Luca Guadagnino in Florence

The renowned Italian director is staging the opera that opens the 88th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival

A contemporary opera never before performed in Florence marks Luca Guadagnino’s opera directing debut on the Florentine stage. The Death of Klinghoffer is the title of the opera that opens the 88th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival on Sunday, April 19. The opera, written by poet Alice Goodman and composed by John Adams (first staged in Brussels in 1991), is inspired by one of the most significant international historical events of recent decades: the hijacking of the Italian cruise ship ‘Achille Lauro’ in October 1985 by terrorists from the Palestine Liberation Front.

Here are the words of the famous director from Palermo (Silver Lion at Venice for Bones and All, Oscar nominee for Call Me by Your Name) during the press conference in the presence of the Maggio Musicale’s Artistic Director Carlo Fuortes and the conductor, Maestro Lawrence Renes, a profound connoisseur of Adams’ compositions.

How did your relationship with the conductor and this production begin?

One of the things that makes me most proud of my craft is creating deep connections through work. With Lawrence, it happened immediately and almost naturally: when you’re making an opera, you have to put yourself in a position to follow the music, because the conductor is crucial. But even before that, there was the decisive meeting with Superintendent Carlo Fuortes, which took place informally and was later solidified. That’s where it all began.

What strikes you about this opera?

It’s a masterpiece that has weathered controversy from the start and now seems almost prophetic. Alice Goodman’s libretto and John Adams’s music create a framework that doesn’t judge, but reveals. It is an opera that speaks to our times with striking clarity.

Why did this particular title capture your interest?

I had been interested in the opera for some time; I had been toying with the idea for a long while. I had been offered titles in Northern Europe and Anglo-Saxon countries, but I always proposed John Adams’ The Death of Klinghoffer. I often received surprised reactions, sometimes even scandalized ones. When I proposed it to Carlo Fuortes, he agreed immediately.

The staging is closely tied to the body and its vulnerability.

Yes, the body is central: it is layered, wounded, thrown into crisis. The collaboration with the chorus and the choreography is fundamental. Even the setting on a ship, evoking the story of the Achille Lauro, becomes a metaphor for a closed space where identities shatter. It is a work made up of individual and collective traumas.

What role did Florence play in the project?

A fundamental one. Florence became part of the creative process, especially during rehearsals. The work with the Maggio staff was continuous, daily, and physical. The city influenced the rhythm and also my perception of the theater as a living organism.

Has the city ever been the setting for any of your films?

My relationship with Florence dates back several years, to when I directed the short film A Future Together (2021), linked to the vision of the Ferragamo brand under the creative direction of Paul Andrew. Additionally, also for Ferragamo, I had made the documentary Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams (2020) the year before, filmed largely right here in the city.

This project involved two years of frequent visits and brought me into contact with archives and symbolic locations.

What does this opera debut mean to you?

A shift in identity. Coming from cinema, theater has allowed me to step outside my usual parameters. It is a return to a living, collective practice, where every gesture has a different distance and magnitude. And it is in this distance that the strongest emotion is born, even today.