C’era una volta Morricone at Teatro Ghione, April 10, 2027

C'era una volta Morricone, the concert by Orchestra Mavra, conducted by Piero Gallo, with the film scores of Ennio Morricone, takes place at Teatro Ghione, Via delle Fornaci 37 (00165 Rome), on Saturday, April 10, 2027, in two performances, at 17:00 and at 20:30. Each lasts about 100 minutes. The theater is a short walk from Piazza San Pietro, and the easiest way to get there is the regional trains FL3 and FL5 to Roma San Pietro station, a few minutes on foot. The Atac trip calculator shows the most convenient bus lines. According to the official page of Teatro Ghione, tickets cost €39 for gold premium stalls, €35 for numbered stalls, €33 for the central gallery and €28 for the numbered gallery. You buy them on the venue's official website, which links to the authorized presale network, and at the theater box office.

C'era una volta Morricone at Ghione: date, times and tickets

Two concerts on the same day, Saturday, April 10, 2027, at 17:00 and 20:30: that is the schedule published by Teatro Ghione for C'era una volta Morricone.

Afternoon or evening

The 17:00 performance ends around 18:40 and leaves the evening free for dinner in Borgo or Trastevere. The 20:30 one ends around 22:10. The announced program is the same for both.

Prices

The theater's page lists four sections: gold premium stalls €39, numbered stalls €35, central gallery €33, numbered gallery €28. On the authorized presale network, service fees are added to these prices.

Where to buy

Tickets are bought from the show page on the official Ghione website, with the online purchase button, or by contacting the theater at 06 6372294, also via WhatsApp, or at info@teatroghione.it.

What you hear at C'era una volta Morricone

C'era una volta Morricone offers a selection of pieces from the vast output of the Roman composer: very famous themes like Gabriel's oboe, Once Upon a Time in the West and Metti, una sera a cena, alternating with lesser-known pages like Ostinazione al limone or Le foto proibite di una signora per bene.

40 hearts on stage

The official presentation speaks of 40 hearts on stage to tell the poetry of Ennio Morricone: a large ensemble, rare for a hall like Ghione, that lets you hear the film scores with the orchestral richness they were conceived with.

The voices and the whistling

Alongside Orchestra Mavra there are two soloists: Rosa Marasco, vocals, and Fabio Carrieri, vocals and whistling. Whistling is one of the most recognizable sounds of the western Morricone, and having it live is one of the reasons to be interested in the concert.

Length

The theater lists a running time of 100 minutes for each of the two performances. That is the length of a real symphonic concert, with time to cross different seasons of the composer's career, from westerns to comedy, from auteur cinema to big international productions.

The organizer

The concert is organized by Vela Classica, which handles ticket distribution through the authorized presale network indicated by the theater.

Cinema and emotion

The theater presents the evening as a concert that joins cinema and emotion, memory and wonder: a kaleidoscope of Morricone's music, by one of the most prolific authors of the 20th century, who touched every musical genre in his film scores.

The pieces in the program and their films

The titles announced by Ghione cover different seasons of Morricone's career, from Sergio Leone's westerns to Italian auteur cinema of the 1960s and 1970s.

Once Upon a Time in the West

The theme of Once Upon a Time in the West belongs to the long collaboration with Sergio Leone, the composer's elementary school classmate, with whom Morricone worked from 1964 until Once Upon a Time in America. The film's soundtrack sold more than 1,200,000 copies in France alone.

Metti, una sera a cena

Metti, una sera a cena is the score that earned Morricone his second Silver Ribbon in 1970. Bruno Nicolai, a fellow student at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory and, like him, a pupil of Goffredo Petrassi, collaborated on the score.

Gabriel's oboe

Gabriel's oboe is one of Morricone's themes most loved by concert audiences, and it has long been in the repertoire of Orchestra Mavra. In the Ghione program it is the title that opens the list of very famous pieces announced by the theater.

The lesser-known pages

Ostinazione al limone and Le foto proibite di una signora per bene belong to the Morricone less often heard in concert programs. The choice to alternate them with the great themes is, in our view, the sign of a carefully built program.

Orchestra Mavra and Piero Gallo

Orchestra Mavra has been conducted since 1990 by Piero Gallo, a conductor born in Palermo and trained in Rome, who studied piano, composition and orchestral conducting.

The conductor

Piero Gallo was introduced to music by his parents, both passionate music lovers, and began playing at age four on his grandmother's piano. His first encounter with the music of Igor Stravinsky, who would become his point of reference, dates to 1966, through the theme tune of a TV show.

The orchestra

With Orchestra Mavra, Gallo won the absolute first prize at the Stresa International Competition. In Rome the orchestra holds its own series, I Concerti della Mavra, in the church of San Paolo entro le Mura on Via Nazionale, with programs ranging from Mozart to Rossini, from Liszt to Beethoven, all the way to Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez.

Morricone in the repertoire

Gabriel's oboe has long been part of the orchestra's repertoire, and it has also presented it on its official channels. C'era una volta Morricone gathers that experience in a program devoted entirely to the composer.

Who Ennio Morricone was

Ennio Morricone, born in Rome on November 10, 1928, and died in Rome on July 6, 2020, wrote the music for more than 470 films and TV series, won two Oscars and sold more than 70 million records.

Studies at Santa Cecilia

The son of a professional trumpeter, he graduated from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in trumpet in 1946, in band instrumentation in 1952 and in composition in 1954, with Goffredo Petrassi. He began by playing trumpet in several Roman orchestras.

The RCA arranger

In the 1960s, as an arranger for RCA Italiana, he helped shape the sound of Italian song: Sapore di sale by Gino Paoli, the hits of Edoardo Vianello, Se telefonando for Mina, many songs by Gianni Morandi. From 1964 he was also a member of the Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, devoted to avant-garde music.

Cinema

International fame came with the Italian-style western, with Sergio Leone, Sergio Corbucci, Sergio Sollima. From the 1970s he worked with directors like John Carpenter, Brian De Palma, Terrence Malick, Roland Joffé, Oliver Stone, Roman Polański and Quentin Tarantino. His scores include Days of Heaven, The Mission, The Untouchables.

The Oscars and other awards

After five nominations, on February 25, 2007, he received the Lifetime Achievement Oscar, presented by Clint Eastwood. On February 28, 2016, he won the Oscar for the score of Tarantino's The Hateful Eight. His awards also include three Golden Globes, six BAFTAs, 10 David di Donatello, 11 Silver Ribbons and the 1995 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, the only composer ever to receive it.

Ennio Morricone and Rome

Morricone was born and died in Rome, studied at Santa Cecilia, lived in Trastevere and conducted his music in some of the city's most symbolic places.

Foro Italico and Telethon

On December 4, 1993, Morricone conducted La Bibbia at Foro Italico, with the trumpet soloist Mauro Maur, for the Telethon charity marathon, broadcast on Rai Uno to more than 14 million viewers.

The fan

He was a Roma fan. After his death the club, together with the Lazio Region, unveiled a mural in his honor in the Tor Marancia neighborhood, and the giallorossi supporters paid tribute to him with banners.

Verano

He died at dawn on July 6, 2020, at age 91, at Campus Bio-Medico in Rome. The funeral was private, as he had wanted. Today he rests in the Verano cemetery, near the tomb of Gigi Proietti.

Morricone on the podium and in tributes

Besides being a composer, Morricone conducted his own music, and his film scores have been reinterpreted by musicians of every genre.

The conductor

In the summer of 2006 he conducted for the first time the Orchestra Filarmonica and the Chorus of Teatro alla Scala on a tour of his most famous film scores, from Verona's Arena to Taormina's ancient theater. In 1992 he had taken on tour Ut, the concerto for trumpet and orchestra dedicated to Mauro Maur.

We All Love Ennio Morricone

On the occasion of the 2007 Lifetime Achievement Oscar, the tribute album We All Love Ennio Morricone came out, with Metallica, Céline Dion, Andrea Bocelli, Bruce Springsteen, Roger Waters and others. On the night of the ceremony Céline Dion sang I Knew I Loved You, inspired by the theme of Once Upon a Time in America.

Tornatore's documentary

In 2021 Giuseppe Tornatore dedicated to him the documentary Ennio, in which the composer tells his story in the first person, with testimonies from directors, musicians and collaborators. It is the ideal viewing to prepare for the concert, especially for those who know Morricone only through the westerns.

A curiosity about C'era una volta Morricone at Teatro Ghione, April 10, 2027

The best curiosity concerns the title of the concert. C'era una volta, "once upon a time," is the formula that ties Morricone to Sergio Leone: Once Upon a Time in the West, from 1968, and Once Upon a Time in America, the director's last film, which earned the composer a BAFTA in 1984. Leone and Morricone knew each other as children: they were classmates in elementary school, and began working together only in 1964, with A Fistful of Dollars. A partnership born at Roman school desks and become one of the most famous in the history of cinema.

The second curiosity concerns the whistling. In the Ghione concert Fabio Carrieri is credited for vocals and whistling: it is a role that recalls how much Morricone's music used unusual sounds, from the trumpet to the whistle, to build the sonic identity of a film. The composer, after all, was the son of a trumpeter and had started his career with the trumpet.

Third curiosity: the trumpet that Sergio Leone used in his westerns was donated by Morricone to the trumpeter Mauro Maur, with whom the composer collaborated for a long time, up to the concerto for trumpet and orchestra Ut, dedicated to him.

Teatro Ghione, the theater a short walk from the Vatican

Teatro Ghione is a hall of about 500 seats on Via delle Fornaci 37, a short distance from Piazza San Pietro, founded and run until 2005 by the actress Ileana Ghione.

Its birth in 1980

On December 9, 1980, Ileana Ghione bought and refurbished the old theater on Via delle Fornaci, which has carried her name ever since. The schedule has always alternated classical repertoire, with authors like Wilde, Pirandello, Shakespeare and Goldoni, with more modern works and concerts.

A hall for concerts

Ghione also hosts music evenings: among the shows on the official website there is an earlier tribute to the composer, Sinfonie di parole. With 500 seats the hall stays intimate, and the stalls are close to the stage.

Services

The official tourism portal of Roma Capitale lists Ghione as accessible to people with disabilities and mentions a dog sitting service, rare among Roman theaters.

Ileana Ghione, the actress who founded the theater

Ileana Ghione, born in Cortemilia on January 15, 1931, and died in Rome on December 3, 2005, was one of the most popular actresses of Italian TV dramas and the founder of the hall on Via delle Fornaci.

The Academy and television

In the 1950s she studied at the Accademia nazionale d'arte drammatica, with Sergio Tofano among her teachers. Rai TV dramas followed, from Jane Eyre to Una tragedia americana, from David Copperfield to I Buddenbrook, up to Madame Curie and Una donna.

The entrepreneur

On December 9, 1980, she bought and refurbished the old theater on Via delle Fornaci, which has carried her name ever since, and ran it for 25 years. In 2001 President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi named her Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Republic.

The last evening

On December 3, 2005, while performing Euripides' Hecuba on the stage of her own theater, she was taken ill and died shortly after. The lying in state was set up in the theater itself. A story that makes Ghione a place forever tied to its founder.

April in Rome: music and spring

April 10, 2027, is a Saturday in full spring: the days are long and the weather invites you to combine the concert with a walk.

The weather

April temperatures are pleasant by day and cool in the evening: a light jacket is enough for the trip back after the evening show.

The crowded city

April is one of the months most requested by visitors to Rome, especially in the Vatican area: it's best to buy tickets early and book a restaurant for Saturday night.

Something nobody tells you about C'era una volta Morricone at Teatro Ghione, April 10, 2027

What is rarely remembered is how Roman Morricone was, even in the places of his daily life. Until the early 1960s he lived with his wife Maria and their children in Trastevere, and above his apartment lived the painter Eva Fischer, with whom he had a long cultural exchange, culminating in 1992 in an album published together with a book of the works she had painted inspired by his music. Trastevere is a few minutes from Ghione: after the concert, a walk along the Tiber leads to the neighborhood where the composer lived during the years of his first films.

The second thing concerns Santa Cecilia. Morricone graduated from the Roman conservatory and was a full member of the Accademia nazionale di Santa Cecilia, one of the most prestigious musical institutions in the city. Whoever hears his music at Ghione, in a neighborhood hall, finds the composer in the dimension closest to the city's audience.

Finally, a practical tip: on Saturday afternoon the San Pietro area draws many visitors. For the 17:00 performance, it's best to arrive by train at San Pietro station, a few minutes on foot from the theater.

How to get to Teatro Ghione

The easiest way to reach Teatro Ghione is the regional train to Roma San Pietro station, served by lines FL3 and FL5, a few minutes on foot from Via delle Fornaci.

By train

Roma San Pietro station, opened in 1894 with the line to Viterbo, is served by the regional trains FL3 and FL5 and has a bus stop and a taxi stand. From the station you walk uphill along Via delle Fornaci to the theater.

By bus

The buses in the area terminate at San Pietro station and at Largo di Porta Cavalleggeri, at the start of Via delle Fornaci: for the quickest route, and for the Saturday evening runs, it's best to use the Atac calculator.

By car

The theater's website lists, for those arriving by car, a free open-air parking lot, the San Pietro parking lot and the Bonifacio garage. On Saturday night street parking is hard to find. A taxi remains the easiest solution.

My advice for visiting C'era una volta Morricone at Teatro Ghione, April 10, 2027

My advice is to choose the performance based on how you want to spend the day. The 17:00 afternoon show is perfect for those who want to combine the concert with a visit to the Vatican area: the morning at the Vatican Museums or in St. Peter's, lunch in Borgo, and Morricone's music in the afternoon. The 20:30 evening show is instead the choice for those who want dinner before or after, maybe in Trastevere, the neighborhood where the composer lived as a young man.

The second piece of advice is about the seat. The gold premium stalls and the numbered stalls are the closest to the orchestra. The central gallery, at €33, offers an overview of the 40 musicians and good sound. The numbered gallery, at €28, is the cheapest choice.

Third piece of advice: listen again beforehand to the best-known themes, from Once Upon a Time in the West to Gabriel's oboe, and then let yourself be surprised, in a good way, by the less performed pieces. In our view it is precisely those, Ostinazione al limone and Le foto proibite di una signora per bene, that give the program its value.

Another well-known fact, yet rarely mentioned

Everybody knows that Morricone was the composer of Sergio Leone's westerns. It is less often remembered that, before cinema, he was one of the architects of the sound of Italian song in the 1960s. As an arranger for RCA Italiana, called by the artistic director Vincenzo Micocci, he worked on Sapore di sale by Gino Paoli, on the hits of Edoardo Vianello like Pinne fucile ed occhiali and Abbronzatissima, and in 1966 he composed and arranged Se telefonando for Mina, with lyrics by Ghigo De Chiara and Maurizio Costanzo.

A second fact rarely cited: in 1958 Morricone was hired by Rai as a musical assistant, but he resigned on the first day, when he found out that, as an employee, his music would not be broadcast. And in 1961 he was the youngest of the maestros to conduct the orchestra of the Giugno della Canzone Napoletana.

Finally, his music has crossed the borders of cinema: Metallica have opened their concerts since 1983 with L'estasi dell'oro, Muse use the harmonica theme of Once Upon a Time in the West, and Bruce Springsteen has often had Badlands preceded by the same soundtrack. The piece that gives the Ghione concert its title is therefore one of the most listened to in the world.

The right photo to take at C'era una volta Morricone at Teatro Ghione, April 10, 2027

You don't take photos during the concert: filming disturbs the musicians and the audience. The right photo is taken before or after.

The first is the entrance of Teatro Ghione on Via delle Fornaci with the poster for C'era una volta Morricone: the street is on a slope, and from the opposite sidewalk you frame the facade well. At the end of the afternoon show, around 18:40, there is still natural light.

The second photo is taken in Piazza San Pietro, a few minutes on foot, with the dome lit up after the evening show. The third, for those who go up the Janiculum after the afternoon show, is Rome from above at sunset: a view that, with a Morricone theme in your ears, has something cinematic.

What to see around Teatro Ghione

Teatro Ghione sits between San Pietro, Borgo and the Janiculum: whoever arrives early is spoiled for choice.

Piazza and Basilica di San Pietro

Piazza San Pietro is a few minutes on foot. For the basilica, it's best to check the hours and the security checks before planning the visit.

Borgo and Castel Sant'Angelo

Between San Pietro and Castel Sant'Angelo lies the Borgo district, with its narrow streets and the Passetto di Borgo, the elevated corridor that connects the Vatican to the castle.

The Janiculum and Villa Pamphilj

Behind the theater rises the Janiculum. Farther south opens Villa Doria Pamphilj, the largest park in Rome.

Some important events that happened here in history

The area around Teatro Ghione is marked by Porta Cavalleggeri, one of the gates in the Leonine Walls, which still bears the coats of arms of the Borgia of Pope Alexander VI. On April 30, 1849, right at Porta Cavalleggeri, the first attack of the French troops against the Roman Republic was fought, and the French were driven back. Among the defenders was a young actor destined to become famous, Tommaso Salvini.

In 1894 the San Pietro station was inaugurated, on the line to Viterbo, from which the Vatican railway also departs. In the 20th century it became a set for Italian cinema, with Totò, Alberto Sordi and Virna Lisi. It is a happy coincidence that, a few steps from a place of cinema, you hear the music of the greatest composer of Italian cinema.

On December 9, 1980, Ileana Ghione bought the old theater on Via delle Fornaci and reopened it under her name. On November 25, 1986, Shaw's Candida was staged there, directed by Silverio Blasi. On December 3, 2005, Ghione herself was taken ill on stage during Euripides' Hecuba and died a few hours later. The lying in state was set up in the theater.

Who has passed through C'era una volta Morricone at Teatro Ghione, April 10, 2027

The name that dominates the history of this theater is that of Ileana Ghione, born in Cortemilia in 1931, an actress trained at the Accademia d'arte drammatica with Sergio Tofano, a face of Rai TV dramas like Jane Eyre, David Copperfield, I Buddenbrook, Madame Curie, alongside Tino Carraro in Giacosa's Come le foglie. In 2001 President Ciampi named her Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Republic.

In the surrounding neighborhood passed the defenders of the 1849 Roman Republic, among them the actor Tommaso Salvini. At San Pietro station, Totò, Alberto Sordi and Virna Lisi shot scenes. On the Ghione stage have passed the classics of the repertoire, from Shaw to the Greek tragedies, and more and more often music, including music devoted to cinema.

On April 10, 2027, the full Orchestra Mavra passes through Via delle Fornaci, with 40 musicians, the conductor Piero Gallo, the voice of Rosa Marasco and the voice and whistling of Fabio Carrieri. And with them, ideally, Ennio Morricone, Sergio Leone and all the directors who made their images speak with his music.

How to plan the Saturday of C'era una volta Morricone

With two performances on the same day, C'era una volta Morricone suits both a day of sightseeing and an evening out.

The afternoon show

A morning in the Vatican area, a lunch on the streets around Via Gregorio VII or in Borgo, and in your seat at 16:40. When you come out, around 18:40, there's time for an aperitivo and a dinner.

The evening show

An early dinner in the pizzerias and trattorias of the neighborhood, frequented mostly by people who live there, and at the theater at 20:15. When you come out, around 22:10, Borgo and Prati offer places open late.

With kids

Morricone's music is accessible even to the youngest. The 17:00 afternoon show is the best suited to families, at 100 minutes long.

Where to eat before or after the concert

Around Teatro Ghione the offer is typical of the Vatican area: a lot of tourist dining near the square, more authentic places on the residential streets.

Before the concert

On the streets between Via delle Fornaci, Via Gregorio VII and the slopes of the Janiculum there are pizzerias, trattorias and bars frequented by people who live in the neighborhood.

After the concert

For after-theater on Saturday night, it's best to move to Borgo, to Prati toward Via Cola di Rienzo, or to Trastevere, reachable in a few minutes by taxi.

Accessibility and practical information

Teatro Ghione is listed as accessible to people with disabilities by the tourism portal of Roma Capitale. To find out how access to the hall is organized, it's best to call the theater, at 06 6372294, before the evening.

With your dog

The official tourism portal lists a dog sitting service for Ghione: if you come with a dog, you can ask the theater how it works before booking.

Phones and filming

During the concert it's best to keep your phone off: in a hall of 500 seats even a vibration is heard in the most delicate passages.

Frequently asked questions about C'era una volta Morricone

When is C'era una volta Morricone at Teatro Ghione?

C'era una volta Morricone is at Teatro Ghione on Saturday, April 10, 2027, with two performances at 17:00 and 20:30. Each concert lasts about 100 minutes.

How much do tickets for C'era una volta Morricone cost?

For C'era una volta Morricone, Teatro Ghione lists four prices: gold premium stalls €39, numbered stalls €35, central gallery €33, numbered gallery €28. Online, fees are added.

Who plays at C'era una volta Morricone?

Orchestra Mavra plays at C'era una volta Morricone, conducted by Piero Gallo, with Rosa Marasco on vocals and Fabio Carrieri on vocals and whistling: 40 artists in all on stage.

Which Morricone pieces are in the program?

The program of C'era una volta Morricone announced by Ghione includes Gabriel's oboe, Once Upon a Time in the West, Metti, una sera a cena, Ostinazione al limone and Le foto proibite di una signora per bene, along with other pieces by the composer.

How do you get to Teatro Ghione?

Teatro Ghione is at Via delle Fornaci 37, near Piazza San Pietro. You get there on trains FL3 and FL5 to Roma San Pietro station, a few minutes on foot, or by bus to Largo di Porta Cavalleggeri.

Is the concert suitable for children?

C'era una volta Morricone is a concert of film music, accessible even to the youngest. For families the 17:00 performance is the most convenient.

The final advice on C'era una volta Morricone

The final advice is to take advantage of C'era una volta Morricone to hear the film scores of Ennio Morricone with an orchestra of 40 players in an intimate hall, a few steps from San Pietro. Choose the afternoon show if you want to combine the concert with a day in the Vatican, the evening show if you prefer dinner in Trastevere, the neighborhood where the composer lived as a young man. In our view the value of the program lies in the pairing of famous themes and lesser-known pages, as well as in the live whistling, one of the most recognizable sounds in cinema.

Article written by the editorial team of Tour Leader Pro, contact them for Private/Corporate/V.I.P. Tours and Experiences.

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