Rossini Opera Festival 2017 Season: Nino Machaidze, Ildar Abdrazakov and Nicola Alaimo Headline New Season

By Francisco Salazar

The Rossini Opera Festival has announced its 2017 summer season, featuring a mix of rare works by the famed Bel Canto composer.

The season opens on August 10 with “Le Siège de Corinthe” starring Nino Machaidze, Alex Esposito and John Irwin. Robert Abbado will conduct a new production by La Fura dels Baus. The opera, which Beverly Sills is recognized for having reinserted into the repertoire, will be performed in its original French version.

The company will reprise the 2002 Pier Luigi Pizzi production of “La Pietra del Paragone.” Starring Aya Wakizono, Aurora Faggioli, Marina Monzó and Luca Pisaroni, the production will be conducted by Daniele Rustioni. Despite the opera’s success when it premiered in 1826, “La Pietra del Paragone” fell out of the repertoire for the ensuing 150-plus years. However, it has seen a re-emergence in the past few years with a number of recordings including a famous one starring Jose Carreras.

Mario Martone’s production of “Torvaldo e Dorliska” will return after an 11-year absence. The opera will star Nicola Alaimo, Salome Jicia,  Dmitry Korchak and  Filippo Fontana and will be conducted by Francesco Lanzillotta. Outside of Pesaro, the opera has rarely been staged, though it did receive performances in Vienna and Savona in 1987 and 1989 respectively.

The Rossini ensemble opera “Il Viaggio in Reims” will return to the festival with singers from the Accademia Rossiniana and Marco Spotti in the pit.

The festival will also present Rossini’s “Stabat Mater” with an international cast including Dmitry Korchak and Erwin Schrott.

Ildar Abdrazakov will also present a special concert, with another concert featuring tenors in the queue as well. The full details on that performance will be unveiled at a later date.

The Rossini Opera Festival is a music festival that takes place every year in August in Pesaro, the birthplace of Gioachino Rossini. The festival seeks to revive, study, and perform works by the composer in a unique way. The festival will run from August 10 through 22 concluding with the “Stabat Mater.”

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