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SURTITLES IN TWO LANGUAGES AT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES

At the Arena di Verona, the largest open-air theater in Europe, with a capacity of 15,000 seats, the surtitling service has been set up for the first time and moreover in two languages (Italian and English).

The MAECI – the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation – has granted 2,000 euros to the Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies and the Italian Program at Montclair State University, USA, for the further expansion of its sur-titling project (2015 and 2016) to be conducted by students and faculty on MSU campus in collaboration with the Italian sur-titling agency Prescott Studio.

After two years of synergetic work with Prescott, including the creation of sur-titles for the Piccolo Teatro (Milan), the Opera di Roma, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Terme di Caracalla (Rome), and a summer internship in Florence, students of Italian at MSU will have further opportunities to learn about the art of sur-titling for live theater and to strengthen their translation skills thanks to this translation incentives program.

The grant is being used to finance specific productions included in the 2016-2017 calendar of the Opera di Firenze and the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, which will be presented to an international audience with both English and Italian sur-titles. The calendar includes the following operas:

Opera di Firenze
Semiramide
by Gioachino Rossini, debuting on Sept. 27, 2016
Rosmonda d’Inghilterra (Rosamund of England)
by Gaetano Donizetti, debuting on Oct. 9, 2016

Opera di Roma
Maria Stuarda (Mary Stuart)
by Gaetano Donizetti, debuting on March 22, 2017
Andrea Chénier
by Umberto Giordano, debuting on April 21, 2017

«This is a meaningful recognition for two reasons» – said Teresa Fiore (Inserra Chair), one of the two co-PI’s. «On the one hand, it marks a first time in the funding of surtitles within the translation grant program run by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. They had previously funded subtitles for cinema but not surtitles. This is an expression of trust for the important work of internationalization of Italian culture provided by surtitles. On the other hand, the mini-grant is also a recognition of the two-year-long project carried out in the field of audiovisual translation by the Italian Program with the support of the Inserra Chair».

Co-PI Dr. Marisa Trubiano concluded: «We are thrilled that the Italian government has recognized the work being done at Montclair State University in the field of Italian and audiovisual translation. This is a growing and dynamic field for our majors, and they are getting the unique pre-professional experiences needed to excel in it».

The Translating Voices Across Continents (Milano Expo 2015) project was also included in a recent video presented by Prescott Studio in Florence. It features interviews with Dr. Teresa Fiore (Inserra Chair) and Dr. Marisa Trubiano (Associate Prof. of Italian) among those of major artists and experts in the field ranging from orchestra conductor Zubin Mehta and Prescott Studio director Mauro Conti.

Link interni
> A Complex Art of Simplicity – Video
> The Art of Compromise
> Inserra Chair

Multilingual surtitles play a fundamental role in the current climate of cultural internationalization, making it possible for audiences with mixed linguistic and cultural heritages to appreciate cosmopolitan theatre events, such as works of the Western opera tradition.

International audiences and productions require partnerships based on equally widening horizons, in order to achieve a linguistic mediation that is suitable to its cosmopolitan context. This is exactly what we have accomplished, by carefully coordinating the best resources of important cultural realities, both in the private and public sphere.

The partnership that has been forged among specialized societies (Prescott Studio), academic institutions (Inserra Chair and Italian Program – Montclair State University, USA) and research centres (ICAMus, USA) in 2016 alone has made possible a higher-standard English version of 34 opera productions, all presented in Italy with surtitles in two languages (Italian and English).

Furthermore, the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation (MAECI) has acknowledged the importance of this collaboration, granting funding to the Inserra Chair (Montclair State University, USA) for the translation of rarer works of the Italian opera repertoire. The intention of the MAECI is to favour and advance the diffusion of such works among English language audiences and audiences that use the English language as a key to access different cultures.

A particularly innovative aspect of the collaboration with the Inserra Chair and Italian Program is the training of young translators through academic courses and international internships. Under the supervision of a tutor and in collaboration with Prescott Studio, students learn new translation strategies and study the complexities of linguistic mediation for live performance.

Inserra Chair (Montclair State University) – Professor Teresa Fiore
Italian Program (Montclair State University) – Professor Marisa Trubiano
ICAMus – Director Aloma Bardi

> Summer Internship in Florence Surtitling for Performing Arts Festivals
> The Italian Translation Curriculum and Internship Project

This synergy is the extension of a previous project linked to Milano Expo 2015.

January- December 2016
12 months of productions with surtitles in two languages (Italian and English)

Prescott Studio at work, rehearsing surtitles in two languages for Iolanta by Čajkovskij (Florence, April 2016).
From the left: Stefano Bozolo (music consultant), Isabella Babbucci (production), Mauro Conti (director), Alessia Carboni (organization).

Surtitling – A Complex Art of Simplicity

10 video testimonies on the occasion of the staging of «Iolanta» by Čajkovskij
79th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino 2016
Florence, Opera di Firenze – 28, 30 April, 3, 5 May 2016

30 years ago, in 1986, a new literary genre – conceived in Canada back in 1983 – began to establish itself in Europe: surtitles – a technical and educational device inspired by the subtitles used in video productions, but designed specifically for the live performing arts. Due to the instinct of Zubin Mehta, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino was the first festival on the old continent to put this system successfully into practice for the opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Sergio Sablich signed the first memorable literary adaptation for the Italian audience. Since then, Florence has developed a unique school in this particular field of audio-visual translation. In 1987, thanks to Giorgio Vidusso, at the time manager of the Maggio, Mauro Conti had the opportunity to pick up the baton from Sergio Sablich as an author of surtitles, and in 1996 he founded Prescott Studio, a society that for 20 years (with 1,100 productions, 360 authors, and 140 venues to its credit) has offered an unparalleled example of linguistic mediation for the theatre. This anniversary, marking 30 years of surtitles in Europe (1986-2016) and 20 years of Prescott Studio (1996-2016) prompted Mauro Conti’s idea to put together, in collaboration with Cristiano Bacchi, 10 video testimonials with the intention of recounting and evaluating the journey made so far. The resulting 12-minute video – A Complex Art of Simplicity – features, along with Zubin Mehta, executives of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, members of Prescott Studio and specialists from US academic institutions associated with Prescott (Montclair State University and ICAMus). Enjoy this video!

Иоланта | Iolant
Music Pëtr Il’ič Čajkovskij