(Credit: Roberto Ricci)

On April 28, the Festival Verdi held a Spring Gala at the Metropolitan Club in New York City.

The gala event was especially organized for the International Friends of Festival Verdi, which represent a number of donors who give to the annual festival held in September.

The gala opened with a General reception and was followed by a dinner curated by Massimo Bottura and the osteria Francescana Team. The dinner consisted of a five-course meal that began with a soup with the name “It’s Spring in Emilia,” followed by a risotto entitled “Levante.” The following courses were a crunchy lasagna with the pasta appearing in the colors of the Italian flag and a veal with a psychedelic spin. The final course was the dessert, a cherry blossom Vignola.

During the dinner, General Director Anna Maria Meo made remarks about the festival and the program for this upcoming season. Parma’s Mayor Federico Pizzarotti was in attendance as was the IFFV President
James E. Miller. Both also made remarks thanking guests for their contributions to the festival.

The evening also had a musical performance by Eleonora Buratto, who performed arias from “Madama Butterfly” and “Un Ballo in Maschera.” Maestro Riccardo Frizza was in attendance with his wife soprano Davinia Rodriguez. Frizza will conduct at the festival this fall in a production of “Simon Boccanegra.”

The evening ended in an auction hosted by Brook Hazelton.