Rossini’s opera Adelaide di Borgogna was performed for the first time in Rome in December 1817, inaugurating the 1818 Carnival season. Since then, it has been revived only a few times in modern times, and the first performance in stage form was at the Rossini Opera Festival in 2011. For this new staging of the opera, French director Arnaud Bernard employs a play-within a-play device to portray the characters as singers rehearsing Adelaide di Borgogna for a performance at ROF. The drama outside of the Adelaide narrative in which the cast had their own stories became interwoven with the opera itself: “The evening was a resounding success” (bachtrack.com). “As Adelaide, Olga Peretyatko alternated between alluring vocal warmth and warrior-like grit in razor-sharp coloratura.” Financial Times
Le Siège de Corinthe
When Rossini’s opera Le Siège de Corinthe was premiered in 1826 in Paris it became a huge success all over Europe. The Rossini Opera Festival presents the opera in a new production from Carlus Padrissa of the Barcelona collective La Fura dels Baus, “which here has one of its most interesting shows” (connessiallopera.it). Artisticly “Roberto Abbado holds the ranks excellently and supports a well-cohesive and balanced cast” (L’ape musicale) “where bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni growled fearsomely as Sultan Mahomet, tenor Sergey Romanovsky as Néoclès matched a warm tone with pinging top notes, and tenor John Irvin was self-assured as Cléomène, but soprano Nino Machaidze as Pamyra thrilled most of all, as she purred effortlessly through pyrotechnic coloratura” (Financial Times).
Moïse et Pharaon
Moise et Pharon opened the 2021 Rossini Opera Festival. Stage director Pier Luigi Pizzi handling direction, sets and costumes worked his magic: The sparse sets and computer animations were reminiscents of American artist James Turrell’s lights and spaces in their simplicity and impact. The extensive ballet is a highly imaginative and irresistibly camp dance interlude and Eleonora Buratto’s (Anaï) sumptuous voice sparkles through the registers and displays extraordinarily beautiful moments witnessed in decades. Mezzo-soprano Vasilisa Berzhanskaya (Sinaide) is a magnificent discovery: Possessing a true bel canto voice, her second act is spine-tingling. Among the highlights is also Roberto Tagliavini’s splendid final prayer “Des cieux ou tu resides” in the role of Moise. The RAI orchestra under the baton of Giacomo Sagripanti delivers an emotional and powerful interpretation of the score.
Rossini Opera Festival 2022: Le Comte Ory
“French soprano Julie Fuchs was a superb Adèle […] a terrific soprano, light yet incisive, and the pinpoint accuracy of her coloratura was staggering.” (Bachtrack.com) Le comte Ory is a comedic opera by Gioachino Rossini set in medieval France. The opera, Rossini’s only French comedy, is known for its sparkling music, including well-known arias such as Adèle’s aria “En proie à la tristesse”, Comte Ory’s aria “Que les destins prospères” and the duet Ory-Isolier “Voyez donc, voyez donc le traître”. Rossini’s score is characterized by its elaborate vocal lines, quick-witted humour, and beautiful ensemble pieces. Le comte Ory is a delightful and light-hearted comedy that showcases Rossini’s skill at blending humour and music.
Rossini Opera Festival 2022: Otello
Otello is an opera by Gioachino Rossini based on William Shakespeare’s play Othello. Set in Cyprus, the opera tells the story of the Moorish general Otello, who is manipulated by his ensign Iago into believing that his wife Desdemona is unfaithful. As a result, Otello succumbs to jealousy and murders Desdemona, only to realize too late that he has been duped by Iago. In the end, Otello kills himself in remorse. Rossini’s Otello significantly differs from William Shakespeare’s play (and Verdi’s opera), particularly by elevating the character Rodrigo to a major role alongside Otello and Iago, having earned the work the nickname “opera of the three tenors”. “The three warriors acting out their masculinity are all tenors: Antonino Siragusa gives the scheming Iago in an ingratiating and at the same time sharply determined manner; Enea Scala, on the other hand, impresses as Otello […] Dmitry Korchak impresses above all with “Che ascolto”, his virtuoso aria of despair that gets under the skin.” (Tagesspiegel)