Palestrina - Prince of Music is an Italian/German 2009 music film directed by Georg Brintrup. The subject is the life and music of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (ca.1525-1594), a famous 16th-century Italian Renaissance composer of sacred music, which is included in the Roman School. Filmed in March 2009 on locations mainly in and around L'Aquila and Rome, most of the ancient buildings and historical interiors in the city of L'Aquila were destroyed by the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, only a few days after the end of shooting. Palestrina’s music in the film is directed by Flavio Colusso and the Roman Ensemble Seicentonovecento. The film was also titled The Liberation of Music or Die Befreiung der Musik when released in Germany.
Plot “To achieve artistic and economic independence, Palestrina works with great diplomacy in the shadow of the powerful Roman Catholic Church. Despite strict ecclesiastical rules, he succeeds in modernizing music.” press communication Arte: Palestrina - Fürst der Musik
The film starts with the death of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina in 1594. Afterwards his son, Iginio, some of his students and colleagues, members of the Cappella Giulia (Julian Chapel) at St. Peter's Basilica, and also members of the Roman clergy give their personal statements or testimony on Palestrina’s life and career: from his childhood, when he is trained as a choir-boy in the circle of the "Roman School" of polyphony founded by Costanzo Festa, to the peak of his career, when the plague and an influenza epidemic caused the death of his two oldest sons and his wife.
These testimonies show Palestrina as a Renaissance artist who takes his destiny into his own hands and maintains his artistic independence in the midst of the Roman clergy. He developed a new style in polyphonic art, the genus novus with a balance between word and sound, in which all voices are separate and independent from each other. Palestrina finally liberates music from the word. In this style he composes the famous Missa Papae Marcelli, which, after the Council of Trent, becomes the model for sacred music.
After having lost his two sons and his wife, the testimonies reveal with the wink of an eye, that Palestrina, instead of taking holy orders, decided to marry a wealthy widow, enabling him to afford the publication of all his scores.
Palestrina’s music is presented in the film by the Roman ‘Ensemble Seicentonovecento’, conducted by maestro Flavio Colusso.
Cast Domenico Galasso as Iginio Renato Scarpa as Monsignore Cotta Remo Remotti as Philip Neri Giorgio Colangeli as L. Barré Stefano Oppedisano as Annibale Claudio Marchione as Cristoforo Achille Brugnini as Giacchino Franco Nero as D. Ferrabosco Pasquale di Filippo as G. Severini Bartolomeo Giusti as old Palestrina Daniele Giuliani as young Palestrina Patrizia Bellezza as Virginia Dormuli Francesca Catenacci as Lucrezia Gori
Release and reception Palestrina - Prince of Music premiered at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome on November 15, 2009 It was then shown at "Prix International du Documentaire e du Reportage Mediterraneen" - 15th edition, at the 11th International Television Festival ECO, Ohrid Macedonia, at AsoloArtFilmfestival, at Golden Prague International Television Festival 2010, at L´Aquila International Film Festival, L´Aquila Italy 2010, and at FIFA (Festival international du film sur l'art), Montreal, Canada 2011.Onirique, celeste, divin, c' est Palestrina published by Martin Prevost March 22, 2011
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