Enthusiastically celebrated by audience and critics: The new production of Verdi’s Otello from the Palau de les Arts “Reina Sofía” in Valencia is featuring one of best casts one can imagine for this opera: American tenor Gregory Kunde as Otello, Italian soprano Maria Agresta as Desdemona and Spanish baritone Carlos Álvarez as Iago. On the rostrum: Zubin Metha. Stage by Davide Livermore, artistic director of the “Centro de perfeccionamiento Placido Domingo” of the Palau de les Arts.
Rossini Festival Pesaro: L’Italiana in Algeri
Rossini’s first masterpiece, L’italiana in Algeri, from the prestigious Rossini Festival in Pesaro in a new production staged by Italian director Davide Livermore.
Ciro in Babilonia
Gioachino Rossini was only 20 years old when he wrote his fifth opera, Ciro in Babilonia, for the Teatro Comunale Ferrara in 1812. In this production from the Rossini Opera Festival of Pesaro (Italy), stage director Davide Livermore sets the action in the 1920s, with period black-and-white film inserts, lavish costumes in the Art Nouveau style, and decors highlighted by “Babylonian” elements. The production was a wildly cheered hit with the audience.