Respite from a cold January afternoon

On January 14, 2018 at Grace Episcopal Church in Madison, NJ, audiences were treated to a passionate performance) by the Baroque Orchestra of NJ under the direction of Maestro Robert Butts of composer Marco Frisina's Ricordi di una vita (Memories of a Life). This selection for string orchestra is from the original soundtrack music Frisina composed for the television miniseries Puccini produced by RAI Fiction for the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great operatic composer Giacomo Puccini. The film was premiered at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2008 and then broadcast on RAI Uno in 2009 with great success.

Recognition and performance of Marco Frisina's music in America is just beginning. The nonprofit Music for Faith, Inc. was created in 2015 to introduce and share his music with musicians and audiences throughout our country. I introduced his music to my dear friend and musical colleague, Dr. Robert W. Butts in 2013. Bob was instantly taken by its power and beauty. Since then Maestro Butts has been a strong advocate by performing Marco Frisina’s music on numerous occasions to help introduce his works more widely to US audiences.

Speaking about the Puccini film, Frisina confesses: "Writing music for a drama about the life of composer Giacomo Puccini is a delicate undertaking in many ways and all together exciting. The comparison with the music of the great Italian opera composer is inevitably difficult but at the same time it is inspiring because it pushes one to seek their cultural roots and musical history. In this case, I started with the idea of not simply imitating the style of Puccini but rather to refer especially to the musical world in which he lived and worked. I also believe that Puccini's music contains his Italian DNA, and that the music of today is a child of this music.” —Toscana Film Commission Article 3/1/2009