Michele Mariotti has been named Principal conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai starting in October 2026. His tenure will be for three years and he will succeed Andrès Orozco-Estrada, who led the orchestra from 2023 to 2026. In a statement RAI CEO Giampaolo Rossi said, “It is a pleasure and an honor to introduce Michele Mariotti as the {…}
The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma has announced that its Artistic Direction will remain until 2030. The company announced that Michele Mariotti, Eleonora Abbagnato and Ciro Visco will remain as artistic leaders of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma until 2030, extending into the future the vision and cultural planning that have characterized the past few years. Music Director Michele Mariotti will {…}
(Photo: Fabrizio Sansoni) Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera opened its season with “Lohengrin,” last heard at the Teatro Costanzi a half century ago, in 1975. Once Wagner’s most popular opera in this country, it fell out of favor with the new dogma of presenting operas in their original language. Between 1933 and 1966, it was performed on average every other season. Then {…}
(Credit: Bernd Uhlig) “Aida,” as we know, was supposed to be Giuseppe Verdi’s last opera. At least, he thought so. Along with his powerful “Requiem,” and all its operatic overtones, his very final work to come, the moving and gentle “Quattro Pezzi Sacri” – “Aida” was supposedly the prolific master’s operatic swan song. But, well, that is certainly not what {…}
On March 23, ORF III will broadcast the Wiener Staatsoper’s new production of Bellini’s “Norma.” The new production by Cyril marks the first time in 10 years that the work is presented at the Wiener Staatsoper and the first staged production in almost 45 years. Michele Mariotti conducts an all-star cast led by Federica Lombardi, who makes her role debut {…}
The Teatro La Fenice has announced that Michele Mariotti will conduct the annual New Year’s concert. The concert will be held on Dec. 28, 30, 31, 2025, and Jan. 1, 2026. Alfonso Caiani will lead the chorus. The Jan. 1 evening will be broadcast on Rai 1. Soloists will be announced at a later date. Mariotti is the Musical Director of {…}
(Photo: Amati Bacciardi) “Ermione” managed only seven performances when premiered at Naples’ San Carlo in 1816 before being shelved. It had to wait until 1987 to be revived, when it received its first modern staging at the Pesaro Rossini Opera Festival. Since then, it has had numerous performances, with each adding to its reputation as one of the composer’s most {…}
Michele Mariotti is set to conduct Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” on Feb. 20, 2024. In a statement, Mariotti said, “Pergolesi’s ‘Stabat Mater’ and Stravinsky’s ‘Pulcinella’ are divided by almost two centuries of history, but show a very strong connection based precisely on Pergolesi’s music. The Stabat Mater is a masterpiece of classicism, an example of the crystalline purity {…}
Credit: Vincent Beaume When Pierre Audi, the director of Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, announced that Jonas Kaufmann and Ludovic Tézier would sing in a one-night-only concert version of “Otello,” tickets sold out in a minute. Even admittance for critics was scarce, and the festival gave seats out only when audience members turned in their tickets. Ill in London, Kaufmann canceled. This reviewer’s {…}
The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma is set to present Verdi’s Requiem with Michele Mariotti conducting. The performance is set to take place on Feb. 15, 2023, three days after the final performance of the company’s “Aida.” The work will star Elena Stikhina, Yulia Matochkina, Stefan Pop, and Giorgi Manoshvili. In a statement, Mariotti said, “To do the Requiem after Aida {…}
(Photo: Monika Ritttershaus) The initial impressions of the Aix-en-Provence festival’s production of Rossini’s “Moïse et Pharaon” did not bode well. Hearsay reports spoke of a modern day reinterpretation in which the focus was on refugees, and their life in the camps and the perils they face when crossing the Mediterranean. Productions which seek to politicize an opera, beyond that which {…}