(Ph. Rolando Paolo Guerzoni) An “immoral” woman who ends up stabbed by her lover was by no means the image that the Parisian audience attending the premiere of “Carmen” at the Opéra-Comique in 1875 had in mind as a proposal from a 37-year-old Georges Bizet. It is said that no one is a prophet in their own land: in France, {…}
(Photo: Gianni Cravedi) One of the most renowned figures in the world of opera is Maria Callas, not only because of her career marked by dramatic highs and lows, but also due to the relentless gossip surrounding her professional, and above all personal life, as well as the many theories surrounding her death in 1977. Countless multimedia works have explored {…}
(Photo: Andrea Mazzoni) Composed in 1813, “L’italiana in Algeri” remains a masterpiece of bel canto dramma giocoso. Its plot, which worked in Rossini’s Europe, continues to function today, albeit from a different perspective: that of clichés associated with immigration. In the Ottocento, a remote setting such as Algiers aroused the public’s curiosity; Rossini and his librettist Angelo Anelli filled the story {…}
(Credit: Gianni Cravedi / Teatro Municipale di Piacenza) The great collector of women arrived in Emilia-Romagna, specifically at the Teatro Municipale di Piacenza, before moving on to Modena, as part of a co-production between the two cities’ theaters. The scenic concept was devised by Andrea Bernard. A statement of his opens the program booklet, in which he explains that he has {…}
(Photo : ©Gianni Cravedi) When “Stiffelio” premiered in 1850, Giuseppe Verdi was going through a period of transition: he had left behind his so-called “galley years” yet had not fully reached artistic maturity. It is precisely in this phase that “Stiffelio” emerged, revealing itself as a bold experiment: deeply modern in its approach to human conflict and, at the same {…}
(Photo: © Gianni Cravedi & ® Luca Attilii) The Teatro Municipale di Piacenza presented an ambitious project dedicated to Giuseppe Verdi: “Rigoletto,” “Il trovatore,” and “La Traviata,” brought together in a single cycle under the title “Popular Trilogy,” all performed within the same week. Although not originally conceived by Verdi as a unified set, these three operas represent the composer’s {…}
The Teatro Municipale di Piacenza has announced its 2025-26 season. Opera The season opens with Verdi’s “Stiffelio” featuring Gregory Kunde, Lidia Fridman, Vladimir Stoyanov, and Riccardo Rados. Leonardo Sini conducts the production by Pier Luigi Pizzi. Performance Dates: Dec. 19 & 21, 2025 Markus Werba leads Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” with Renzo Ran, Claudia Pavone, Marco Ciaponi, Carmela Remigio, Tommaso Barea, Alberto Petricca, and Greta Doveri. Enrico Pagano conducts the production by Andrea Bernard. Performance {…}
(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 {…}
(Photos: ©Fondazione Teatri di Piancenza) As the 19th century came to a close, during a period of artistic transition, young composers sought to innovate and redefine the operatic language. It was in this context that, almost fortuitously, the most emblematic diptych of Italian musical theater and the ultimate prototype of verismo opera emerged: Pietro Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” and Ruggero Leoncavallo’s {…}
(Photo: ©Zani-Casadio) In the autumn of 1709, as he was preparing to conclude his journey through Italy, George Frideric Handel triumphantly arrived in Venice to present his second Italian opera, “Agrippina.” The work was enthusiastically received by the audience, who acclaimed the composer with shouts of “Viva il Sassone!” (Long live the Saxon!) and with 27 performances that sealed its {…}
The Teatro Municipale di Piacenza has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera Claudia Pavone stars in Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” alongside Irene Savignano, Angelo Villari, and Alessandro Luongo. Leo Nucci directs the production and Matteo Beltrami conducts. Performance Dates: Dec. 15-22, 2024 Raffaele Pe, Marie Lys, Davide Giangregorio, Delphine Galou, Filippo Mineccia, Federico Fiorio, Enrico Torre, and Clemente Antonio Daliotti star in Händel’s “Giulio {…}