The 2020 Festival has Closed
Thank you to all involved
for making it so successful
Rapsodia Satanica (1915)
Rare screening of this classic film with
Mascagni's complete original score
framed with alternate music scores at
University of West London, Weston Hall
St Mary's Road, Ealing W5 5RF
7.30pm on Wednesday 12th
Online ticket sales for this event are now closed;
please still come and pay cash-on-the-door
Rapsodia Satanica was the last film directed by Nino Oxilia and is undoubtedly one of the finest achievements of the early Italian silent films. In it, Oxilia spins a variation on the Faust myth based on poems by Fausto Maria Martini, embodied by the vampish diva Lyda Borelli, one of the era's favourite silent film actresses.
Pietro Mascagni wrote his only film music for the film and conducted the first performance in July 1917.
The evening will be a rare opportunity to hear Mascagni’s score – alongside alternative soundtracks composed by University of West London, London College of Music composition students. Students will explore different compositional techniques for creating an atmospheric narrative.
Rapsodia Satanica will be presented on screen in a new digital edition
thanks to the restoration by Cineteca di Bologna and the Cinémathèque Suisse