It is an event that attracts thousands of music lovers to Verona every summer: the opera season in the ancient Roman Arena. Nearly 22,000 spectators regularly fill the amphitheater for the performances. The dream couple of opera, Sonya Yoncheva and Vittorio Grigolo, returns to the breathtaking open-air stage, to perform Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca. Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva is “one of the best Toscas currently singing” and Vittorio Grigolo “the most Italian Cavaradossi we know. With lots of wonderful melting, elegant and nonchalant full of triumphant greatness a triumph all along the line” (Online Merker). The captivating staging by Argentine director Hugo de Ana, who masterfully exploits the amphitheatre’s vast space by placing huge elements on the stage that are reminiscent of or borrowed from the locations of the action, makes the opera a “spectacle of monumental opulence” (Online Merker). “A Tosca to relish!” (Artesnews.it) “standing ovation Tosca at the Arena di Verona” (Operalife).
Verdi: Jérusalem
For Verdi lovers, the Festival Verdi in Parma is the place to be, especially for rare Verdi stagings such as “Jérusalem”. The opulent staging by Hugo de Ana, also responsible for the grandiose set design and gorgeous costumes, is “overwhelming with its phenomenal illusionist effects and breathtaking desert scenes” (klassik-begeistert.de). Star tenor Ramón Vargas sings Gaston and Annick Massis his lover Hélène. Pablo Galvez impresses as Count of Toulouse, whose brother Roger is excellently sung by Michele Pertusi. Under the baton of Daniele Calligari, the Chorus of the Teatro Regio di Parma gives an outstanding performance.