With less than a month to go before the start of Pesaro’s Rossini Opera Festival, OperaWire met up with one of this season’s stars, mezzo-soprano Raffaella Lupinacci, who will be playing the role of Arsace in Rossini’s opera seria “Aureliano in Palmira,” which premiered at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala in 1813. Although it is not one of Rossini’s better-known operas, {…}
Rossini Opera Festival General Director Cristian Della Chiara has joined the Board of Directors of ItaliaFestival. ItaliaFestival is a multidisciplinary association formed by some of Italy’s most prestigious festivals. Additionally, the assembly of 48 members unanimously reconfirmed Francesco Maria Perrotta as president of the association and elected the new Board of Directors that will govern the world of Italian festivals {…}
(Photo: Chiara Mirelli) Mezzo-soprano Raffaella Lupinacci, having just completed a run of performances as Giovanna Seymour in La Monnaie’s presentation of “Bastarda,” a larger-than-life presentation of Queen Elizabeth I as seen through the musical highlights of Donizetti’s Tudor tetralogy, is currently preparing for the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, in which she will play the role of Arsace in “Aureliano {…}
Juan Diego Flórez has extended his contract as Artistic Director of the Rossini Opera Festival. Flórez will continue in the position until the end of 2026. In a statement, the tenor said, “I thank the Superintendent Ernesto Palacio for having wanted to confirm me as artistic director of the ROF for the four-year period 2023-2026. I also thank President Vimini {…}
The Municipality of Pesaro has announced that the 2023 Rossini Opera Festival will not be performed at the Teatro Rossini. According to deputy mayor Daniele Vimini, the earthquake in November complicated the ongoing maintenance operations. As a result, in planning for this season and the 2024 season all ROF shows will be performed at the Vitrifrigo Arena. Meanwhile, Superintendant Ernesto {…}
Stage Access is set to present 18 operas from the Rossini Opera Festival with a new introduction to the acclaimed festival by performer Kelsey Grammer. The Stage Access collection from the Rossini Opera Festival covers a wide and fertile creative ground that includes such works as “La Scala di Seta (presented in 2009),” “Zelmira (2009),” “Le Comte Ory (2009),” “Demetrio e Polibio (2010),” “Sigismondo (2010),” {…}
The Rossini Opera Festival has announced its 2023 season featuring three productions and concerts. The first production of the season will be “Eduardo e Cristina” in a new production by Stefano Poda. Jader Bignamini conducts Enea Scala, Anastasia Bartoli, Daniela Barcellona, Grigory Shkarupa, and Matteo Roma. Performance Dates: August 11-20, 2023 “Aureliano in Palmira” will be conducted by George Petrou {…}
The Assembly of the Founding Bodies of the Rossini Opera Festival has confirmed Ernesto Palacio as Intendant for another four-year period 2023-2026. Palacio began as Artistic Director of the ROF in 2016 and the following year, as Director of the Accademia Rossiniana. In 2017, he was named the Festival Intendant. In a statement, the President of the ROF Daniele Vimini {…}
(Photo: ROF/Amati Bacciardi) Without memories we are nothing but an empty shell. They define our sense of self. It is only through memory that we can make any sense of what is around us. It allows us to rationalize and contextualize tragic events, to enjoy the present, and to project the consequence of our actions into the future. Yet, memory {…}
Pesaro’s Rossini Opera Festival saw noteworthy growth to its Festival in audience and media coverage during the 2022 season. Following 31 theatrical events, the company saw the box office register 13,100 tickets purchased which was up 53 percent compared to 2021. In total, that represents 957,000 euros. The festival also noted that the percentage of foreign visitors reached 55 percent {…}
(Photo: ROF/Amati Bacciardi) There are many operas that rarely see the light of day. Even some works by the great composers are lucky to receive more than an occasional staging; one need only think of Wagner’s or Verdi’s early works. Often, this neglect is unjustified, but sometimes, it’s simply because the opera is not very good. Second Rate Rossini Unfortunately, {…}