Mapei celebrates its first 80 years in the name of culture and music

Mapei’s celebrations to commemorate reaching such an important landmark in 2017 - 80 years’ experience as a leading company in the building industry - began with a triumphant concert held at the Scala Opera House on 21^st January. To emphasise its close ties with the world of culture and music of the highest calibre, Mapei sponsored the concert performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to mark Maestro Riccardo Muti’s return to the Scala Opera House. A memorable event that was attended by over 300 special guests of the firm, who gathered in the company of Mr Giorgio Squinzi and his family to confirm once again that the successes Mapei has achieved around the globe can be traced back to its founder Rodolfo Squinzi’s firm belief that “work can never be separated from art and passion”. First established in Milan in 1937 – when the Scala Opera House’s orchestra was conducted by Victor de Sabata and its most notable singers included Mafalda Favero - Mapei has gradually become a global benchmark in the chemical products for the building industry sector. A wonderful story based around a constant focusing on research and innovation. Ma- pei is now a trusted partner of architectural designers, contractors, suppliers and clients working on prestigious building contracts and eco-sustainable projects, thanks to the quality of its products and technologies. Throughout all these years of global growth, the bonds between Mapei and the Scala Opera House have grown ever stronger. A founding member of the Scala Opera House since 2008, over the years Mapei has provided its backing for numerous concerts and cultural events, many of which devoted to scientific research and charity work. These include those organised by the Negri Weizmann Foundation for Research into illnesses, the LILT (Italian league for the fight against tumours), the women’s section of the Italian Red Cross and the Francesca Rava Foundation, which helps children in need in Italy and around the world. The company’s Sole Director, Mr Giorgio Squinzi, became a member of the Scala Opera House’s board of directors in 2016 confirming Mapei’s commitment to supporting the Scala.

A GREAT MAESTRO FOR TWO IMPORTANT CONCERTS

Celebrating anniversaries and scientific events with the help of wonderful music is a well-established practice for both Mapei and the Bracco Group, a famous old Milanese company at the very cutting-edge in diagnostic imaging that can boast its own 90-year history of successes. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s performance at the Scala Opera House on its European tour, conducted by Maestro Riccardo Muti, seemed just the right opportunity to begin celebrating the 90th anniversary of the company founded by Elio Bracco way back in 1927. A second concert held the next day, conducted by Maestro Muti, was sponsored by Mapei to celebrate its own 80th anniversary. The two concerts performed on 20^th-21^st January marked Maestro Muti’s first return to the Piermarini building, where he was the Music Director from 1986-2005, since the Wiener Philharmoniker concert held on 2nd May, 2005. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where Riccardo Muti took charge in 2010 and is widely considered to be one of the leading international orchestras, was performing at the Scala for the third time following the concerts conducted by Sir Georg Solti as part of the 1971 and 1981 Symphony Mu- sic seasons. The Superintendent, Mr Alexander Pereira, said that: “from my very first press conference as Superintendent, Riccardo Chailly and I have always insisted that the world’s leading conductors must perform regularly at the Scala Opera House, particularly those who have made extraordinary artistic contributions to the history of the Scala. Following the exhibition to celebrate its 75^th anniversary, these two concerts with Riccardo Muti conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra were something the city and all music lovers were eagerly awaiting”.

A SPECIAL EVENING MAPEI-STYLE

There was a first-night-of-the-opera-season audience at the Scala for Riccard Muti’s second concert conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Lots of Mapei’s friends joined Giorgio Squinzi and his family, all keen not to miss out on such an important occasion for Milan and another prestigious moment in Mapei’s corporate history. Those in attendance included the former lord mayor Gabriele Albertini, Diana Bracco, the former prime minister Romano Prodi, together with his wife, the economist Alberto Quadrio Curzio, and worldrenowned architects, Renzo Piano and Mario Botta. Ferruccio de Bortoli was joined by lots of editors of Italian newspapers, such as Maurizio Belpietro, Giancarlo Mazzucca and Antonio Calabrò, and leading figures from the world of economics and finance. Seated up on stage in the company of the Superintendent, Alexander Pereira, were the orchestra conductor, Zubin Metha, and the actor, Gerard Depardieu. There were also lots of representatives from the world of medical and scientific research, economics and finance. The music chosen by Muti and magnificently performed by his powerful orchestra was both sophisticated and striking: “Konzertmusik op. 50” for string and brass instruments by Paul Hindemith, “In the South (Alassio)” by Edward Elgar and “Night on Bald Mountain” and “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Modest Mussorgsky, the latter in the famous arrangements by Maurice Ravel. Mapei’s guests and the rest of the audience really enjoyed the programme, giving the Maestro a five-minute standing ovation and throwing yellow roses onto the stage. After performing Verdi’s overture “Vespri siciliani” as an encore, an emotional standing ovation drew this very special evening to a close. “We miss you!”, somebody shouted out from up in the gods, as the Maestro announced from the stage that: “coming to this wonderful and famous theatre has been a magical moment for the orchestra, so we hope to be back some time...”. “In 2020!”, the Superintendent, Mr Pereira, shouted out from the stage to everybody’s surprise. “We have enjoyed two wonderful days and will be back”, Mr Muti replied. “I cannot forget that, for better and for worse, I spent 20 years here and love everything this theatre represents...”. The end of the Maestro’s extremely intense two-day return to Milan’s Opera house, after being away for twelve years, went as smoothly as any “normal” evening, like a flashback to a couple of decades ago. A kind of “normality” which, perhaps partly due to an air of familiarity that all meetings and events organised by Mapei tend to have, was embraced by Riccardo Muti, who ended up chatting with all the corporate guests in the opera house foyer at the end of the evening. Mr Muti seems to be tied to the Scala Opera House by some unbreakable thread. The same kind of close bonds that connect Mapei to both Milan and the Scala Opera House and that also join together all the men and women, who, in perfect unison, have made Mapei such a great company throughout its eighty-year history