A.Toniutti - John Cage, Sounds of Venice, for solo television performer, 1959

solo performer/Agnese Toniutti
direction/Veniero Rizzardi
sound projection/Paolo Zavagna
technical and logistic support/Claudio Bellini, Giovanni Dinello and Riccardo Sellan
video shooting/Claudia Chiggio, Roberto Tonon
video editing/Alberta Ziche

thanks to
Edition Peters
Casa Musicale Sonzogno di Piero Ostali, Milano

Venezia, Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello, 26 Maggio 2018

In 1959 John Cage was in Italy. Some Italian composer friends suggested him to partecipate as a mushroom expert to the popular tv quiz “Lascia o raddoppia” led by Mike Bongiorno (here more info in Italian and English). For the occasion he wrote and premiered “Water Walk” and “Sounds of Venice”, for solo television performer. One year later he performed Water Walk again in United States, at the TV show “I’ve Got A Secret” – with some last-minute changes in the original score due to a trade union strike.
Unfortunately the video of RAI Radio Televisione Italiana with the first performance is not available anymore.
In 2018 I performed in Venice and then in Art Park Verzegnis both “Water Walk” and “Sounds of Venice”, in collaboration with the European project Ecouter le monde, led by RFI and an international network of cultural stakeholders. www.agnesetoniutti.com