Production: Orchestra della Toscana
Written and Directed by: Edoardo Zucchetti
With: Daniele Rustioni and the musicians of the Orchestra della Toscana
Editing: Simone Petracchi
Cinematography: Edoardo Zucchetti

Trailer: Watch

The story linking conductor Daniele Rustioni and the Orchestra della Toscana is extraordinary in the truest sense of the word: a relationship built on trust, passion and a rare artistic partnership.

After first appearing at Florence’s Teatro Verdi at the age of twenty-four as a promising young conductor, Rustioni became first Principal Guest Conductor and later Principal Conductor of the orchestra, remaining in the role for nine years – an unusually long tenure in the world of classical music. At the end of the 2020 lockdown, with his contract expiring and an increasingly busy international career, it seemed that his journey with the orchestra had come to an end. Instead, his appointment as Artistic Director and Conductor Laureate opened a new chapter, making him, at just thirty-seven, the youngest Artistic Director ever appointed by an Italian concert orchestra institution.

Edoardo Zucchetti follows Rustioni for a week during his return to Florence on the eve of the Teatro Verdi’s reopening after lockdown. Beginning with the press conference announcing his new appointment, the documentary traces back through the emotions of returning to the theatre, the joy of making music again, and the deeply human side of the conductor and his relationship with the orchestra.

The story culminates in a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, Eroica, the concert that marked the reopening of the Teatro Verdi after 103 days of closure. Dedicated to the victims of the pandemic and to everyone who faced those difficult months with courage, the performance stands as a tribute to music, art and beauty as forces capable of giving meaning even in the most challenging times.