La Mortella (Ischia)
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La Mortella (Italian: place of the myrtles) is a property with an artistically landscaped park in Forio -San Francesco on the Italian island of Ischia and was opened to the public in 1991. It was originally owned by the English composer William Walton and his wife Susana (1926-2010), who came to Ischia immediately after the Second World War. The property includes a museum, the Walton Archives, a concert hall and a Greek theater.
history
The island of Ischia in the Gulf of Naples has long been a refuge for artists, musicians, writers and celebrities. In 1948 Walton traveled to Buenos Aires as a delegate to an international conference of the Performing Right Society . There he met Susana Gil Passo, who was 24 years younger than him. Shortly afterwards they married. He promised her that they would live in Italy six months a year. They visited the island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples, which at that time was not yet used for mass tourism. In October 1949 they settled in their new home on the island of Ischia with a second home.
William Walton sold his house in London in 1956 and built a villa above Forio so that he could live there permanently with his Argentine wife. Six years passed before the first construction phase was completed. For the outdoor area, Susana built “La Mortella”, one of the most beautiful gardens on the island. Russell Page , a well-known British landscape architect, had drawn the layout of the garden in 1956. Many illustrious guests came over the years, including Laurence Olivier , Vivien Leigh , Terence Rattigan , Paul Hindemith , Hans Werner Henze , Maria Callas , Charlie Chaplin and Prince Charles , who also wrote the foreword for Susana Walton's garden book. In 2004 the park was awarded the first prize “Il Parco Più Bello d'Italia” (the most beautiful park in Italy) in competition with over 100 other gardens.
Park
The gardens offer views of the city and port of Forio. With “La Mortella”, a barren, volcanic rocky terrain was developed into a lush, tropical garden landscape. The gardens are home to a wide variety of rare and exotic plants. The park has several levels, some with their own humid and shady microclimate. Page laid out the park in two main sections. He called the lower part the valley and the upper part the hill. The entire park extends over a little over 2 hectares and offers space for over 3000 different plants. Streams, fountains, water basins and fountains help in the cultivation of irrigation-intensive plants. For the composer's 80th birthday, the horticultural architect built a fountain in 1982 that plays with the number 8. The fountain is octagonal and stands on an octagonal terrace.
Susana Walton has continued to design the upper area of the garden since 1983. It offers predominantly Mediterranean vegetation. There is also the pyramidal rock in which Walton's ashes were buried. Nearby you will find the Temple of the Sun with the room of birth , the room of golden love and the end of mortal life as three different areas, separated by thick walls. The Greek theater dominates the upper garden. The grandstand for the audience is cut into the slope of the hill. The stage also looks out over the bay of Forio.
On the mountain side in the southeastern part of the garden is the nymphaeum , a green arbor with cut holly-buckthorn , an evergreen. In the middle of the nymphaeum rests a modern, polished stainless steel fountain in which the sky is reflected. Four wrought-iron seating niches are grouped around the fountain and create a calm structure, while four paths lead from there to symbolic works of art. Around the fountain is the inscription:
“This green arbor is dedicated to Susana, who loved tenderly, worked with passion and believed in immortality.
[This green arbor is dedicated to Susana, who loved tenderly, worked with passion and believed in immortality.] "
Susana Walton's ashes were buried near an Aphrodite statue.
museum
A museum dedicated to the life and work of William Walton is part of the property. In addition to the permanent exhibition, it houses the William Walton Foundation. The building is built on the side of a volcanic hill and also includes a concert hall and archive. The archive was established in 1990 and stores letters, photographs, manuscripts and memorabilia from the composer. It provides an important resource for musicologists; some of the material can be seen in the permanent exhibition in the museum. The collection is constantly updated.
Music funding
Chamber music concerts are held in the concert hall in spring and autumn. Between 1989 and 1999, annual master classes were organized for young singers and other musicians. The Harvard University organized an international artist program that living and working scholarship for composers and garden designer awards. Over the years, the "Fondazione William Walton e La Mortella" has also established cooperative relationships with renowned music schools, including the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama , which awards a scholarship in the name of William Waltons and a student ensemble follows every year Ischia sends. The Scuola di Musica di Fiesole awards a one-year scholarship to a young musician. The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia , USA, offers music courses and concert activities that are also linked to a residential scholarship.
literature
- Susana Walton: La Mortella: An Italian Garden Paradise . New Holland Publ., London 2002, ISBN 1-85974-916-X
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stewart R. Craggs: William Walton: Music and Literature , 1999, p. 191
- ^ Susana Walton: La Mortella: An Italian Garden Paradise , 2002, p. 19 ff.
- ^ Susana Walton: La Mortella: An Italian Garden Paradise , 2002, p. 113
- ↑ Patrick Quigley: La Mortella - an Ischian Idyll , in: The Newsletter of the Irish Garden Plant Society, No. 93, 2004, p. 10
Coordinates: 40 ° 45 ′ 11 ″ N , 13 ° 52 ′ 21 ″ E