L'International des Feux Loto-Québec 2008
Montréal International Fireworks Competition Report

Italy Curtain of Light June 28^th, 2008

Pirotecnica Morsani S.R.L. Artistic director Telesforo Morsani, wireless digital firing with Firemaster Plus

Montréal Friday, June 27, 2008 - Often chosen in the past by the Vatican to mark important birthdays such as those of the late John Paul II and the Swiss Guards, Italian pyrotechnics firm Pirotecnica Morsani S.R.L. will perform "Curtains of Light" tomorrow evening as the 2008 International des Feux Loto-Québec presented by TELUS continues. The celebrated Roman company will be making its first appearance at Montreal’s annual international fireworks competition.

Pirotecnica Morsani S.R.L., which can be said to benefit from a papal benediction, began operations in 1880 and has all along been a true family affair. Three generations of Morsanis following in the footsteps of founder Reginaldo have kept the firm at the pyrotechnics forefront while respecting an ancestral tradition of doing things a certain way and presenting fireworks spectaculars in a distinctive Italian style.

During Pirotecnica Morsani’s original "Curtains of Light" presentation, which begins at 10 p.m., a thousand pyrotechnic pieces will gracefully interweave with a stirring soundtrack ranging from film music to operatic scores. The traditional and the modern will artfully complement one another both in the fireworks design and in the accompanying musical selections consisting of Disney tunes and film music from The Fifth Element, Chicago and Pirates of the Caribbean, as well as music from the renowned Rossini’s traditional operas Scala di Seta and La Gazza Ladra.

Pirotecnica Morsani S.R.L. arrives in Montreal with its self-designed pyrotechnic pieces, meaning that everything to be launched from Lac des Dauphins tomorrow evening was made in the province of Rieti. Who better than the Romans themselves to design what the entire international fireworks community calls "Roman candles"

Artistic director Telesforo Morsani promises special effects in the form of highly luminous colours that will light up the sky for long moments. "These Curtains of Light will have something very baroque about them and you can expect a very festive, very Italian finale!" he said.

Torrential rains in the late evening threatened to put a dampener on the debut display from the Italian team - highly anticipated since their participation in the demonstrations at the 10th International Symposium on Firewords held at La Ronde this past October. The rains eased off and the heavy mist and clouds evaporated to leave a perfectly clear sky with just enough wind to disperse the smoke. A smaller than usual audience braved wet seats and were treated to a real treat with 100% of the fireworks being manufactured by Morsani for the competition.

Part 1 to music Fantasmic from Disney Theme Parks. The display opened with crossed constrasting star candles. Then a run of fat gold mines with a large gold comet shell-of-shells above. This was followed by barrages of star shells and fans of star candles below. Next, shells of blue stars and starfish tourbillons which were then augmented by fans of bright silver comets. These were followed by fans of pale gold glitter candles and then wide fans of pastel stars with shells of star terminated broccade comets above and a run of gold glitter mines below. The star terminated broccades continued and were followed by a return to the gold glitter comet candles below and then fans of starmine meteor comets. Above these, multi break gold comet shells with barrage after barrage of these and then huge star shells with pistils and mines of stars below. The mine fonts continued with volleys of large shells of comets and shells of stars ending in crackle. Sequences of mines with studatas above in gold glitter were augmented by sequenced fans of gold glitter comets below in perfect synchronization, then a barrage of strobe shells and a large barrage of comet shells with titanium salutes, bringing the segment to a close as the music seamless transitioned to

Part 2 to music The Champions from the film The Fifth Element by Hera. Volleys of gold comet shells were followed by star mine candles with pale gold comet shells above and then larger pale gold comet shells. This theme continued and was followed by fans of kamuro comet candles and mines. These were followed by shells of thicker pale gold comets and then shells of deep coloured strobes. A fan of kamuro candles in the centre was augmented by shells of small stars. These were followed by starmine candles and shells of comets above followed by gold glitter comets and bright strobe shells above and then bright starmines with silver comets. These were followed by broccade shells turning from blue to broccade. This theme continued and then barrages of silver comet shells and titanium salutes as the launch of large multibreaks lead into

Part 3 to music He's a Pirate from the film Pirates of the Caribbean by Klaus Badelt. Gold comet multibreaks burst into the sky with barrage after barrage of these. Then shells of salute terminated comets, barrages of titanium salutes and shells of thick silver comets. This theme continued and was followed by barrage after barrage of multi-break shells of stars and large studatas as starmine comet candles opened up below. These continued and then synchronzied glitter mines brought the segment to a close as the music transition to

Part 4 to music The Last of the Mohicans from the film of the same name by Randy Edelman / Trevor Jones. Large trailing kamuro shells above were augmented by crossed gold glitter comet candles below. Above these, large comet shells with pistils and then a return to the kamuro shells. This more serene theme continued and then lead into

Part 5 to music Eternal Alexander by Vangelis. Barrages of shells of small spinning stars started serenely. The spinning star shells continued for some time and were then augmented by shells of stars turning into tourbillons. These were followed by thick mines of pale silver and then a move to kamuro shells above, trailing to the lake. These were followed by silver rain shells and then wide fans of pale gold comets below. This theme continued and was augmented by beautiful double farfalle shells. The farfalle shells continued and were followed by a return to the thick comet fans below and then huge shells with pistils above, with colour changes and changing to strobes or with strobing pistils, filling the skym the segment coming to a close with large weeping silver rain shells and a fan of glitter comets below.

Part 6 to music Overture - All That Jazz from the film Chicago by Danny Elfman. Shells of small spinning stars / go-getters were followed by fast sequenced dazzling white comets mines dancing with the music and were followed by mines of strobes with the same in shells above. This theme continued and was followed by shells of salute terminated colour stars. The salute theme was augmented by multibreak shells and titanium salutes as star mines returned below and then a return to the strobe theme which then moved into larger deeper coloured strobes above. Runs of stars and glitter comets below were followed by note synchronized thick silver mines and then gorgeous triple farfalle shells above with glitter comets below, bringing the segment to a close.

Part 7 to music Overture - La Scala di Seta by Giocchino Rossini. A barrage of shells and front of mines opened the penultimate segment, forming almost half of the show between them. Star candles with small star shells above formed the initial theme. Then fat comet fans and comet shells above. Kamuro bombettes were next and were followed by shells of small falling stars augmented by meteor comet fans below increasing in intensity with the music and moving to saturn shells above. A more serene theme with crackling bombettes and tourbillons. This was followed by fans of gold glitter dust comets and then brighter gold dust comet candles and a return to brighter crackling bombettes. As the music crescendoed,the pace of the shells increased and large multibreaks fired above. A more serene theme with shells of stars and starfish tourbillons. This was followed by star mine candles with comet shells above and augmented by titanium salutes and more large multibreaks and large shells with pistils as the titanium salutes continued. Drum rolls were accented by shells of salute terminated stars which were followed by bright gold meteor comet candles. This theme continued and then was augmented by star shells above and then starmine comets below. Fans of thin gold comets with shells of strobes above formed the next motif and then a return to shells of small stars with gold glitter mines below. The shells of small stars continued, some mines of strobing kamuro and then a return to the drumroll salutes. Crossed starmine candles with shells of stars above formed the next theme augmented by large shells of star terminated willow comets above. Shells of small go-getters were next and sequenced multibreaks in red and blue above. Starfish tourbillon comet shells followed and were followed by shells with pistils turning to silver comets, filling the sky. These were followed by shells of crackling willow comets below with mines of strobes beneath them as the music transition to

Part 8 to music Overture - La Gazza Ladra by Giocchino Rossini. WOW Watch the video - this five minute segment had a perfect blend of drama and serene moments, the fireworks perfectly following the crescendos in the music building to a stunning climax that only the Italians can pull off. Brilliant!

A fantastic debut display from the Italian team demonstrating their prowess in the art of the Roman Candle and a beautiful assortment of shells, particularly the large multibreaks, studatas and triple farfalles. The colours were gorgeous and the display was beautifully executed without too much reptition. The main downside was that no use was made of the lake at all - this will cost them points in the new judging system. A fabulous finale that deafened the crowd and lead to roars of appreciation at the end. Synchronization was good, but the complexity of the display could have been higher, particularly in the Gaza Ladra section where there are many opportunities to dazzle (recall IPON in 1998 for example). All that said, a fabulous display!

Thanks to the public relations people of La Ronde for the official press release material, shown in white.