Love Duets – Sonya Yoncheva & Vittorio Grigolo at Arena di Verona

In the imposing Arena di Verona, soprano Sonya Yoncheva and tenor Vittorio Grigolo present with dramatic and passionate synergy an evening of the most beautiful operatic love arias and duets in opera history. Passion that burns, consumes and sometimes kills is the central theme of this concert including arias from Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod as well as from Puccini´s Tosca, La bohème, Madama Butterfly and Verdi´s La traviata, all conducted by Plácido Domingo. Sonya Yoncheva has the full and vibrant timbre of a true lyrical soprano while Vittorio Grigolo, like Cavaradossi and Rodolfo, plays the cards of ardor and passion, with sweet and affectionate colors. An overall successful evening.

Opera Gala für die deutsche Aids Stiftung

Excerpts from the musical program of the 5th Opera Gala for the German AIDS Foundation on 21 May 2016 at the Bonn Opera House. Featuring renowned singes like Simone Kermes, Roberto De Biasio and Robin Johannsen.

L’Elisir d’amore

“A soothing love potion for the ears and eyes that you’ll want to sip again and again.” (onlinemerker.de) In his iconic production of L’elisir d’amore for the Wiener Staatsoper, legendary director Otto Schenk works with a great attention to detail. Together with his congenial set designer Jürgen Rose, they bathe the stage in a warm, southern light and create a Mediterranean flair. Bogdan Volkov in the role of Nemorino “is not only an outstanding singer with a bright, ingratiating tenor voice, finely audible in his parade aria “Una furtiva Lacrima”, but also a pleasure to perform”. Maria Nazarova “is an enchanting and charming Adina and captivates with her crystal-clear soprano, sparkling coloratura and some inlaid high notes.” (onlinemerker.de)

Salzburg Festival 2021: Don Giovanni

Vitality and destruction: Romeo Castellucci sees one of the fascinations of Don Giovanni in this essential ambivalence. In his interpretation of the opera, he penetrates deep into the myth of the character and creates an aestheticised world of fantasy with striking images, such as that of the 150 women, with which he underlines the horror of the title hero’s empty, heartless string of conquests. Musically, there is drama in spades from Currentzis and musicAeterna Orchestra in the pit. Their razor sharp, high-energy approach is clearly an inspiring environment for the largely young cast, too, and results in a terrific performance: “After four long hours of Mozart in Salzburg, one feels refreshed, even invigorated, floating out into the rainy night on clouds of sound and images. Rarely has a team taken Mozart’s genre designation dramma giocoso seriously in such a radically lavish, detailobsessed and conceptually strong way.” Die Zeit / “The most unusual Giovanni the world has ever seen”. Die Welt

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).