Storia E Musica a Villa Senar

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Storia E Musica a Villa Senar 00_Rachmaninoff.qxp_Digital 27/08/19 16:00 Pagina 150 cultura /arte/ immobili d’autore Storia e musica a Villa Senar Affacciata sulle rive del lago dei Quattro Cantoni, a Hertenstein, Villa Senar fu la residenza di vacanza di uno dei piu celebri compositori e pianisti del ventesimo secolo. Sergei Vassilievitsch Rachmaninoff la fece infatti costruire per sé e per la sua famiglia all’inizio degli anni Trenta e vi compose alcune tre le sue più belle e nostalgiche melodie. Villa Senar è nota per essere stata in passato la residenza di vacanza del compositore e pianista russo Sergei Rachmaninoff, che era solito trascorrervi lunghi periodi di riposo e ispirazione. L’autore stesso ne supervisionò la costruzione insieme a quella del parco circostante. accompagnato dall’Orchestra della Sviz- zera romanda diretta da Ernest Ansermet, Rachmaninoff lascia infatti Hertenstein e la Svizzera per rientrare negli Stati Uniti, dove morirà nel marzo del 1943 senza poter più rivedere Senar. Come notano Baptiste Berrut-Maré- chaud, e Federica Grande, la Villa offre un esempio tipico dell’architettura della regione di Lucerna e del lago dei Quattro Cantoni caratterizzata da una profonda © PFondazione Serge Rachmaninoff – The Rachmaninoff Network. – The Rachmaninoff © PFondazione Serge Rachmaninoff relazione con la natura circostante, tipica del movimento inglese Arts and Crafts a proprietà, che si estende su i ricordi della sua infanzia in Russia in sin- (Arti e Mestieri), così come anche dall’in- una superficie di 20mila metri tonia con la natura e ritrova la tranquillità fluenza dello stile del Bauhaus, fondato L quadrati e comprende la Villa, necessaria per concentrarsi sulla musica, nel 1919 a Weimar da Walter Gropius. In un cottage e una rimessa per creando la Rapsodia su un tema di Paganini Svizzera il movimento moderno si diffe- imbarcazioni, è immersa nel verde ed è in (1934) e la Sinfonia no. 3 in la minore, renzia però da quello più radicale di altri grado di infondere a chi la visita una sen- Opera 44 (1935-36). Paesi, quali la Germania con il Neues sazione di profonda calma. È Rachmaninoff stesso a guidare la Bauen, per la sua tendenza moderata, con- Sono proprio la pace e la serenità tra- costruzione di Villa Senar e del cottage, traddistinta dal mantenimento di una rela- smesse da questo luogo, nel quale Rach- e a partecipare ai lavori nel parco. Que- zione con la storia e la tradizione Questa maninoff aveva trascorso parte della pro- st’ultimo fa da sfondo alle sue estati e a qualità della versione elvetica della cor- pria luna di miele con la moglie, che lo quelle della sua famiglia dal termine della rente si rispecchia nel carattere delle opere spingono ad acquistare il terreno nel set- costruzione della residenza padronale, nel di molti architetti, tra i quali anche Alfred tembre del 1930, alla ricerca di nuova ispi- marzo 1934, fino all’alba della Seconda Möri e Karl-Friedrick Krebs, che si occu- razione ed energia per le sue composizioni. Guerra Mondiale. Poco dopo la sua unica parono della costruzione di Villa Senar. A Hertenstein, grazie alla bellezza del partecipazione al Festival di Lucerna, l’11 Grazie all’influenza del movimento paesaggio svizzero, Rachmaninoff rivive agosto 1939, dove si esibisce come solista moderno con la sua concezione funzionale 150 · TM Settembre 2019 00_Rachmaninoff.qxp_Digital 27/08/19 16:00 Pagina 151 A lato, una foto della famiglia dell’artista russo scattata tra il 1935 e il 1939, proprio presso Villa Senar. Sotto, lo studio del compositore con il pianoforte Steinway D in bella mostra. Lo strumento gli venne regalato dallo stesso Fredrick Steinway, in occasione del suo sessantesimo compleanno. dello spazio e al suo carattere improntato in buona parte sullo stile della Bauhaus, la residenza è considerata una delle più importanti ville moderniste svizzere. È caratterizzata da un’architettura cubi- ca, poco appariscente. Il suo stile austero si scontra con lo stile neobarocco dei mobi- li di proprietà di Rachmaninoff, di quelli realizzati dall’azienda di mobili lucernese Städler e degli interni, parte dei quali rivela tuttavia anche un’impronta avanguardista. Quest’ultima è rafforzata dalla presenza di alcuni materiali ed elementi di design tipici degli anni Trenta, come il linoleum, l’alluminio, il divano in tubolare d’acciaio che rievoca Le Corbusier o la larga scri- vania in legno di noce di Erich Dieckmann che ricorda il suo stile ai tempi della Network. – The Rachmaninoff © PFondazione Serge Rachmaninoff Bauhaus. È proprio con una delle sedi di questo movimento, quella a Dessau, che Villa Senar condivide i nuovi concetti este- tici e il ruolo simbolico degli interni che si tramutano in una metafora della mente. Un’abitazione dal carattere domestico si trasforma così in una vera e propria opera d’arte caratterizzata da un’ambivalenza di stili che sembrerebbe rispecchiare quella più profonda di Rachmaninoff stesso nei confronti della vita, divisa tra il desiderio di un nuovo inizio e la nostalgia per la sua patria. Lo studio di Rachmaninoff, immu- funzionale e architettonica delle aree verdi. personaggio avvolto dal mistero, lo stesso tato e da lui considerato come il luogo più L’austerità dell’edificio viene addolcita che circonda Villa Senar che, per essere importante della villa, gioca un ruolo fon- dalla vegetazione, dal lago e dalle monta- compresa a fondo, merita senza dubbio damentale: contraddistinto da grandi fine- gne che le fanno da sfondo. un’analisi approfondita dei suoi spazi e stre e da una posizione leggermente sot- La relazione tra l’architettura e il pae- degli oggetti al loro interno. tostante al resto della casa, ospita da sem- saggio circostante gioca infatti un ruolo La Fondazione Serge Rachmaninoff, pre il pianoforte Steinway D che venne chiave nella comprensione della villa che costituita nell’anno 2000 dal nipote regalato a Rachmaninoff dallo stesso Fre- è collocata in cima ad una piccola scarpata, Alexander, figlio di Tatiana, si occupa di drick Steinway per il suo sessantesimo dieci metri sopra il livello del lago. Le sostenere e realizzare la trasformazione compleanno nell’aprile del 1934. montagne assumono in questo modo una di Villa Senar in un centro culturale dedi- La contrapposizione tra tradizionalismo nuova vicinanza, guadagnando altrettanta cato alla figura del compositore, alla sua e modernismo si estende anche negli spazi importanza rispetto al parco stesso, unico musica e al suo tempo. esterni di Villa Senar e nel parco che la per il suo valore botanico. La villa, insieme al parco e agli archivi, circonda dove, nonostante i molteplici Nonostante la prima biografia di Rach- è protetta in qualità di monumento storico cambiamenti avvenuti nel corso degli anni, maninoff, opera dello scrittore Oskar von dal maggio 2018 e prende il nome da Ser- sono visibili elementi dello stile paesag- Riesemann, sia stata pubblicata in Inghil- gei e Natalia Rachmaninoff. gistico classico, così come segni del movi- terra e in America già nel 1934, il celebre mento moderno, quali una suddivisione compositore e pianista russo rimane un Nina Fois TM Settembre 2019 · 151.
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