Compromettersi fino in fondo per il teatro: l’eredità di Paolo Grassi a cento anni dalla nascita

Abstract

A professional driven by an ardent intellectual curiosity, with his gaze firmly fixed on the future, Paolo Grassi left his mark on the culture of the twentieth century thanks to his strong spirit of innovation, oriented beyond national borders, both on the artistic front and in terms of cultural organization. The paper intends to draw up a balance sheet, one hundred years after Grassi’s birth, summing up the multifaceted legacy of his experience, covering all the areas in which he boldly dared to innovate and experiment: theater, opera and television. His courageous initiatives in favor of decentralization, of opening up to a wider audience, the unique understanding between him and the city, and new kinds of audiences, the open casting sessions at the Teatro alla Scala and the broadcast of the work on television were all examples founded on the idea of the relation between economics and knowledge, in the area of public service, that Paolo Grassi shared, despite some inevitable differences, with the French TNP of Jean Vilar.