(Photo Credit: ©Gianni Cravedi) Emanuel Schikaneder, a prolific stage comedian, singer, and skilled impresario, proposed to Mozart the creation of a new singspiel–a form of German musical theater that alternates spoken dialogue without musical accompaniment–in response to the enduring hegemony of Italian opera, which had long dominated European stages. The entrepreneur’s brilliant insight, as highlighted by Mattia Marino Merlo in {…}
Photo credit: Marco Caselli Nirmal Vivaldi’s “Orlando Furioso” is a work that represents baroque opera at its most exciting. Set on Alcina’s magical island, where the weird and wonderful are commonplace, it opens up the possibility for colorful and spectacular stagings with shipwrecks, fantastical beasts, monsters and statues that come to life. There are high mountains, wooded groves, steep cliffs {…}
OperaStreaming has announced a series of streams for the holiday season. The company will kick things off with “Rigoletto” at the Municipal Theater of Piacenza. The production will star Amartuvshin Enkhbat in the title role alongside Marco Ciaponi as the Duke of Mantua and Federica Guida as Gilda. Other cast members include Mattia Denit and Rossana Rinaldi as Sparafucile and {…}
The Teatro Comunale di Ferrara has announced its 2022-23 season. The season opens with “Una Goccia” by Dino Buzzati. The work features music by Piero Bittolo Bon, Gioia Gurioli, Antonio Macaretti, Alfonso Santimone, Dimitri Sillato, and Denis Zardi. Performance Date: Nov. 18, 2022 The year ends with Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus“ with Marco Fiorini conducting a production by Corrado Abbati. Alessandro {…}
(Photo: Marco Caselli) In 1739 Vivaldi complained in a letter to his patron Marquis Guido Bentivoglio about the treatment he had suffered from the directors of Ferrara’s Teatro Bonacossi: “My reputation has been scourged…to the extent they are refusing as a second opera ‘Farnace,’ which I have prepared afresh especially for the company according to written agreements… I will not {…}
OperaStreaming has announced that it will present Piazzolla’s “Maria de Buenos Aires” from the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara on Dec. 18 and 19, 2021. The showcase, which will feature a new production directed by Carlos Branco and conducted by Jacopo Rivani, will star Martina Belli in the title role alongside Ruben Peloni as the Payador and Daniel Bonilla-Torres as El {…}
The Teatro Comunale di Ferrara has announced its 2022 season. Here is a look at the productions that will be presented. Giovanni Sala stars in Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo” alongside Vittoria Magnarello, Alice Grasso, Massimo Altieri, Luca Cervoni, Enrico Torre, Delphine Galou, Margherita Maria Sala, Mirco Palazzi, Federico Sacchi, Eleonora Pace, and Chiara Nicastro. Ottavio Dantone conducts the production by Pier Luigi Pizzi. Performance Dates: Jan. 22-23, {…}
The Teatro Comunale di Ferrara, in Italy, has announced its fall 2021-22 season featuring four productions. The season opens with Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” starring Silvia Pantani in the title role, Francesco Fortes as F. Pinkerton, Ilaria Ribezzi as Suzuki, and Italo Proferisce as Sharpless. Matteo Mazzoni directs the production with David Crescenzi conducting. Performance Dates: Oct. 29 & 31, 2021 Francesco Demuro {…}