework of the Italian Cultural Circle, consisting of a dozen instrumentalists directed by maestro Antonio Pesaro, which successfully performed at various artistic-cultural events. Beginning in the second half of the 1950s, the new director Matteo Scocir (1906-1983) embarked on a course of restructuring the staff and rejuvenating the mandolin ensemble through the inclusion of young Italian schoolchildren and high-school students from among those still remaining after the exodus that involved much of the native Italian population. The new mandolin ensemble initially operated under the name Euterpe Youth Orchestra, later to take on the name of Capodistrian Plectrum Orchestra, while the more popular appellation of Mandolinistica capodistriana was retained over the years.
Upon the death of Maestro Matteo Scocir in 1983, the orchestra ceased its activity, only to resume it after a thirty-year period, with the establishment of the renewed Mandolinistica Capodistriana, into which several elements formed under the guidance of Maestro Scocir and already active in the previous ensemble converged, to which new members were added over time. The new musical project took off under the leadership of Marino Orlando (1949-2018), promoter of this initiative within the Community of Italians “Santorio Santorio” in Koper. In addition to following the musical improvement of individual instrumentalists, Orlando himself collected and adapted a large repertoire, derived largely from the legacy of Maestro Scocir, revived with the introduction of new pieces closer to the modern sensibility of the public. Over the years, mandolin activity has been revived through numerous concerts, radio and television broadcasts and participation in music festivals, as well as established collaborations with other orchestras at home and abroad.
After a change in the orchestra's leadership due to the untimely death of conductor Marino Orlando, the musical and artistic direction was taken over in 2019 by Sergio Zigiotti, a talented soloist and chamber musician with several Italian musical groups and director of the Caput Gauri Plectrum Orchestra, which is dedicated to the enhancement of the original mandolin repertoire. On the occasion of its first decade of activity (2012-2022), Mandolinistica capodistriana released its first album, which includes pieces from its traditional repertoire.
In the last five years of its activity, the repertoire of the Capodistriana Mandolin Orchestra has sulldered on the indelible imprint left by the previous masters. The already abundant endowment of pieces, mostly transcriptions made by the masters themselves or obtained from historical journals in the field, selected from the best-known compositions from the folk, operatic and symphonic traditions, soundtracks, Andalusian and South American folklore, has been further enriched with original compositions, that is, scores conceived and composed for plucked-instrument ensembles. These types of pieces have a musical effectiveness that arrangements from other repertoires can hardly achieve. The new transcriptions have also been made with great rigor, based on the idiomatic characteristics of the instruments in the ensemble.
The wide repertoire allows for different types of musical programs, which manage to adapt with great versatility to different situations and needs. The inclusion of new orchestral players has improved the sonic depth, achieving, during the numerous concert performances, a remarkable acoustic impact.