Opera Season THE OPERA UNIFIES PRESS RELEASE

Transcription

1 Opera Season THE OPERA UNIFIES PRESS RELEASE The Season of Teatro Regio Torino consists of 16 titles: 12 operas, three of them boasting whole new settings; the famous musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Evita; and three spectacular ballet appointments: The Nutcracker in the fairy-tale setting created by Amodio/Luzzati, The Swan Lake with the dancers from the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre and the Gala Roberto Bolle and Friends. An opera billboard travelling through Monteverdi to Poulenc in four centuries of great masterpieces entrusted to the most prestigious and renowned batons in the world: Gianandrea Noseda, Daniel Harding, Michele Mariotti, Diego Matheuz, to name but a few. Then, the brilliant directors, including Claus Guth, Robert Carsen, Stefano Poda and Daniele Abbado, presenting new dramatic features of Wagner, Strauss, Puccini and Verdi's operas. This is a Season made even more prestigious by the important international invitations that will take the Teatro Regio to Edinburgh, Gstaad, Muscat and Paris. All tours will have Gianandrea Noseda on the podium of the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Regio. This and more in the New Season, which from 10 th October 2017 to 8 th July 2018 will make the Regio a great player on the international lyrical panorama. The Regio's Musical Director, Gianandrea Noseda, opens the Season on 10 th October, with Tristan and Isolde (10 th -22 nd October), Richard Wagner's main opera, a feature of the avant-garde music that would only take place in the twentieth century. Noseda faces, for the first time, the most demanding of the Wagnerian titles with a profound interpretation due to his maturity achieved in years of study of late romantic repertoire. Directed by Claus Guth, for the first time in the Regio, he sets the drama inside the Wesendonck Villa in Zurich, where Wagner began composing the opera driven by fervent love for Mrs. Wesendonck. Tristano is the tenor Peter Seiffert, Isotta is the soprano Ricarda Merbeth, King Marke is the bass Steven Humes, a perfect Wagnerian cast, regularly invited to the Bayreuth Festival. The setting, premiered for the first in Italy, comes from the Opernhaus in Zurich. In November (15 th -26 th ) we stage Falstaff, by Giuseppe Verdi. Daniel Harding will be, for the first time, on the podium of the Orchestra and Chorus of the Regio. He was directly tutored by Claudio Abbado and became one of today s most appreciated directors of the new generation. The Falstaff of this edition will have the voice and charisma of Carlos Álvarez, who will face a challenging group of the cheerful wives of Windsor by Erika Grimaldi (Alice), Sonia Prina (Quickly) and Monica Bacelli (Meg). The setting of the Teatro Regio, coming from the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari, is directed by Daniele Abbado in a fast, fresh and at the same time deep with melancholic characteristics that inhabits within Fasltaff and in the universe it represents. December, as part of our tradition, is completely devoted to dance. The month opens (5 th -10 th ) with The Nutcracker by Pjetr Il'ič Čajkovskij, the most Christmas-like ballet, with choreography by Amedeo Amodio, scenes and costumes by Emanuele Luzzati. The interpretation is by the soloists from the dance academy Daniele Cipriani Entertainment with the Principals of the New York

2 City Ballet. This famous ballet comes to life in this charming and interesting version, intended for both adult and children, thanks to its colourful, immediate language that welcomes videos and shadow games. The show coincides with the 10 th anniversary of the death of Emanuele Luzzati, illustrator, set designer and costume designer with fervent imagination. The Orchestra of the Teatro Regio, alongside the Chorus of White Voices of the Teatro Regio and the Conservatory G. Verdi, is directed by Alessandro Ferrari. Then, (13 th - 19 th ), the Ballet of the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg interprets the classic of classics: Swan Lake with the choreography by Petipa and Ivanov with music of Pötr Il'ič Čajkovskij. The Swan Lake is one of the best-known, acclaimed and beloved ballets of the nineteenth century. A success of worldwide fame in the interpretation of one of the most famous ballets in the world, a show that embodies all the ideals of late Romanticism: a prince fighting between pure love and carnal passion, two opposite female characters: the pure Odette, who brings to the stage an ethereal and refined dance, and the odious Odille, who expresses herself with dance steps from the highest virtuosity. Čajkovskij's wonderful music is performed by the Regio's Orchestra. Then, after many requests, the most famous Italian dancer in the world: Roberto Bolle is back to close 2017 on 29 th, 30 th and 31 st of December with the Dance Gala Roberto Bolle and Friends. This is a unique opportunity to admire the most famous ballet stars on the same evening and on the same stage, challenging each other amicably, in the name of dance art, in an extraordinary comparison of techniques, schools and styles. A program that puts on the stage, a fast and compelling pace, a parade of two and a half steps, taken from the repertoire of the most beloved classics of the nineteenth century and the most famous titles of the twentieth century. From 16 th to 25 th January 2018, Gianandrea Noseda, will be on the podium of the Orchestra and Chorus of the Regio, directing Turandot, Puccini's masterpiece, to a new stage design with scenes and costumes by Stefano Poda, a spectacular production that is anticipated as one of the most sensational of recent years. Poda, author of fine metaphysical and dreamy poetry, returns to the Regio after the wonderful achievements with Thaïs and Faust. Turandot is the greatest unfinished opera of the twentieth century and Maestro Noseda's will is to respect the autograph manuscript and to perform the score up to where Puccini stopped (that is, the little funeral march after the death of Liù) without any posthumous ending neither of Alfano, nor of Berio. The soprano Oksana Dyka, with her glittering and dazzling tone, will bring to life the icy stateliness of the princess. Alongside her, a young tenor, Jorge de León, a fresh and mighty Calaf. Liù is interpreted by Erika Grimaldi, a character who in this version takes on an unusual dramatic boldness, marked by the singer s great abilities. In February (15 th 25 th ) is the turn of Salome by Richard Strauss. A new fil rouge enriches the programme of the Regio: from this season onwards we will present three great masterpieces of this German composer, one of the fathers of the musical language of the twentieth century, read and interpreted by Robert Carsen (a project that interweaves with that Janáček-Carsen launched two Years ago). Gianandrea Noseda directs Salome highlighting all the revolutionary musical facets it contains, so innovative and unconvinced that the composer himself had to say: «An isolated experiment, suitable for a particular subject, I would not recommend imitation». Salome is a tragedy of listening, a drama of incommunicability, in which the characters sing but they are not listened. The direction, signed by Carsen for Regio in 2008, underlines this aspect by immersing the plot into a claustrophobic, metallic, and oppressive environment, thus offering a great metaphor to the discomfort and the profound malaise felt by all characters. The protagonist of the title will be the Swedish soprano Erika Sunnegårdh, acclaimed by international audiences and requested by directors such as Rattle, Chailly, Luisi. Alongside her are: Robert Brubaker, Doris Soffel and Tommi Hakala. This opera is particularly linked to our Theatre because it was at the Regio where Richard Strauss himself officially directed the first Italian performance in With Tristano,

3 Turandot and Salome, Gianandrea Noseda offers three iconic scores, a musical path designed to present three different dramaturgical perspectives that, between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, will change the History of the Opera forever. In a magnificent and imaginative journey through time, which only opera is capable of doing, from Dresden in 1905, we move to the court of the Gonzaga in Mantua in For the Project Baroque Opera, from 13 th to 21 st March, Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi, is the first complete opera that has come to us. This new production, which will bring the magic of the Baroque theatre alive as seen through a new contemporary iconography, is entrusted to the direction of Alessio Pizzech, nominated at the International Opera Award 2017 for his director of Le nozze in sogno, in the Rediscovered work category. On the podium of the Orchestra and Chorus of Regio, a specialist in the Baroque repertoire: Antonio Florio, an internationally recognized director and fine musicologist, dedicated to the discovery of Neapolitan music treasures of the seventeenth century. The Baroque opera requires specialized artists to make its peculiar language. For the occasion we have gathered a cast of exceptional singers: Roberta Invernizzi, Mauro Borgioni, Monica Bacelli, Luigi De Donato, Luca Tittoto. In March (16 th 25 th ) we present the opera buffa par excellence: The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini. This is our tribute to the celebrations of the nineteenth anniversary of the death of the composer, an anniversary full of appointments. The wonderful settings, with direction of Vittorio Borrelli, scenes by Claudia Boasso and the costumes by Luisa Spinatelli, have now become a classic of the Regio. A perfect show, which enhances Rossini's masterpiece, its melodic elegance, the electrifying rhythmic vitality and the brilliant instrumentation. This funny opera, which still makes people laugh, more than two hundred years after its Premiere, includes the presence of Francesco Marsiglia, Simone Del Savio, Marina De Liso, Davide Luciano and Carlo Lepore, artists with a distinguished vis comica and great experts of the Rossini repertoire. On the podium of the Orchestra and Chorus is Alessandro De Marchi, welcomed again by the Regio and who will soon have his debut at the Salzburg Festival. From 17 th to 28 th April, we present for the first time in Italy I Lombardi alla prima crociata, coproduced with the Royal Opera House of Wallonie/Liège, a title that was missing from the Regio for almost a century. A gem production created by Giuseppe Verdi, I Lombardi was composed shortly after Nabucco, embodying the spirit of the Risorgimento and the idea of an Italian community at its dawn. On the podium of the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Regio is Michele Mariotti who is the winner of the Abbiati Prize as best conductor of Mariotti is considered to be today a worthy heir of the glorious Italian directorial tradition. The direction of Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera is respectful of what the Verdian style dictated, it is well-structured and framed by simple and linear scenes that focus on the dramaturgy of this young Verdi. I Lombardi alla prima crociata is an opera designed for a cast of mighty male voices. For the occasion, the stage will host artists such as Alex Esposito and Francesco Meli. The female protagonist will be the soprano Angela Meade as Giselda. The Chorus of the Teatro Regio, involved in numerous and evocative roles within the opera, is led by Claudio Fenoglio, a solid and steady leader and a protagonist of important engagements throughout the season. For the Progetto Musical this year is the turn of the title that marked the history of pop culture: Evita by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. The famous musical, immortalized on the big screen in Alan Parker's homonymous film, with Madonna and Antonio Banderas, will be presented at the Regio from 4 th to 9 th May, the only Italian dates of the international tour. The memorable songs, including «Don t Cry for Me Argentina», accompany the fascinating and tragic vicissitudes of a great and discussed historical character, Evita Perón, who conquered the entire world by becoming a pop icon. The production of Bill Kenwright brings to the Regio for the first time the musical that

4 since its debut in 1978 and which has totalled seventeen international awards, including "Best Music" at the Laurence Olivier Awards, and twenty-one nominations. From 16 th to 27 th May, an unusual twentieth-century diptych will occupy the stage of Regio: The Secret of Susanna by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrai and La Voix humaine by Francis Poulenc, at the Regio after 70 years. It is the female universe, presented in its many facets, making it the protagonist of this season. Wolf-Ferrari's opera is a hymn to malicious irony, to the woman's independence and to her charm; Poulenc's opera with text by Jean Cocteau - is, on the other hand, a drama of loneliness and fragility. The exceptional protagonist of the diptych is the soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci, an artist capable of combining the perfection of the song with a magnetic stage presence. Next to her, the One Woman Show of the diptych, for the first time on the podium of the Regio's Orchestra for an opera production, Diego Matheuz. Matheuz is a thirty-year-old Venezuelan director trained within the "Sistema", a miraculous musical project created by Antonio Abreu, forging outstanding musicians who are, today, at the top of the international music scene. The director of the diptych is entrusted to Ludovic Lagarde, director of thirty years' experience in prose theatre, with rare and precious incursions in the opera world. The settings comes from Opéra Comique in Paris and Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège. The Opera Season closes with a musical anthology: from 26 th June to 8 th July, we present the trilogy Mozart/Da Ponte to the audience of the Regio: Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte. This is a great productive effort that will have the theatre working round the clock to set up a different opera every day for a total of twelve recitals. The audience will thus have the opportunity to admire three fundamental titles in the story of the opera: from the crazy journey of Figaro to the comedy of the misunderstandings of Dorabella and Fiordiligi, passing through the philosophical implications of Don Giovanni. The comedy and tragedy, irony and mockery, serious and faceted, these three masterpieces are the quintessence of the musical theatre, proposed for the first time as a single corpus by the Regio. The protagonists of the three settings, all created by the Teatro Regio, are recognized internationally as renowned performers, experts in the Mozart's repertoire. We present Le nozze di Figaro (26 th e 29 th June and 3 rd and 6 th July) directed by Elena Barbalich, a plot that starts from a naturalistic idea accentuating the sublime political aspects of the time, giving the story a psychological depth of entertaining human comedy. The cast for this production has: Simone Alberghini, Serena Farnocchia, Paolo Bordogna, Maria Grazia Schiavo, Paola Gardina and Manuela Custer. The Orchestra and Chorus of the Regio are directed by Speranza Scappucci, recently named Musical Director of the Opera of Liege. The opera of Don Giovanni (27 th e 30 th June, 4 th and 7 th July) is the one signed by Michele Placido, played on the thousand shades of the night in which the story is set. The cast: Carlos Álvarez, Erika Grimaldi, Carmela Remigio, Juan Francisco Gatell, Mirco Palazzi and Rocío Ignacio. Director: Daniele Rustioni. The trilogy finishes with Cosi fan tutte (28 th June, 1 st, 5 th and 8 th July) signed by the great Ettore Scola, who has made the ultimate farce intrigue of Così, from the first to the last scene, vital and enjoyable, ultimately profoundly present. In the cast: Federica Lombardi, Annalisa Stroppa, André Schuen, Francesco Marsiglia, Lucia Cirillo and Roberto de Candia. Debuting on the podium of the Orchestra and Chorus of the Regio is Diego Fasolis. Radio broadcasts and video footage: all operas in this Season, thanks to the established partnership with Rai-Radio3, will be broadcast live on radio. The already intense recording activity of the Theatre will enrich this season with four new productions. Turandot is the chosen title for the European online platform entirely dedicated to the opera, which will make Puccini's masterpiece available free of charge. The Opera Platform has become an of increasingly important reality, rewarded by a new EU funding. Unitel / C-Major will then produce the DVD of Turandot that will also be broadcast on the international cinema and TV circuit. Salome will be recorded, always on DVD, for the French music producer fra musica, with François

5 Roussillon as a video director, and will be distributed to international movies theatres and TV. Orfeo will be filmed by RAI, broadcast live on TV, in the international All-Opera / Rai Com international cinema and will become a DVD. Finally, Don Giovanni will be our first production to be broadcast within the new Spanish cinematic opera Opera Ballet en Cine. The attention that the Regio has always given to the younger audience is reflected in the subscription and ticket prices at particularly advantageous prices. The Under 30s have the option of purchasing A-turn subscriptions with 65% discount on the regular price. For the eighteen years old using their Culture Bonus at Regio, the ticket price will cost only 25 and with one euro more they have the option to buy another one. To our audience, who already knows us and follows us passionately, we offer unbeatable ticket and subscription prices compared to last year. Subscription renewals will end on 18th July and new subscriptions can be purchased from 9th to 22nd September. Tickets for Roberto Bolle and Friends and for off-season performances of The Swan Lake are on sale on 8th July. The intense Season of the Teatro Regio - sixteen titles - is the result of an articulated and solid collective work, driven by passion. We are proud to be a leading theatre in the world on the artistic sphere, a virtuous symbol of the Italian cultural system, which even in hard times have managed to keep our budget balance sheet even since the year In this regard, it is worth emphasizing the commitment of the City of Turin, which has decided to keep its financial contribution unchanged, an important and decisive signal to support the important cultural role of the Regio: the City Theatre. The Piedmont Region has also decided to confirm its funding, while the Ministry of Cultural Activities has even increased the share of funding allocated to us with additional contributions. A further acknowledgment to our work is given by the fundamental contribution of the members of the Foundation, the support of the Amici del Regio and the support of many companies who continue to believe in the Teatro Regio. Finally, a dedicated and appreciated thanks goes to our affectionate audience who, like every season, will find in the Teatro Regio a place where emotions become reality. Turin, 19 th June 2017 PRESS OFFICE Teatro Regio, Direction of Communications and Press: Paola Giunti (Director), Sara Zago and Paolo Cascio (Media Relations) - Phone: /239 ufficiostampa@teatroregio.torino.it - giunti@teatroregio.torino.it - zago@teatroregio.torino.it - cascio@teatroregio.torino.it