Music Production: The Garden by Fanny & Alexander
with Claron McFadden & Emanuele Wiltsch Barberio
Theater Performance | Romeuropa Festival 2021

Claron McFadden and Emanuele Wiltsch Barberio first met in 2021, thanks to their frequent collaborations with the Ravenna theater company Fanny & Alexander.

The show The Garden, directed by Luigi De Angelis, premiered after several months of production at the Rome Europa Festival 2021, held at the ex-Testaccio in Rome.

“Why is suffering such a popular subject in the arts? Are we merely consumers of other people's pain, or is there actual room for compassion? What are the stories of our current time that reflect this suffering? Is suffering a consoling or necessary process in today’s society?”

These questions inspired Luigi De Angelis, along with Claron McFadden and Emanuele Wiltsch Barberio, to create a musical exhibition featuring lamentations and musical memories that explore the theme of suffering in the arts. The repertoire spans from Monteverdi to J. C. Bach, from Nina Simone to Giovanni Legrenzi, passing by Barbara Strozzi and John Dowland.

Claron McFadden plays the emotional witness in this EP derived from The Garden, a video polyptych that examines the echoes of a contemporary Passion. It features seven Christological characters inspired by recent cases, along with other contemporary figures inspired by the Gospels. These characters appear on seven screens, creating a progressive Path of Suffering for our gaze and perceptions.

Following this event, Claron McFadden returned to the island of Giudecca multiple times for recording sessions, workshops, meetings, public rehearsals, and live performances.