(Credit: © Michele Monasta)

This week, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino will perform “The Death of Klinghoffer” for the first time in a high-profile production directed by Luca Guadagnino. The cast will feature many familiar faces, including Marina Comparato, who will return to Florence, continuing a long-standing artistic relationship with the Teatro del Maggio.

For this production Comparato will perform the part the Swiss Grandmother/Austrian Woman. In a statement the mezzo said, “Performing ‘The Death of Klinghoffer’ at a time when the winds of war are blowing so fiercely is not easy. The opera recounts a deeply tragic episode. My invitation is not to stop at the title, but to engage with the many layers and viewpoints of this story that, sadly, still speaks to the present, giving voice to those who have none. I hope this production — to quote Luca Guadagnino — offers ‘the ability to look with compassion, within the complexity of the human condition, at the tragedy unfolding before us’. That, ultimately, has always been the purpose of theatre.”

A specialist in Mozart roles with a passion for the Baroque and Romantic repertoire, the mezzo has performed at the Teatro del Maggio, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, La Fenice, Teatro Carlo Felice, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro Real in Madrid, and the Glyndebourne Festival.

Audiences not in Florence, the opera will be broadcast on Rai Radio 3 and Rai 5. She will return to the Teatro La Fenice this summer in June.

Recordings

For audiences interested in hearing more from the mezzo, you can listen to her latest album, “Romantic Florence” for Dynamic.