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.
Les Vêpres siciliennes
“The Teatro Massimo succeeds in creating a masterpiece. This is also due to music director Omer Meir Wellber.” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) Giuseppe Verdi composed Les Vêpres siciliennes (The Sicilian Vespers) – a story of oppression and revolt against the French rulers – in French. Palermo-born writer and director Emma Dante links the opera to present-day Palermo with the city’s mafia past and the tragic deaths of judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. This was the catalyst for a series of uprisings and social actions that led to the reopening of the Teatro Massimo and the re-appropriation of urban spaces, which are reflected in Dante’s production. While Emma Dante’s imagery creates a richness and intensity feast for the eyes, musical director Omer Meir Wellber ties the knot to make this production from the Teatro Massimo a true gem.
Rossini Opera Festival 2016: Il Turco in Italia
The performance of Il turco in Italia at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro is presented as a totally renewed production. With references to films of the iconic film director Federico Fellini “Davide Livermore brought it all together adding the perfect physical comic schtick that matched up perfectly with the musical pace of Rossini’s masterpiece – it was spectacular” (Opera Today). “Obviously the brilliant outcome of the performance is also due to Speranza Scapucci’s conducting, well prepared and highly talented, …” (Il Resto del Carlino Pesaro). The cast featuring Erwin Schrott, “who manages the most intricate colloratura effortlessly with his agile, beautiful bass- baritone…” (General-Anzeiger) and Olga Peretyatko being “the ideal cast” (Das Opernglas) made it a marvellous performance.