Messa da Requiem

TUTTO VERDI – this edition to mark the Verdi bicentenary sets standards by which all similar projects will be judged. It includes all twenty-six operas by the greatest Italian stage composer, together with his immortal Requiem, all of them in definitive performances. “This is how Verdi should be played” – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on TUTTO VERDI

Verdi wrote his Messa da Requiem in 1873-74 for Alessandro Manzoni. a poet whom he much admired. Like Brahms’s German Requiem, Verdi’s Mass for the Dead is not intended for liturgical use but for the concert hall. ln addition to its profound spirituality, this masterpiece brings together the finest qualities from Verdi’s operas: endless melodic lines and captivating musico-dramatic effects.

Norma

The reigning queen of bel canto, Edita Gruberova has laid the cornerstone for a new ‘Norma’ legend in her first stage performance of this virtuoso role. The premiere of Vincenzo Bellini’s opera at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich marked a resounding new triumph in the singer’s career. Sharing the stage with Gruberova were Zoran Todorovich, Roberto Scandiuzzi, Sonia Ganassi and other renowned soloists, along with the chorus of the Bavarian State Opera. Friedrich Haider conducted the production directed by Jürgen Rose.

Donizetti: Maria Stuarda

Maria Stuarda is the most popular work in Gaetano Donizetti´s triology of bel canto operas on Tudor queens, a triology that also includes Anna Bolena and Roberto Devereux. The production of Venice´s beautiful Teatro La Fenice, which was gloriously rebuilt after the fire of 1996, shows Queen Mary and her embittered foe Elizabeth both as prisoners of passion for the same man, trapped in a labyrinth that is the central set-element in Italian-based Franco-Tunisian director Denis Krief´s staging. “To conjure up… hatred and jealousy, you don´t need a stage setting, just two splendid prima donnas: Sonia Ganassi and Fiorenza Cedolins.” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)

Mozart Requiem at Arena di Verona

W.A. Mozart’s famous and moving Requiem was performed for the first time in the 2000-year old Arena in Verona. The concert on the impressively designed stage set in the middle of the Arena with the choir standing in a circle around the arena became a collective prayer in an open-air cathedral. Marco Armiliato conducts four excellent soloists and Chorus & Orchestra of the Arena di Verona. The performance of great symbolic impact is dedicated to the victims of the Coronavirus. “An event of great symbolic impact” connessidellopera.it

Mosè in Egitto

From the prestigious Rossini Festival in Pesaro comes a thought-provoking interpretation of Rossini’s azione tragico-sacra “Mosè in Egitto”. Topping the cast of high-caliber vocalists are Sonia Ganassi and Dmitry Korchak as two lovers drawn into the political turmoil of their time. Director Graham Vick’s interpretation centers on a condemnation of all religious fundamentalism. Designed by Stuart Nunn, the set evokes a bombed-out edifice and provides a chilling setting for Rossini’s haunting melodies. With the gifted Roberto Abbado on the podium, “the music is free to carry its timeless message” (La Stampa).

Maria Stuarda

‘Maria Stuarda’, the tragedy of the Stuart Queen Mary and her embittered foe Elizabeth, is the most popular work in Donizetti’s trilogy of bel canto operas on Tudor queens (next to ‘Anna Bolena’ and ‘Roberto Devereux’). The production of Venice’s Teatro La Fenice shows Maria and Elisabetta both as prisoners, trapped in a labyrinth that is the central set element in Italian-based Franco-Tunisian director Denis Krief’s staging. With his sharp and lively conducting, Fabrizio Maria Carminati puts the Orchestra of the Teatro La Fenice entirely at the service of three exceptional singers, Sonia Ganassi (‘an extraordinary performance,’ Opera Today) as Elisabetta, Fiorenza Cedolins (‘colorful, nuanced, highly dramatic heroine,’ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) as Maria Stuarda, and José Bros as a passionate Leicester. The recording was made at Venice’s beautiful Teatro La Fenice, rebuilt after the fire that destroyed it in 1996.