Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture
In 2009 metal artist , Brente Engler, released the album Svart vitenskap with a Gustave Doré illustration as the cover art. The illustration used was The Avaricious from canto 20 of Purgatorio.
Find Svart vitenskap here.
Find The Avaricious by Gustave Doré here.
Contributed by Gianluca Giuseffi Grippa
“The debut album from Norway’s rulers of evil thrashing oldschool madness is finally re-released on all formats! Featuring members of Obliteration and Audiopain, Divinity Of Death is the perfect blend of classic Slayer, Possessed, Dark Angel, Sepultura etc. combined with Nekromantheon’s own amazing songwriting and instrumental skills. One of the strongest Norwegian debuts, recorded and produced by the band themselves in their own Kick Arse Studio for that old, necro feel!” — Duplicate Records
The album art of their album features Gustave Doré’s, Styx-Philippo Argenti.
Find the album here.
Find the illustration here.
Contributed by Gianluca Giuseffi Grippa.
“The dialogue between the work of Dante and film will be the theme of Professor Helge Rønning‘s conference, organized by the Italian Cultural Institute of Oslo and streaming live on the Institute’ s Facebook page.
“This happy conjunction is taking place in the year of the celebrations for the 700th anniversary of the poet’s death and in the week of the 2021 edition of Fare Cinema, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation’s festival dedicated to promoting Italian film and its trades. The possibilities arising from the encounter between Dante – in particular the Divine Comedy and the Inferno – and film (and later television) have long fascinated filmmakers, ever since the days of silent films.” –“Dante in film and television,” Italiana, July 15, 2021 (link expired, but see the Wayback Machine’s archived version here)
“Bad Dante Bad English Bad Opera is a new version of Dante’s classic Purgatory from The Divine Comedy. The strict verse form from the original Italian version has been maintained, but the text has been rewritten into anti-academic “street language” English.
“From a stripped-down stage, four singers/actors and three string players present the first nine cantos of Purgatory: Antepurgatorio. Here, in transit between hell and paradise, Dante meets the souls who are waiting to atone for their sins. Human emotions such as imperfection, justice, confusion, and tolerance are explored in a smart, refreshing, and humorous way.
“The chamber opera Bad Dante Bad English Bad Opera is created by Spreafico Eckly, the Bergen-based production company of writer and theatre director Andrea Spreafico, and composer and artist Matteo Fargion.” [. . .] —Bergen International Festival (retrieved March 26, 2022)
The opera will have its world premiere at the Bergen International Festival on June 7-8, 2022. Learn more about the opera and watch a trailer here.
All submissions will be considered for posting. Bibliographic references and scholarly essays are also welcome for consideration.
Coggeshall, Elizabeth, and Arielle Saiber, eds. Dante Today: Citings and Sightings of Dante’s Works in Contemporary Culture. Website. Access date.
