(Photo: Studio UV – Fondazione Teatro Donizetti ) When one thinks of Donizetti, one immediately thinks of opera: sparkling comedies or intense melodramas. Yet it must be remembered that Donizetti also composed, almost furtively, a large number of intimate, inventive, exquisitely crafted songs. These pieces reveal an introspective and confessional version of him, endowed with a surprisingly wide expressive palette. {…}
(Photo: Amati Bacciardi / ROF 2025) Soirées musicales After the triumph of his last opera, “Guillaume Tell,” Gioachino Rossini decided to abandon theatrical composition and retire to his home in Paris to recover from nervous exhaustion. Even so, he never stopped writing music: he composed for himself, for Olympe Pélissier–whom he married in 1846 after the death of Isabella Colbran–and {…}
(Photo: Maria Rosenblatt) With the start of the Wexford Festival Opera now only a matter of days away, OperaWire has been busy with recent interviews featuring some of the artists involved. One of the more intriguing productions at this year’s festival is “La Ciociara,” set in Italy during the Second World War. Having just interviewed its composer, we thought it {…}
