Don Carlo

“vocal luxury was the order of the day”(Die Deutsche Bühne) In this new production of Verdi’s Don Carlo, director Kirill Serebrennikov sets the opera in a historic costume research institute, blending history with the present. Silent actors in historic costumes symbolize self-aggrandizement and emotional confinement. Conductor Philippe Jordan is praised for his sensitivity. Joshua Guerrero effectively portrays Don Carlo, while Etienne Dupuis’s Posa is a charming freedom fighter. Roberto Tagliavini stands out as Filippo II, and Eve-Maud Hubeaux impresses alongside Asmik Grigorian, who shines in her role debut as Elisabetta, delivering a powerful performance that resonates deeply with the audience.

Salzburg Festival 2017: Aida

“Passionate and unconditionally dedicated” (Süddeutsche Zeitung), Anna Netrebko makes her role debut as Aida at the Salzburg Festival, joined by Francesco Meli as Radamès and Ekaterina Semenchuk as her rival Amneris. In the pit: no other than Verdi expert Riccardo Muti, “our finest Verdi conductor” who “creates effects you didn’t quite think possible” (NY Times). This Aida is the first opera staging by award-winning Iranian film-maker, photographer and video artist Shirin Neshat, known for her critical examinations of gender roles and religious fundamentalism. “Lyric sensitivity and searing power – Ms. Netrebko is ready for Aida!” (New York 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.

Bizet, Les pêcheurs de perles

Set in ancient times on the island of Ceylon, Bizet’s oper about two men’s vow of eternal friendship threatened by their love for the same woman, is a magificent example of Bizet’s gifts for melody and evocative instrumentation. This prodution from the stunning Teatro San Carlo was celebrated enthusiastically by audience and critics: “I have rarely seen a production as beautiful and faithful to the music.” (Paolo Isotta, Corriere della Sera)

Verdi: Requiem from Santa Cecilia

Set in the astonishing context of the “Basilica di San Paolo fuori le Mura”, one of the papal basilicas of Rome, this program combines Verdi’s Requiem, the excellent baton of British conductor Daniel Harding and one of the leading Italian orchestras and choir, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. Harding’s interpretation of Verdi’s famous funeral mass recreates “an immaterial, disembodied, spiritual sound, suitable for this extreme meditation on the end of life and on the mystery that lies after life” (Il giornale della musica). The excellent soloists Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, Yulia Matochkina, Charles Catronovo, Roberto Tagliavini contribute to an outstanding performance and an optimal fusion with the choir’s sound. “The last bars, with the crescendo never heard so full of controlled tension and the following pianissimo “dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem”, left the audience deeply touched and speechless: Only after a silence of emotional recollection, which seemed to never end, did the intense applause break out” (il giornale della musica).