Hans Werner Henze

On the 28th of March 2017, Amici della Scala paid tribute to a great 20th century composer, deeply tied to our country: Hans Werner Henze. The opportunity arose from a new edition of Bohemian Fifths (“Canti di Viaggio” in the Italian version), curated by Gastón Fournier-Facio: a biographical memoir in which the composer, with passion and irony, recounts his artistic as well as personal journey. After the presentation made by Gastón Fournier-Facio (whose arrival in Italy, to collaborate with Montepulciano’s Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte, happened thanks to Henze), more speeches followed: by Michael Kerstan, who had known Henze for a long time, by the young scholar Elena Minetti and by musicologist Enzo Restagno (who we see in the picture with the composer, during a meeting in our offices in 1991). During the presentation, an emotional video, shot in the Maestro’s Tuscan residence on the occasion of his 80th birthday, was also shown.