Tigre Reale

Sublimely sensual and wildly subversive at its time of release, we present Tigre Reale (The Royal Tigress), the early silent gem that shot Italian diva Pina Menichelli to stardom, with a special live accompaniment performed by Stefano Maccagno (piano) and Furio Di Castri (double-bass). Menichelli plays Natka, a Russian countess with a troublesome past, who has made a reputation for herself as a notorious flirt and ruthless maneater. When dashing young Italian diplomat Giorgio La Ferlita falls victim to her wiles, Natka and Ferlita embark upon a relationship colored by secrecy and obsession. Unable to reconcile her love for Ferlita with her own tawdry past, their relationship seems doomed from the start, with their nascent romance spiraling rapidly into the territories of jealousy, infidelity, and violence. This unrestrained feature epitomizes the Italian silent melodrama and dazzles with a live score. (Giovanni Pastrone, Italy, 1916, 80 min., 35mm) 

Presented by Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Logan Center for the Arts, and Film Studies Center, with support from Romance Languages and Literatures. 35mm print courtesy of the Museo Nazionale del Cinema. 

Stefano Maccagno is the official composer of the National Cinema Museum of Turin, for which he has composed and orchestrated the music for numerous silent cinema masterpieces including Cabiria, Tigre Reale, Maciste, The Whispering Chorus, and Blood and Sand. He has collaborated as soundtrack composer with the Italian National Film Archive in Milan and has been pianist accompanist of the biggest masterpieces of silent cinema at Cannes Film Festival, Bologna international film festival Il Cinema Ritrovato, Lumiere Festival in Lyon Pordenone Silent Film Days, Cinémathèque Française and Tokyo National Film Center.  

Furio Di Castri is a self-taught double bassist who recorded his first album in 1973 at the age of 17. In over a 50-year career, Di Castri has recorded on over 200 albums and toured the globe, performing with many of the greatest jazz musicians alive, including Chet Baker and Pharoah Sanders. Since 2000, he had dedicated himself to his own projects, composing for orchestras, dance, theatre and contemporary art performances. From 2012 to 2016 he was the artistic director of Torino Fringe Jazz Festival (TJF Fringe) and in 2017 he directed the first edition of Firenze Jazz Fringe Festival.