A life in music
The first mobile game in the world produced by an opera house.
One melody. One memory. One meeting.
Is Giuseppe Verdi’s music able to change one’s life?
Produced by the Teatro Regio di Parma, the game for smartphones and tablets will be available as a free download in both Italian and English through the App Store and Google Play Store. Commissioned by Festival Verdi to the international and multi-award winning leader in the gaming sector for cultural institutions, TuoMuseo, it has been developed in close collaboration with the Festival Verdi Scientific Committee.
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Antonio and Silvia
Antonio and Silvia are 18 and 19 years old. He’s quiet and reserved, thin with hunched shoulders, passionate about music with a poster of Verdi in his bedroom, lives with his loving father and his dog Lulù, plays the piano, and dreams of becoming a successful musician. She is beautiful and confident, sings in an indie rock bank, is used to living alone with her cat in a large house full of expensive things, her parents are often away for work, and she dreams of becoming a world-famous vocalist.
A story born at the Teatro Regio
A piece of music. A memory. The notes of Giuseppe Verdi. A meeting. That’s how it all starts in the summer of 2008 in locations that were and still are Verdi’s: Parma and the Teatro Regio, Busseto and Villa Verdi in Sant’Agata. The story of their friendship, told through 9 acts and 9 Verdian intermezzos, culminates at the Teatro Regio ten years later in the finale of the game. Will music have changed their lives?
A life with Verdi
Passion and musical talent are very difficult to build a life around, and the experiences and emotions associated with doing so are common among young people across many generations. Therefore, we immediately thought we had to insert elements that were actually a part of Giuseppe Verdi’s artistic and life experiences, including the women that shared it with him. So for each of the 9 acts that make up Antonio and Silvia’s ‘story’, we found real events and emotional situations that were similar to ones experienced first-hand by the great Maestro from Busseto. As a result, when you are playing A Life in Music, you will take sudden journeys back through time to music written by Verdi that ties into the emotional moment you have encountered. Each journey then brings up a simple skill test associated to a part of Verdi’s life using genuine settings and accurate wording.
Soundtrack
A Life in Music contains 19 original music tracks created by the polish musician Arkadiusz Reikowski and other artists, Il balen del suo sorriso, Va’, pensiero, Non piangere mia compagna, Oh, de’ verd’anni miei and other Verdian arias recorded live at the Teatro Regio di Parma during Festival Verdi (in collaboration with Unitel and Dynamic) .
Listen here:
The first mobile game in the world created by an opera house.
12 months of work and a team of 6 professionals: Fabio Viola (Game Director and Content), Valerio Todaro (Screenplay and Dialogue), Francesco Bizzini (Developer and Game Design), Elisa Groli (2D Artist and Game Design), Angelo La Farina (Animation), Arkadiusz Reikowski (Music and Sound Effects). It contains 19 original music tracks, 9 Verdian arias recorded live at the Teatro Regio di Parma (in collaboration with Unitel and Dynamic), original hand-painted drawings depicting more than 100 scenes relating to Verdi’s life, and more than 300 animations. A Life in Music is a 2D side-scrolling narrative game with no advertising content that explores friendship, perseverance, trust, courage, and sacrifice, to tell a universal story that sees music take centre stage, in which past and present intertwine, and in which every choice, just like in real life, determine their future.
A Life in Music credits
Produced by
TEATRO REGIO DI PARMA
Developed by
TUOMUSEO
In collaboration with
COMITATO SCIENTIFICO PER IL FESTIVAL VERDI
Sponsor
SARCE
Commissioned by
FESTIVAL VERDI
Game director and Content FABIO VIOLA
Screenplay and Dialogue VALERIO TODARO
Developer and Game Design FRANCESCO BIZZINI
2D artist and game design ELISA GROLI
Animation ANGELO LA FARINA
Original Music and Sound Effects ARKADIUSZ REIKOWSKI
