The creation of a new musical fairy tale

The documentary dedicated to the origins of Piccolo Orso and the Ice Mountain is now available online. The project was created through the collaboration between Opera Education – AsLiCo and Fondazione Teatro La Fenice as part of the Opera domani format.

The journey began two years ago with the meeting of institutions, artists and researchers, with the aim of creating a new civic opera for young audiences, capable of addressing an urgent and universal issue: climate change and glacier melting.

To tell this story, composer Giovanni Sollima and writer and librettist Giancarlo De Cataldo were involved once again. They had previously collaborated on Acquaprofonda, the opera created for the 25th anniversary of Opera domani and dedicated to the theme of marine pollution.

With Little Bear and the Ice Mountain, the creative team returns to work together, this time with the valuable scientific contribution of the Institute of Polar Sciences of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), which supported the development of the project by providing expertise and content to address the climate crisis with scientific rigour.

The opera also expands its reach through a European co-production with Opéra Grand Avignon and Festival de Granada, bringing the story of the two little bears to young audiences in France and Spain.

The video documentary features the voices of the project’s protagonists and creative team. Director Lorenzo Ponte discusses the development of the staging, while conductors Julia Cruz and Eric Foster share their experience of leading a participatory performance in which children in the audience sing, interact and become an integral part of the storytelling.

A collective narrative revealing the behind-the-scenes journey of an opera created to raise awareness among younger generations through music, theatre and participation.

The documentary was produced as part of the Fedora Platform Next Stage initiative.

Watch the documentary and discover more about the world of Little Bear and the Ice Mountain.