Please note: The title of the work should always be listed in the local language.
The world premiere performances took place in the Storica Cantina Pietrantonj – Via Piano Santa Maria in Vittorito (AQ), Abruzzo, Italy on May 9, 10, and 11, 2025. It was presented as L’Anima del Vino (2025).
A trailer and a complete video of the Vittorito production can be found at the bottom of this page. Please read what follows in order to understand how the work was conceived and how future productions might be approached.
For French-speaking countries/situations: L’Âme du Vin (2025)
For Italian-speaking countries/situations: L’Anima del Vino (2025)
For English-speaking countries/situations: The Soul of Wine (2025)
For German-speaking countries/situations: Die Seele des Weins (2025)
Etc., etc.
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Poems by Charles Baudelaire
Concept and Music by Larry Alan Smith
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Larry Alan Smith
This highly improvisatory, multimedia work is meant to be presented at wineries, vineyards, wine stores, wine-focused restaurants, etc. Wherever there is a bottle of wine, there is the possibility of a performance of The Soul of WIne (2025).
It is very unlikely that any two performances will ever be the same. This is, in fact, a desired goal. Even multiple performances by the same creative team in the same place should constantly strive to evolve.
Charles Baudelaire
The actor (or actors) will deliver the five “wine” poems by Charles Baudelaire (from Les Fleurs du Mal) in his or her (or their) unique way using the local language. All translations should begin with the French originals. AI-generated translations are acceptable as long as they remain faithful to the original poems and meet the highest possible literary and artistic standards. If a creative team uses a translation that is in copyright, it will be up to the producers to secure the rights to those translations.
The instrumentation is completely flexible, and although at least one live musician playing any instrument and/or singing is required, the work can be performed by musical forces of any size, up to and including large instrumental and/or choral ensembles. The musical basis for the performance is a collection of five acousmatic works, Illusioni I-V (2017-18), by composer Larry Alan Smith. These works include a total of 13 movements. Because they are electro-acoustic works, audio playback and sufficient amplification for the performance space are necessary. In addition, there is an extremely flexible graphic score to guide and inspire each creative team.
One of the 13 movements . . . Illusioni V (2018) – Movement 2
The dancer (or dancers) may seek permission to use existing choreography from an earlier performance, including the premiere performances in Italy. It is also possible (and perhaps even preferable) to create new choreography that reflects the unique qualities of the people, the place, and the local wine being celebrated.
When possible, spread the seating for the audience throughout the space in imaginative ways. This is not about audience members being lined up in rows facing the performers. The creative team should make use of the entire space and incorporate special features of the space into the staging. Performers should come and go, and can position themselves above, below, behind, to the side, and to the front of where individual audience members might be seated.
It is strongly recommended that wine be served to the performers and attendees following any performance!
Storica Cantina Pietrantonj – Antica Casa Vitivinicola Italo Pietrantonj in Vittorito, Italy
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Permission to present, record, and/or broadcast this work must be obtained from the publisher.
Tallow Tree Music Publishing
For details, please contact Larry Alan Smith.
Email: larryalansmith@gmail.com
Cell Phone and WhatsApp: +1 (860) 558-7965 (including text messaging)
Theodore Presser Company is the Exclusive Worldwide Distributor for Tallow Tree Music Publishing.
Producers will be charged for licenses on a per use basis regardless of the size of the creative team or the location of the venue.
In the spirit of this wine-focused project, fees may be paid with money (any major currency), with high quality and interesting wine, or a combination of the two!
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Producers are free to involve the composer and/or engage any member of the original creative team from the Italian world premiere performances. That team includes Laura Tiburi (actor), Stefania Di Massa (choreographer/dancer), Gaetano Di Bacco (saxophonist), and Larry Alan Smith (speaker/singer and percussionist using “found percussion”). Contact Larry Alan Smith should you want to be in touch with any of the artists listed above. Fees for these individuals will be negotiated separately from any licensing agreement.
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For more information about Larry Alan Smith’s interest in wine, visit LAS and wine.
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Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
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The following trailer briefly introduces the work and the performers who participated in the May 2025 premiere performances in Vittorito, Abruzzo, Italy. Duration: 46 seconds
The complete video of the work documents the May 2025 premiere performances in Vittorito, Abruzzo, Italy. Duration: 49 minutes and 11 seconds – This timing includes the arrival and departure of the cast and audience members due to the unique features of the space that was being used.
In this production, the audience gathered in a separate room where Larry Alan Smith gave some opening comments in Italian. The video begins with the final section of those remarks:
Infine . . . dal mio cuore . . .
Il vino vive.
Respira,
E parla.
Lo so perché
Mi ha parlato.
Il vino emerge dalla terra
Con l’intervento
Di mani umane premurose
E la generosità degli dei
Che ci donano luce
E pioggia
E amore.
Il vino ha un battito,
Il vino ha un cuore,
E più importante,
Il vino ha un’anima.
Entriamo ora in questo spazio sacro ai suoni dell’uva in fermentazione e celebriamo L’Anima del Vino. Grazie.
English translation:
Finally . . . from my heart . . .
Wine lives.
It breathes,
And it speaks.
I know this because
It has spoken to me.
Wine emerges from the earth
With the intervention
Of caring human hands
And the generosity of the gods
Who give us light
And rain
And love.
Wine has a heartbeat,
Wine has a heart,
And most importantly,
Wine has a soul.
Let us now enter this sacred space to the sounds of fermenting grapes and celebrate The Soul of Wine. Thank you.
L’Anima del Vino (2025) – The Soul of Wine (2025)
Poems by Charles Baudelaire
Concept and Music by Larry Alan Smith
Laura Tiberi, actor
Stefania Di Massa, choreographer and dancer
Gaetano Di Bacco, saxophonist
Larry Alan Smith, singer, speaker, and percussionist (found percussion)
A note about the video . . . The firm that was engaged to make the video planned to use two cameras to capture the fifth and final Vittorito performance. However, 25 minutes into the work, the second camera malfunctioned. Thanks to some outstanding editing by a videographer in Brooklyn, New York, we have a record of this first production.
Larry Alan Smith 