Teatro dell’Opera di Roma 2017-18 Review – I Masnadieri: Roberta Mantegna, Artur Rucinski Dominate in Brilliant But Bleak Production By Massimo Popolizio

It is always interesting to come across a performance of one of Verdi’s lesser known works, although you cannot always be certain of what you will get. Normally, these works are rarely performed for a reason – namely because they are not particularly strong. “Un Giorno di Regno” immediately springs to mind. But sometimes there seems to be no apparent {…}

Teatro dell’Opera di Roma 2017-18 Review – Fra Diavolo: Great Singing & Production Marry Comedy & Drama Seamlessly

During the 19th century “Fra Diavolo,” written by Auber to a libretto by Scribe, was one of France’s most popular operas, amassing over 900 performances at the Opéra Comique, before finally being dropped from the repertoire in 1907. Nowadays, it has largely been forgotten, with only the occasional rare outing, of which Opera Roma’s is the latest offering. Yet, based {…}