The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino has announced its 2024 season and its 86th annual festival. Here is a look at the opera and vocal performances. Nikolas Nägele conducts Grieg’s “Peer Gynt” with Aitana Sanz-Pérez, Sandro Lombardi, Elena Ghiaurov, and Annibale Pavone. Performance Date: Jan. 15 & 16, 2024 Giuseppe La Malfa conducts “La Principessa di Gelo” in a production by Manu Lalli. The production will {…}
The Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino has announced changes to its opening night of “La Bohème” on Nov. 14, 2023. The company said, “Due to the national strike, called by the trade unions for the renewal of the national collective labor contract of the Opera and Symphonic Foundations, it is not possible – at the present time – to guarantee {…}
After canceling “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Paul Curievici is organizing a GoFund Me for legal costs to fight the company. In the campaign, Curievici wrote, “The Teatro Maggio Fiorentino planned and contracted a cast for Wagner’s opera ‘Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg’ – 17 principal singers – for performances this summer. The theatre canceled {…}
Civil servant, Onofrio Cutaia, has been appointed to manage Florence’s opera house after the sudden departure of Alexander Pereira as superintendent amid an ongoing fraud case. Authorities are investigating Pereira regarding the use of the company’s credit card. The former superintendent has denied any wrongdoing, claiming all transactions were legitimate. Cutaia is an executive of the Ministry of Culture, but it remains {…}
Photo credit: Michele Monasta There was a lovely old lady, clearly a regular at Maggio, sitting next to me, who, during the change of the scene, quietly asked, “is it an interval already?” “No, another half of an hour,” I replied. She only sighed in response. There was also a stylish man in his 40s, who stood up twice during {…}
As if the war tearing Europe apart was not enough, in the last weeks, the theatres of the continent seem to show us how unfriendly and deeply political our industry is. In several areas, quite irrespectively and for various reasons (worthy or not), the state authorities interfere in the affairs of theaters. Lithuanian National Opera workers are still protesting against {…}
(Photo: Tyler Callahan) Every Friday, Polina Lyapustina delivers a short essay on some of the most essential topics in the industry with the intent of establishing a dialogue about the opera world and its future. Starting mid-September, news about strikes in the cultural sector began to appear in the media. The prosperous Norwegian National Opera postponed a few performances due to a {…}
In modern Italy, where the operatic art is literally falling apart at both institutional and performing levels, the audience still carries the memory of seeing the greatest operatic performances in history, and is eager to hear anyone who could put all the precious pieces together again. So, there was no surprise to see the hall of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino filled {…}
Photo: Michele Monasta Sometimes an opera can be so addictive that you cannot get it out of your mind for hours or even days after you’ve heard it. The world created by the piece might be so convincing or the passion and struggles of the story so real that your head just keeps coming back to it. Every time it {…}
(Photo: Finn Hackshaw) Every Friday, Polina Lyapustina delivers a short essay on some of the most essential topics in the industry with the intent of establishing a dialogue about the opera world and its future. Last week, like many people in Italy, I wondered if the country would switch to a yellow zone and public events and outdoor cafes would be allowed {…}
(Credit: Opera Australia official website) The Baluarte auditorium in Pamplona has announced a second cast change for its upcoming semi-staged performances of Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut.” The Spanish opera house announced that tenor Walter Fraccaro will take over the role of Des Grieux, replacing Roberto Aronica. This marks the second high-profile replacement after soprano Ainhoa Arteta was forced to cancel due {…}