The Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello music school in Venice, together with the Lagoon City's Academy of Fine Arts and 14 other Italian conservatories and institutes, has presented 'The Euphoria of Flight', an opera celebrating the bond between Italy and Japan through the dream of flying, at the Festival Station as part of the Italy Pavilion's program at Expo 2025 Osaka.
    The opera features three acts which are connected by a story embracing different historical periods.
    The first scene takes place as a dying Leonardo da Vinci leaves his drawings and studies on flying machines to his trusted pupil Francesco Melzi.
    The drawings, which embody the Renaissance genius's fascination with flight and his desire to conquer the sky, become the cornerstone of an enduring legacy.
    The second scene is set in 16th-century Venice, in the sitting room of courtier Veronica Franco.
    Three Japanese princes who are part of the first diplomatic mission to Europe led by Ito Mancio are awaiting the return of a member of their group from Milan.
    They would like to buy Leonardo's drawings after hearing about them during a journey that took them to Rome, Florence and Bologna.
    The last scene evokes the so-called Rome-Tokyo Raid, an air expedition carried out in 1920 by Italian pilot Arturo Ferrarin.
    In Tokyo, the aviator was welcomed by a cheering crowd and celebrated by the Italian ambassador and a top Japanese official.
    Ferrarin's flight represented the realization of Leonardo's dream and the opera ends with the sealing of an alliance between Italy and Japan, joined by the common desire to explore new frontiers, both in the sky and on the ground.
    Ito Mancio, Ferrarin and Leonardo are all protagonists at the Italy Pavilion.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA