French band Phoenix takes a spin around the opulent Teatro Bibiena di Mantova for its new music video ‘Ti Amo’ – shot in a single take.
The electro-pop outfit performs a stripped-back live version of the track inside the Rococo theatre, as tourists – extras recruited from the Italian city – wander in and out, and lead singer Thomas Mars takes on the role of tour guide.
Production company La Blogothèque collaborated with Google Arts & Culture to create the video, which was directed by Colin Solal Cardo and shot on 35mm film.
‘The whole album was full of Italian references, and we knew that the band was very, very fond of Italian culture,’ says La Blogothèque. ‘So we began researching great iconic Italian places [to film].’
Teatro Bibiena, also known as Teatro Accademico, was built in 1769 by architect Antonio Galli Bibiena and it has a bell-shaped floorplan, popular at the time of its construction, with four rows of boxes. It’s richly decorated with gilded mouldings and frescoes by Bibiena.
In 1770, the tiny, 363-capacity venue hosted a 13-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and it’s diminutive size was part of its appeal for La Blogotheque.
‘That’s one of the most amazing features of Antonio Galli da Bibiena’s work,’ says the production company. ‘Being able to have very luxurious and ornamented decor in a small space, without making it stuffy or oppressive.’
