Gioachino Rossini’s Otello returns to the place of ist premiere 200 years ago in the inspired staging of director Amos Gitai at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. The stellar vocal cast is led by John Osborn, who shines in the highly difficult title role, and Nino Machaidze as outstanding Desdemona. Gabriele Ferro conducts the flawless orchestra and chorus of the Teatro San Carlo. An Otello that “evokes modern dramas” (Formiche) with “standing ovations for Machaidze and Osborn!” (Corriere del mezzogiorno)
Prometeo
Punished for stealing the fire from the gods to bring the light of science and art to men, Prometheus has to endure darkness. In Luigi Nono’s “tragedy of listening” Prometeo the hero’s fate and his inner conflicts are transformed into a deeply impressive listening experience with the help of a fascinating spatial sound concept. It comes into its own in a rare staging at the spectacular Baroque cultural monument Teatro Farnese, conducted by Marco Angius. “A fascinating journey through sound!” (Gazzetta di Parma)
Ricciardo e Zoraide
To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the premiere of the Rossini rarity, the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro stages “Ricciardo e Zoraide” with an all-star cast. Juan Diego Flórez makes his debut as the crusader Ricciardo, giving a “masterclass in bel canto” (Bachtrack). Pretty Yende – “radiant and richly expressive” (Financial Times) as Zoraide – proves that she is “a virtuosa in Rossini singing” (Neue Musikzeitung).
Verdi: Falstaff
At Festival Verdi, the city of Parma celebrates its most distinguished son, Giuseppe Verdi, with exceptional stagings such as Jacopo Spirei’s take on the composer’s last opera “Falstaff”. In a contemporary British setting, Italian baritone Roberto de Candia gives a hilarious performance in the title role, but at the same time manages to outline’s Falstaff’s melancholy. The role of the jealous husband is played by Giorgio Caoduro, who exhibits “excellent vocal qualities, his timbre clear and vibrant, his intonation perfect.” (Bachtrack) Riccardo Frizza conducts the bittersweet comedy.
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.
Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman)
At Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, maestro Fabio Luisi gives “a superb performance” (Operawire) of Der Fliegende Holländer, the forerunner of grand Wagnerian dramas. His Italian Richard Wagner debut is infused with energy and drive, under his direction the orchestra and chorus of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, together with Coro Ars Lyrica, sparkle “in
what was a five star performance” (Operawire). Thomas Gazheli stars as the Dutchman, who has been condemned to endlessly wander the seas until the day of Judgement. Marjorie Owens shines as his saviour Senta.
Il Trovatore
A monumental staging by late legendary director Franco Zeffirelli brings superstar Anna Netrebko to the Arena of Verona where she is giving her much-anticipated debut in one of Giuseppe Verdi’s most popular operas, Il Trovatore. Zeffirelli created a legendary scenery within the Arena, one of the most spectacular open-air venues of the world. Next to Anna Netrebko as Leonora perform Verdi accomplished baritone Luca Salsi as Count di Luna. Yusif Eyvazov returns to the Arena as his powerful-voiced opponent Manrico. MET star Dolora Zajick as Azucena and young rising Italian bass Riccardo Fassi as Ferrando join the prestigious ensemble. The revered master of opera Franco Zeffirelli, who died shortly before the premiere of Il Trovatore, created a legendary scenery with groups of giant sized armoured knights, a fortress turning into a luminous cathedral, an enormous choir, horses, breathtaking fights: “his perhaps best arena production” (Opernglas).
L’equivoco stravagante
The directing duo Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier create a superb and witty realization of L’equivoco stravagante (The Bizarre Misunderstanding), one of the less-known operas of Gioachino Rossini. In addition to the amusing ironic staging, conductor Carlo Rizzi together with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI and his excellent singer ensemble including Teresa Iervolino and Davide Luciano offer an absolute musical highlight of the Rossini Festival. “The evening is simply stunning” (Neue Musik Zeitung).
La campana sommersa
Best-known for his brilliantly evocative and rightly popular trilogy of tone-poems on Rome, Italian composer Ottorino Respighi was also a noted composer of operas. His gloriously lyrical and opulently orchestrated adaptation of Gerhart Hauptmann’s fin de siècle allegory Die versunkene Glocke (The Sunken Bell), the opera La campana sommersa is Respighi’s operatic masterpiece – a magical, if ultimately tragic, tale of the love between a mortal human and an immortal fairy.
Die Zauberflöte
Accompanied by a luxurious team of professionals,led by renowned stage director Peter Stein and conductor Ádám Fischer, a number of international young singers were given the opportunity to introduce themselves to the public of La Scala in an extremely high level setting. The result was an instant success, not only with the audience of La Scala, which is famous for its more than critical loggionisti, but also with the television audience, where the live broadcast reached record breaking viewing rates. According to Die Presse Fischer “gets the best out of the Accademia Orchestra with delicate execution and humane phrasing” while the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung praises “the high number of promising young voices”, including the “radiantly brilliant Newcomer Fatma Said as Pamina and Yasmin Özkan as a flawlessly great Queen of the Night”.