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DON PASQUALE
MUSIC BY GAETANO DONIZETTI
DON PASQUALE
DRAMMA BUFFO (COMIC OPERA) IN THREE ACTS
Music by Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
Libretto by Giovanni Ruffini
Première: Paris, Théâtre-Italien, January 3rd, 1843
First performance of this production: Bologna, Teatro Comunale, April 28th, 1998
PERFORMED BY
FONDAZIONE TEATRO COMUNALE DI BOLOGNA, ITALY
ROYAL OPERA HOUSE MUSCAT
March 19th, 21st and 23rd, 2015
7.00 pm
PERFORMANCE TIME
Act I – approximately 45 minutes
Intermission – 20 minutes
Act II – approximately 35 minutes
Intermission – 20 minutes
Act III – approximately 40 minutes
PRODUCTION TEAM
Conductor
Giuseppe La Malfa
Stage Director
Stefano Vizioli
Set Designer
Susanna Rossi Jost
Costume Designer
Roberta Guidi di Bagno
Lighting Designer
Daniele Naldi
Revival Stage Director
Lorenzo Nencini
Production by Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Italy
PRINCIPALS
Don Pasquale
Ruggero Raimondi
Dottor Malatesta
Massimo Cavalletti
Bogdan Mihai
Ernesto
Roberta Canzian
Norina
Christian Starinieri
A notary
Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Italy
Sung in Italian with English and Arabic subtitle
4
SYNOPSIS
Don Pasquale receives Malatesta and a heavily veiled false Sofronia,
who plays the comedy of a maiden so shy and chaste that she dare
not even look at a man, though she professes an enthusiastic interest
in housework. When she drops her veil, Don Pasquale is enraptured
by the beauty of his betrothed. In great excitement, he hastens to sign
the marriage contract, with the supposed notary. The old man signs
a certificate leaving half his estate to his wife and granting her total,
absolute authority to run his household. The bride is on the point of
signing when Ernesto is admitted to the ceremony. In amazement he
recognizes Norina and feels perturbed and bewildered. But the doctor
rapidly explains the intrigue and Ernesto, obviously pleased to support
it, even agrees to be best man. No sooner is the contract signed than
Norina changes her tone. Turning aggressive, impertinent and despotic,
she throws her weight about in the most shameless way, doubles the
servants’ wages, orders new carriages and horses, makes preparations
for lavish receptions, summons dressmakers and jewellers and, worst
of all, scornfully disdains the eager attentions of her husband.
The action takes place in Rome, at the beginning of the 19th century.
ACT 1
scene one: a hall in the house of don pasquale.
Don Pasquale, a rich seventy-year old bachelor, is angry with his
nephew Ernesto for obstinately refusing to marry a noble and wealthy
spinster whom his uncle has chosen for him. Ernesto is head over
heels in love with Norina, a young widow of modest means. To spite his
nephew the old man decides to get married himself and to disinherit the
boy. Don Pasquale is impatiently awaiting his friend, Doctor Malatesta,
who has promised to find him a good match. The doctor enters and
begins extolling the virtues of his own sister Sofronia, a lovely, innocent
creature just out of convent (“Bella siccome un angelo”). Sofronia does
not really exist, but Ernesto knows nothing of this plot woven in his favour
by Malatesta, who is also a very dear friend of his. Don Pasquale is
exultant (“Ah, un foco insolito”) and urges the doctor to introduce him to
his sister without further ado. In the meantime Ernesto enters. His uncle
reminds him that he has already been offered the hand of a rich spinster,
and warns him that if he continues to refuse this marriage, he will find
himself disinherited. Since Ernesto is resolute, Don Pasquale orders
him to leave his house, thus throwing his nephew into consternation
(“Sogno soave e casto”).
ACT 3
scene one: the same room in don pasquale’s house.
Don Pasquale is distraught by the coming and going of dressmakers,
hairdressers and furriers, by the exorbitant bills that keep pouring in and
by the peremptory arrangements for radical changes ordered by Norina
to their servants. Examining the accounts, which threaten to squander
his estate, he forbids his wife to go to the theatre, but gets a loud slap for
his pains. To crown matters, he picks up a letter (intentionally dropped
by Norina) in which an unknown lover has arranged a rendezvous with
her in the garden this evening. When Don Pasquale goes out in a fury,
Ernesto and Malatesta meet to agree on other details of their ruse: the
young man will sing a serenade to Norina in the garden and then hide.
Don Pasquale returns looking despondent, by now bitterly regretting his
marriage and longing to be released from it. Malatesta, exhorting him not
to raise a scandal, advises him to surprise the lovers and to repudiate
Sofronia if he can catch her red-handed (“Cheti cheti immantinente”).
scene two: a room in norina’s house.
Norina is reading a book that gives her a clue to her own character:
lively, mischievous and artful, but also capable of sweetness and
sincere affection (“Quel guardo il cavaliere”). Meanwhile she receives
a disconsolate letter from Ernesto informing her of his uncle’s
decisions. Deprived of his inheritance and driven out of the house, he
is heartbroken but compelled to leave her. The girl shows this letter
to Doctor Malatesta, who calms her by revealing the plan that he has
devised. Norina herself shall impersonate Sofronia. With the aid of a
marriage contract endorsed by the doctor’s nephew disguised as a
notary, she will marry Don Pasquale and then reduce him to despair.
The girl agrees to the trick and rehearses with the doctor the part she
is to act (“Pronta io son”).
scene two: a copse in the garden next to don
pasquale’s house.
Don Pasquale and Malatesta take up their positions among the trees
while Ernesto, pretending to be Sofronia’s unknown lover, launches into
a serenade (“Com’è gentil”). Norina approaches and they exchange
tender effusions (“Tornami a dir che m’ami”). The doctor and Don
Pasquale come out of their hiding-places and catch Norina in the act.
ACT 2
another room in don pasquale’s house.
Ernesto, who is about to leave his uncle’s house, once again vents
his sorrow (“Cercherò lontana terra”) and complains of the “betrayal”
of his dearest friend, Doctor Malatesta. When Ernesto has gone out,
5
GAETANO DONIZETTI: CHRONOLOGY
Ernesto, who had hurriedly vanished from the scene, now re-enters the
garden as if by chance. Advised by Malatesta, Don Pasquale, in order to
rouse her anger and induce her at last to leave his house, triumphantly
announces to the false Sofronia that he intends to welcome Ernesto
back. Moreover he will permit him to marry Norina who will thus take
over as the new lady of the house. At this point the plot against him is
revealed and the old man is delighted to be freed from the redoubtable
‘Sofronia’. With his usual affectionate “Ah, bricconissimi”, he forgives
them all and blesses the marriage of Ernesto and Norina.
1828 Donizetti marries Virginia Vasselli, the daughter of a Roman
lawyer. None of the three children of this marriage survives infancy.
This year sees the premieres of four new operas: L’esule di Roma,
Gianni di Calais, and Il giovedì grasso in Naples, and Alina, regina di
Golconda in Genoa.
1797 Born in Bergamo (Italy), 29 November 1797, the fifth child of
Andrea Donizetti, a porter in a pawnshop, and Domenica Nava, a
weaver. The family lives in extreme poverty in the old section of the city.
1806 Donizetti is enrolled in a free music school conducted by the
composer Giovanni Simone Mayr. Attending the school until 1814,
Donizetti studies a broad range of music, mostly composers of the
Viennese School. In addition to Mayr, Donizetti is instructed by
Francesco Salai who gives him singing lessons, Antonio Gonzales,
and Giuseppe Antonio Capuzzi.
Program notes edited by Floriana Tessitore (in italic)
1830 The premiere and ultimate success of Anna Bolena in Milan at the
Carcano on August 23rd marks a turning point in Donizetti’s career, as
well as in his compositional style.
1832 Increasingly dissatisfied with the limitations that Naples places
on the broadening of his career, Donizetti breaks his contract there
to accept offers from other theatres. His first major success after this
break is with L’elisir d’amore, which premieres at the Cannobiana in
Milan on May 12nd.
1811 Mayr arranges and partially subsidizes Donizetti’s travel to
Bologna to study counterpoint with Padre Mattei. His first attempts
at composing opera are undertaken in Bologna, producing the works
Il pigmalione and L’ira d’Achille, neither of which is performed, and
Olimpiade, which he does not complete.
1833 Two operas are produced in Rome during this year: Il furioso
all’isola di San Domingo and Torquato Tasso. The well-received
premiere of Lucrezia Borgia a La Scala in Milan, on December 26th,
begins a performance history of this work that is to span the next half
century.
1817 Donizetti returns to Bergamo where Mayr arranges a contract for
him with the impresario Zancla for a series of operas to be produced
in Venice. These operas include Enrico di Borgogna, Una follia, and
Il falegname di Livonia. (None of these works may be considered
remarkable, but they reveal the young Donizetti’s process as he
developed his skills at portraying drama onstage.)
1834 Donizetti signs a new contract with the Teatro San Carlo in
Naples for one new opera per year. The first of these was to have
been Maria Stuarda based on Schiller’s play, but censors blocked
its premiere. The composer reworks the opera to a new libretto and
retitles it Buondelmonte. The premiere of this version of the opera is
not successful.
1817-1821 In this period, Donizetti composes many non-operatic
works, including cantatas, several short sacred pieces, some orchestral
symphonies, quartets and assorted works for piano.
1822 Mayr turns over to Donizetti a contract for an opera. This
commission results in Donizetti’s first real operatic success: Zoraide
di Granata, which premieres January 28th at the Teatro Argentina
in Rome. After this initial success, Donizetti receives an offer from
Domenico Barbaja to write an opera for the Teatro Nuovo in Naples. His
first opera for this theatre is La zingara, which premieres on May 12nd.
1835 At Rossini’s insistence, Donizetti travels to Paris to supervise
a production of Marino Faliero at the Théâtre-Italien. Although the
production is not well received, this visit exposes Donizetti to the genre
of French “grand” opera. Donizetti returns to Naples for the premiere
of Lucia di Lammermoor on September 26th at the San Carlo. The
public reception of this work establishes Donizetti as a competitive force
among contemporary operatic composers. At year’s end, this high point
in the composer’s career is somewhat diminished by the failure of Maria
Stuarda in a revised version at La Scala on December 30th.
1822-1827 In this period, Donizetti composes two to five operas per
year. These operas are created mainly for houses in Naples, but also
for La Scala in Milan, where Chiara e Serafina premieres in 1822. Works
for Rome, Palermo, and Genoa are produced during this period as well.
Donizetti meets with some success with these works, especially in the
latter cities. After 1827, Donizetti is regularly conducting and preparing
operas by other composers for production in Naples.
6
1836 Belisario premieres in Venice on February 4th. The first of
three operas that Donizetti is to write for this city, the work marks the
composer’s first attempt at interpolating attributes of French grand
7
1843, the successful premiere of Maria di Rohan in Vienna gives the
baritone Ronconi another opportunity to display his acting ability. While
Donizetti is preparing his last opera, Dom Sébastien, roi de Portugal, for
the Paris Opéra in November, his erratic behaviour raises some concern
about his abilities. Although several passages of this work contain some
of the composer’s finest music, the opera ultimately fails.
opera into his personal style. Later in this year, Donizetti composes two
one-act comic operas to libretti of his own devising: Il campanello and
Betly, both for the Teatro Nuovo in Naples. For San Carlo that autumn,
he produces L’assedio di Calais, reviving an antiquated tradition of
including a male role written for a female contralto voice.
1837 The death of Donizetti’s wife on July 30th devastates the
composer, but he soon rouses himself for the rehearsal of a new work.
The premiere of this opera, Roberto Devereux, in Naples on October
29th is a complete success.
1845-1846 At the close of the 1845 opera season in Vienna, Donizetti
returns to Paris; the decline of his mental state continues to affect him.
On January 28th 1846, his doctors diagnose him as suffering from a
degeneration of the brain and spine, a condition of syphilitic origin.
They recommend that Donizetti be institutionalized, and the composer
is moved to the sanatorium at Ivry, where he resides until June 1847.
1838-1840 The banning of Donizetti’s opera Poliuto by the Neapolitan
censors provides the catalyst for the composer to leave Naples and
pursue a career in Paris. During the next two years, Donizetti has
operas performed at four theatres in Paris, much to the amazement of
his French colleagues. Ultimately, this success leads to an attack by
Berlioz in the Journal des débats. The operas produced include Lucie
de Lammermoor, the French version of Lucia, for the Théâtre de la
Renaissance in 1839, La fille du régiment for the Opéra-Comique in
February 1840, Les martyrs, the original Poliuto expanded into four
acts to a French libretto by Scribe, for the Opéra in April 1840, and La
favorite for the Opéra in December. This last work, after an uncertain
beginning, is quickly established in the repertoire.
1847-1848 With the aid of his family, Donizetti, now paralysed and
unable to speak, moves back home to Bergamo. He arrives there in
October 1847. Here family and friends tend to him until his death on the
morning of April 8th 1848. After an autopsy, which confirms his doctor’s
earlier diagnosis, Donizetti is laid to rest in the Pezzoli family vault in
Bergamo’s Valtesse Cemetery. In 1875, his remains, along with those
of his beloved mentor, Mayr, are moved to Santa Maria Maggiore in
Bergamo.
1841-1842 Donizetti hopes his success in Paris will earn him enough
money to allow him to retire from taxing world of composing opera, but
this is not to be. His health begins to decline. Nevertheless, Donizetti
pours himself into composing with an intensity unsurpassed until he
can no longer concentrate sufficiently to produce large-scale works. His
Adelia is a fiasco at its premiere in Rome in February 1841. At Rossini’s
invitation, Donizetti goes to Bologna to conduct the elder composer’s
Stabat Mater. Rossini urges Donizetti to accept the post of maestro di
cappella at San Petronio in Bologna but instead he travels to Vienna to
seek an appointment as Kapellmeister to the Austrian court. This post
would allow Donizetti six months’ leave annually so that he could pursue
his career in other arenas. The success of his Linda di Chamounix at
its Viennese premiere in May 1842 assures his appointment to this
position.
1843-1844 Don Pasquale premieres at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris to
unparalleled success, thanks to the talents of Grisi, Mario, Tamburini,
and Lablanche. Donizetti’s comic masterpiece firmly establishes itself in
the repertoire. However, the exterior effervescence of this opera gives
little indication of the composer’s deteriorating state of health. In June
Gaetano Donizetti
8
9
“SLAPS ARE TOO MUCH”
BY PROF. DR. EMANUELE SENICI
According to Giovanni Ruffini, the librettist of Don Pasquale, the
clever scheme that will lead to the marriage of the two lovers and the
in January 1843 were the cause of a quarrel between most of the
Several early critics did not fail to spot the similarities between these
costumes for the première of the opera at the Théâtre Italien, Paris,
promise that the old bachelor’s inheritance will eventually go to them.
protagonists and Ruffini himself on one side, and Donizetti and Luigi
characters and those of Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto, then still
Lablache, the first Don Pasquale, on the other. Giulia Grisi (Norina),
considered the classic of Italian opera buffa, and of Rossini’s universally
Mario (Ernesto) and Antonio Tamburini (Malatesta), supported by
famous Il barbiere di Siviglia, calling Malatesta “Dr Figaro” or “the barber
Ruffini, had assumed that they would be dressed in Eighteenth-Century
Malatesta” - incidentally, Il barbiere was being performed at the Théâtre
costumes, with long embroidered coats and silk tights for the men, a
Italien when Don Pasquale was premièred, with Lablache in the role
very large skirt and lots of lace for Norina, and big wigs for all. Donizetti,
of that opera’s old bachelor, Bartolo. Why then did Donizetti insist on
however, with Lablache on his side, vetoed this choice and insisted on
contemporary costumes for such old characters? What is there in his
contemporary dress for everybody, claiming that his music required it. In
music that he thought demanded this choice? And why did Lablache
the end the composer had his way, and the four protagonists appeared
support him?
on stage wearing more or less exactly what they wore off stage, or,
rather, what their characters would have worn in real life. According to
Parisian critics were shocked by one specific moment in the opera, when
fashion, Mario/Ernesto looked like an elegant student, and Tamburini/
musicale, “this slap is too much; the threats in Act 1 are fine, but carrying
doctor.
the young widow seems completely to lack taste and moderation. She
Critics universally censored this choice, which seemed even less
seventy-year-old man! Really, Madame, slaps are too much”. Reading
the reviewer of the Journal des débats, Grisi/Norina followed that year’s
Norina slaps Don Pasquale in their Act 2 duet. According to La France
Malatesta sported “la redingote noir du matin”, just like any Parisian
them out is not funny”; from Le National “…it’s simply violence. Here
calls her husband a buffoon, and this is just about okay. But slapping a
justified given the types of characters and the kind of story presented
these reviews closely reveals that this slap made such an impression
by the opera. As is now well known, the libretto of Don Pasquale is
because of the way Lablache reacted to it. He was repeatedly accused
simply a revision of an older text, Ser Marcantonio, penned in 1810
of making Don Pasquale’s pain too real, of being too good an actor,
by Angelo Anelli (better known as the librettist of Rossini’s L’italiana
of standing in the way of laughter by making the audience feel his
in Algeri) for the music of Stefano Pavesi. Not all Parisian critics and
pain. Some critics, however, realized that, in so doing, he was simply
audience members would have been aware of this connection, but they
following Donizetti: “The composer has put serious tears, real tears in
did not need to in order to realize that the characters and plot of Don
the expressions of desperation voiced by this offended husband” (Le
Pasquale go back at least as far as the comedies of Plautus. The old
Moniteur universel). “Although Lablache’s role is truly comic, the style of
bachelor Don Pasquale, who decides to marry Norina, a young woman,
the music occasionally elevates itself to the level of melancholy, and the
partly for vanity, partly in order to prevent an idle young relative (here
public is really touched by the misfortunes of this honest old man, whose
his nephew Ernesto) from inheriting his fortune, is a standard comic
only faults, after all, are to try and squeeze himself into a waistcoat too
character, as is Norina herself, who is in love with the young man and will
tight for him, and to sport a massive camellia on his lapel” (Le Corsaire).
do anything to marry him, in the process displaying superior intelligence
How did Donizetti achieve this result? How did he manage to put
and wits. No less conventional are Ernesto, the young man full of fire
real tears into Don Pasquale’s role? After receiving Norina’s slap
but short on imagination, and Malatesta, his friend who thinks up a
Gaetano Donizetti’s portrait by Giuseppe Rillosi
10
11
Don Pasquale is so shocked and humiliated that he keeps repeating
nineteenth-century Italian comic opera.
a few pitches for the entire slow movement of his duet with Norina,
It is a testimony to Lablache’s intelligence that he understood Donizetti’s
at Norina’s actions that he is unable to sing, unable to express his
have mentioned above, it was Lablache’s performance that received
common trait of the buffo roles that populate Italian comic opera of the
The perceptive ‘H.W.’ of the Revue des deux mondes was the most
(Il barbiere di Siviglia), and from Don Magnifico (La Cenerentola) to
is conventionally agreed that these kinds of works have no defined time
abilities and, from a musical point of view, their virtuoso fast delivery
direct at Lablache’s Don Pasquale is that he is too real. This old lion
will take as the basis of his famous patter songs (just think of “I am
him this morning on the boulevards; he has just had dinner at the table
himself a master of this technique in the final movement of his Act 3
his lorgnette in the seat next to you. Why make us encounter him again
“È finita!” (“It’s over!”) on a single note, E; and he remains stuck on
which immediately follows the slap. Such are his disbelief and pain
aims and sided with him on the question of the costumes. And, as I
emotions in a well-shaped melody. Lack of melodic sophistication is a
the highest praise, but also the sharpest criticism, from early reviewers.
early nineteenth century, from Taddeo (L’italiana in Algeri) to Bartolo
eloquent: “We only regret that the action unfolds in the present, since it
Dulcamara (L’elisir d’amore). But they make up for it with their acting
and take place in an imaginary world. […] The only criticism that we can
of long stretches of text – a technique called sillabato, which Sullivan
short of breath who fights against his own corpulence, you encountered
the very model of a modern Major-General”). Don Pasquale will prove
next to yours at the Café de Paris; and he is now cleaning the lenses of
duet with Malatesta, the famous “Cheti cheti immantinente” (“Quietly,
in an actor we all love? What is the need to take inspiration from such
quietly, right away”). What buffi never do, however, is to remain stuck
regrettable types when one is blessed with the gift of fantasy?”
on a few notes in a slow movement, especially if this is in a minor mode
and accompanied by a plaintive melody in the orchestra, as is the case
Indeed, why? The only possible conclusion is that Donizetti, and with
profound sadness, especially given the contrast with Norina’s following
and characters as the primary goal of Don Pasquale, and perhaps of
hard, but necessary for effect”), one of her usual triple-metre melodies,
of Don Pasquale as if it were theirs. Critics objected, but the public of the
slap to Don Pasquale was too much.
was one of Donizetti’s most unanimous and unqualified successes.
I believe that Donizetti insisted on contemporary costumes because he
suggests that Donizetti, Lablache, and their public may have been right
for Don Pasquale’s “È finita!”. The effect is one of utter desolation, of
him Lablache, considered emotional identification between spectators
“È duretta la lezione, ma ci vuole a far l’effetto” (“The lesson is rather
opera in general. Donizetti wanted to make his audiences feel the pain
well-shaped, self-assured and seductive. No wonder critics felt that her
Théâtre Italien reacted enthusiastically – the première of Don Pasquale
DISCOGRAPHY
1993 Renato Bruson, Eva Mei, Thomas Allen, Frank Lopardo, Bavarian
Radio Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, Conductor Roberto Abbado,
2 CD, RCA.
DON PASQUALE
Principals: Don Pasquale, Norina, Malatesta, Ernesto.
1964 Fernando Corena, Graziella Sciutti, Tom Krause, Juan Oncina,
Wiener Staatsopern Chorus, Wiener Philharmoniker, Conductor István
Kertész, 2 CD, Decca.
1978 Donald Gramm, Beverly Sills, Alan Titus, Alfredo Kraus,
Ambrosian Opera Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Conductor
Sarah Caldwell, 2 CD, EMI.
2002 Alessandro Corbelli, Eva Mei, Antonino Siragusa, Roberto De
Candia, Orchestra and Coro del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Conductor
Gérard Korsten, Stage director Stefano Vizioli, Set designer Susanna
Rossi Jost, Costume designer Roberta Guidi di Bagno, 1 DVD, TDK/
Rai Trade (live).
1982 Sesto Bruscantini, Mirella Freni Leo Nucci, Gösta Winbergh,
Ambrosian Opera Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra, Conductor Riccardo
Muti, 2 CD, EMI.
2006 Ruggero Raimondi, Isabel Rey, Oliver Widmer, Juan Diego Florez,
Zurich Opera House Choir and Orchestra; Conductor Nello Santi; Stage
director Grischa Asagaroff, 1 DVD/Blu-ray, Decca (live).
That this opera has never disappeared from the repertory since 1843
knew that they would have enhanced the emotional impact of this scene,
after all.
and of the opera as a whole. As is frequently remarked, Donizetti’s
mature opere buffe, especially L’elisir d’amore and Don Pasquale,
contain a rich sentimental vein, a propensity for minor-mode emotional
outpourings almost completely absent from Rossini’s comic works. If the
most famous example of this vein is perhaps Nemorino’s “Una furtiva
Emanuele Senici was University Lecturer in Music at the University of Oxford and
lagrima” in L’elisir, Ernesto’s “Cercherò lontana terra” but especially Don
now is Professor of Music History at the University of Rome - La Sapienza. He is
Pasquale’s “È finita!” are equally important instances. Sentimentality
author of La Clemenza di Tito di Mozart: i primi trent’anni (1791-1821) (Brepols
and emotional outpourings rely fundamentally on identification between
1997) and Landscape and Gender in Italian Opera: The Alpine Virgin from Bellini
the characters who express them and the spectators in the theatre
to Puccini (Cambridge University Press 2005), and editor of The Cambridge
in order to reach maximum theatrical impact. This identification could
Companion to Rossini (Cambridge University Press 2004). Between 2003 and
only be enhanced by having the characters dressed just like audience
2008 he co-edited the Cambridge Opera Journal. Prof. Dr. Senici wrote this text
members – no matter if this went against common practice for early-
about Don Pasquale for the Royal Opera Hose (London) in 2004.
12
13
TEATRO COMUNALE DI BOLOGNA
250 YEARS OF ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE
The fire in 1745 that destroyed Bologna’s all wooden Teatro Malvezzi
is the beginning of the story of Bologna’s opera house. Following the
fire, the city commissioned Antonio Galli Bibiena, a member of the
famous family of theatre architects and stage designers, to build a new
all stone opera theatre in the then current baroque style. On 14 May
1763, the Teatro Comunale opened its doors to the public with the
premiere performance of Gluck’s Il Trionfo di Clelia. Accounts from the
time report that some 1,500 persons attended the inaugural event – this
at a time when Bologna’s total population was only 70,000.
Conductors who have appeared at the theatre include Mariani,
Toscanini, Furtwängler, Karajan, Gavazzeni, Celibidache, Solti,
Delman, and more recently Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo
Chailly, Christian Thielemann, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Daniele Gatti,
Vladimir Jurowski, and Michele Mariotti.
Some of the great “historic” voices of the nineteenth century have sung at
the Comunale. In the Twentieth Century, singers such as Ebe Stignani,
Tito Schipa, Beniamino Gigli, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Boris Christoff,
Renata Tebaldi, Mario Del Monaco, Franco Corelli and, more recently,
Luciano Pavarotti, Mirella Freni, Renato Bruson, Marilyn Horne, Christa
Ludwig, June Anderson have appeared in our performances.
Since then the Comunale’s stage has become famous for the high
quality of its performances and the fame of the artists coming from all
over the world. Bologna’s musical culture is well known: composers,
including Mozart, studied at Bologna’s Music Academy led by Padre
Martini; Rossini lived in town for years and saw his operas staged on
the Comunale; and Verdi worked in nearby Busseto and Sant’Agata.
In 1867 the first Italian performance of Don Carlo took place here only
a few months after the Paris premiere. The city and the theatre were
also receptive to works and artists from outside Italy: by being the first
Italian theatre to stage Wagner’s Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, Der fliegende
Holländer, Tristan und Isolde and Parsifal, the Teatro Comunale earned
for Bologna the reputation of a “Wagnerian” city. During the first Italian
performance of Lohengrin, Verdi sat in a Teatro box reading his rival’s
opera score.
Today the Teatro Comunale continues its tradition of excellence. Recent
productions have been staged by Pier Luigi Pizzi, Luca Ronconi, Bob
Wilson, Pier’Alli and Werner Herzog. The Teatro, home to an 85-person
orchestra and a 60-person chorus, holds some 80 opera performances
and 35 concerts each year. In addition to serving Bologna and the
Emilia-Romagna region, the Teatro has travelled abroad, including in
1993, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2011 and again in 2013 to Japan, in addition
to being present at important international festivals such as Aix en
Provence in 2005, Savonlinna in 2006, and Moscow in 2013 (Festival
Čajkovskij). For nearly 25 years the Teatro Comunale, with its orchestra
and chorus, has been a guest at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro.
www.tcbo.it
The Teatro Comunale di Bologna (main hall)
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PROFILES
Giuseppe La Malfa
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Stefano Vizioli
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Ruggero Raimondi
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Massimo Cavalletti
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GIUSEPPE LA MALFA
Conductor
Opera Bhutan. In recent seasons he has staged Rigoletto at the Lyric
Winner of the 14th Franco Capuana Competition for young orchestra
and at the Puccini Festival of Torre del Lago, Lucia di Lammermoor
piano, composition and conducting. Following international selections,
the Santa Fe Opera Festival, Vivaldi’s Motezuma at the Sao Carlos
Course & Competition in Pärnu (Estonia) with conductors Paavo Järvi
due Foscari at the Theatre du Capitole in Toulouse, Acis and Galatea
Corato. In December 2004, he conducted Mozart’s Così fan tutte at the
Crociata at the Colon in Buenos Aires, Orontea at the Innsbruck
Egypt; the production was the historic one by Giorgio Strehler. He then
do Brazil. His production of Madama Butterfly at the Teatro Comunale
Beijing, Saint Petersburg and Moscow. In February 2008, he conducted
was brought, from 1986 to 2010, to the major Italian opera houses
Kaikan and Nagoya Concert Hall). He conducted Puccini’s Le Villi
Musica, conductor Claudio Abbado) and Don Pasquale (1994 Teatro
de Mallorca. As a conductor he has performed in some of the most
world, and many of his productions have been broadcasted by Italian
the Teatro Bellini in Catania, the Teatro Massimo in Palermo and the
has been a Visiting Professor for the Cincinnati University of Music
as Renato Palumbo, Stephan Anton Reck, Daniel Oren and Roberto
television programs dealing with the world of Opera and was a member
Opera of Chicago, Madama Butterfly at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma
conductors of the European Union in 2007, Giuseppe La Malfa studied
and Rigoletto at the Verdi Festival in Parma, Simon Boccanegra at
he attended The Neeme Jarvi Summer Academy – Conducting
theatre in Lisbon, Rigoletto at Beijing’s NCPA , Barber of Seville and I
and Neeme Järvi. He is also a tenor, studying with baritone Luigi De
at the International Festival of Music in Macao, Lombardi alla Prima
Cairo Opera House and at the Sayed Darwish Theatre in Alexandria,
Baroque Festival, and Falstaff at the Teatro Sao Pedro in Sao Paulo
conducted the same opera in Moscow, in Lyon, and in 2006 in Athens,
di Bologna, with sets created by famous Italian architect Aldo Rossi,
Rossini’s La Cenerentola in Spoleto (Italy) and in Japan (Tokyo Bunka
and to France. His productions of Barber of Seville (1995 Ferrara
and Suor Angelica at the opening of the 2008 opera season in Palma
alla Scala, conductor Riccardo Muti) are still performed all over the
important opera houses in Italy such as the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari,
and foreign televisions and are now available on DVD. Stefano Vizioli
Arena in Verona. He has been the assistant to several conductors, such
and other world recognized institutions; he has produced radio and
Abbado.
of the artistic board of the prestigious Accademia Filarmonica Romana.
www.stefanovizioli.it
STEFANO VIZIOLI
Stage Director
SUSANNA ROSTI JOST
Set Designer
Following his piano degree from the Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella
in Naples, Stefano Vizioli made his debut in Italy at the Barga Opera
A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, Susanna Rossi Jost
Canarie and has since staged new productions in major theatres and
since 1981. She has participated in numerous Festivals like Spoleto
Festival in 1979 with a production of Domenico Sarro’s Impresario delle
has designed sets and costumes for performances in theatre and opera
and Montepulciano and worked in theaters throughout Italy, the most
opera houses around Europe. In 2000, he made his debut in the US at
the Philadelphia Opera Company directing Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri
important of which are the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Teatro
dell’Opera in Rome, the San Carlo in Naples, the Teatro Comunale
with famous tenor Juan Diego Flórez. Collaborating with outstanding
in Florence, the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, the Carlo Felice in
artists and designers, and promoting emerging talent, he takes a special
Bogdan Mihai
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Roberta Canzian
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Christian Starinieri
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Genoa, the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, the Teatro Grande in Brescia, the
interest in contemporary opera, unknown baroque masterpieces, and
Teatro Sociale in Como, Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna, Teatro Ponchielli
in producing operas for wider audiences. He was one of the creators of
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PRINCIPALS
in Cremona, Teatro delle Muse in Ancona, Teatro Lirico in Cagliari,
ANDREA FAIDUTTI
Chorus Master
LORENZO NENCINI
Revival Stage Director
she has worked in Garsington (UK), Valladolid, La Coruña (Spain),
Born in 1964, he holds degrees in clarinet, choral music and choral
Lorenzo Nencini studied musicology at the University of Bologna and
Conducting at the Musikhochschule in Vienna. He then became Chorus
in Wildbad in Germany. In 2006, he started a durable collaboration
RUGGERO RAIMONDI
Don Pasquale (bass)
Falstaff in Pisa, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly in Torre del Lago, Vivaldi’s
When we talk about Ruggero Raimondi we are not only talking about
until 2012 he was staff assistant director at the Deutsche Oper Berlin,
broadest sense of the word. He has in fact made a history of opera with
Arturo Marelli, Christof Loy, Roland Schwab, Philipp Stölzl, Kirsten
Figaro in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Filippo II in Verdi’s Don Carlos,
at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and from June
2011, he began assisting Graham Vick in successful productions like
Mephistopheles in Gounod’s Faust, Attila, Don Basilio in Rossini’s Il
Cagliari. He was Chorus Master at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo from
St. Petersburg, Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Die Walküre in Palermo,
Verdi’s Otello. This Italian-Monegasque bass not only moved from stage
the Chorus of the Bologna Opera House. He is a member of the jury
and Peace in St. Petersburg. He has recently collaborated with Hugo
or with Tosca in the Places and the Hours of Tosca (1992) directed
“High Specialization for Chorus Master” courses of the Fondazione
cambiale di matrimonio in Parma, and Stefano Vizioli for Cesti’s Orontea
took part in feature films like Joseph Losey’s Don Giovanni (1979),
Teatro Comunale in Sassari, Accademia Chigiana in Siena. Abroad,
Lisbon (Portugal), Philadelphia and Baltimore (USA). Her repertoire of
conducting. From 1989 to 1991 he studied Choral and Orchestral
operas mises en scene include works by such composers as Mozart
(Die Zauberflöte), Rossini (L’Italiana in Algeri, Il Turco in Italia, La
Master of the Athestis Chorus, performing several productions with
Cenerentola, La Pietra del Paragone); Donizetti (Don Pasquale); Bellini
different musical Institutions, including the Tuscany Orchestra (ORT),
(La Sonnambula, Norma); Verdi (Falstaff, Rigoletto). Her experience
one of the greatest opera singers of our time, but about an “artist” in the
where he took part in new productions of important directors like Marco
his memorable performances in roles like Don Giovanni, the Count and
Harms and directed revivals of French, German and Italian operas. In
Boris Godunov, Don Quichotte, Falstaff, Scarpia in Puccini’s Tosca,
2005 to December 2008 he was Chorus Master at the Teatro Lirico di
Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde in Berlin, Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov in
barbiere di Siviglia, Fiesco in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, and Iago in
October 2008 until January 2013 when he took over the leadership of
Rossini’s Mosé in Egitto and Guillaume Tell in Pesaro, Prokofiev’s War
in several polyphonic national competitions, and was professor at the
De Ana for Wagner’s Rienzi in Rome, Andrea Cigni for Rossini’s La
by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi and conducted by Zubin Mehta, but also
Guido d’Arezzo. He currently teaches Choral Practice at the Trapani
in Innsbruck.
Francesco Rosi’s Carmen (1984), Andrej Zulawski’s Boris Godunov
and Veneto, and the RAI National Symphony Orchestra in Turin. In
Cenerentola brought out by AS.LI.CO. She has given seminars on
1998, he was Chorus Master at the Opera Fiume/Rijeka (Croatia) and
costume design for theatre at Diva Productions, Cinecittà. Most recently,
in 1999 he was Chorus Master at the Opera Ljubljana (Slovenia). From
she organized the exhibition by Francesco Vezzoli, “Galleria Vezzoli” at
September 2000 to June 2005, he was Assistant to the Chorus Master
the Maxxi Museum in Rome.
ROBERTA GUIDI DI BAGNO
Costume Designer
Born in Rome (Italy), she worked for the past 39 years for most of
the major opera houses and ballet companies in the world and she is
currently designing Stanton Welch’s new production of Romeo and Juliet
for the Houston Ballet. During her career, she designed costumer for
with Stefano Vizioli and assisted him in several productions like Verdi’s
Motezuma in Ferrara and Bilbao, Verdi’s Il trovatore in Liége. From 2008
the Arturo Toscanini Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of Padua
with opera includes works for children such as an adaptation of Rossini’s
had his first experiences as assistant director at the Festival Rossini
to TV with Maurice Bejart’s 6 Characters in Search of a Singer (1983)
(1989), Benoît Jacquot’s Tosca (2001) and even - without singing - in
High School of Music.
productions at the Teatro Scala (Milan), the Teatro San Carlo (Naples),
Alain Resnais’s Life is a Bed of Roses (1983). He has also recorded
almost all of the bass-baritone parts of the repertoire and recently started
the Teatro dell’Opera (Rome), the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the
Teatro Massimo (Palermo), the Teatro Verdi (Pisa), the Teatro Regio
working on opera production. Ruggero Raimondi can truly be regarded
DANIELE NALDI
Lighting Designer
(Parma), the Teatro Verdi (Trieste), the Lyric Opera (Chicago); the
Opéra de Nice; the Chorégies d’Orange; the Spoleto Festival; the
as one of the beacons of the lyrical art of the last 40 years.
Daniele Naldi was born in Bologna and after gaining experience as a
Deutsche Oper Berlin. Her experience with ballet includes works for
stage electrician he was chosen by the Teatro Comunale of Bologna to
the Houston Ballet, the English National Ballet, the Pacific Northwest
MASSIMO CAVALLETTI
Doctor Malatesta (baritone)
design the lighting for La Gatta Inglese directed by Gabriele Salvatores,
Ballet, the San Francisco Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet, the Tulsa Ballet, the
Il Trionfo Della Notte, directed by Giorgio Marini and several other
Aalto Ballett Theater Essen, the Semperoper Ballett Dresden, the Royal
Massimo Cavalletti was born in Lucca, where he began his vocal studies
operas at the Teatro delle Celebrazioni. From 1994 Daniele is Head of
Danish Ballet, the Shanghai Ballet and the Hong Kong Ballet. Her most
famous productions included Don Pasquale conducted by Riccardo
Lighting and Lighting Designer at the Teatro Comunale, Bologna. His
Swan Lake and Cranko’s Onegin (both starring Roberto Bolle), Otello,
the Teatro Euskalduna di Bilbao, the Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, the
Nabucco, Balanchine’s Coppélia, Theme and Variations, Don Quixote,
Donizetti di Bergamo and the Marseille Opera, the Pala De Andrè in
Juliet, Amarcord and The Merry Widow. She awarded the Massine Prize
Genova and New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv, the Teatro Grande di Brescia
Muti, Afternoon of a Faun (starring Rudolf Nureyev), Bourmeister’s
long list of international lighting design credits include the Zurich Opera,
L’incoronazione di Poppea, Eugene Onegin, Parsifal, La Belle Hélène,
Teatro Regio di Torino, the Teatro Valli di Reggio Emilia, the Teatro
Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Paquita, Romeo and
Ravenna and at the Teatro Verdi di Trieste, the Teatro Carlo Felice
for Ballet for Artistic Achievements.
and the Teatro Municipale di Piacenza. From 2002 to the present he
before attending the Teatro alla Scala Academy of Lyric Opera. In
October 2004, he made his operatic debut at the Teatro Donizetti in
Bergamo. The following year he sang the role of Figaro in Il barbiere
di Siviglia at La Scala where he also sang in 2006, 2008, 2010, and
2013. In the same years he sang in Parma, Turin, Genoa and Bologna.
He made his foreign debuts at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam
(Jake Wallace in La fanciulla del West, 2006), then in Tokyo (2007),
at the Glyndebourne Festival (2007), in Zurich (2007), in Dresden
(2008), in Leipzig (2009) and in Beijing (2011). In 2010 he made the
has been an instructor of stage lighting and technology for the Ater
following debuts: the Metropolitan Opera (Schaunard in Zeffirelli’s
Training Institute
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interpretation of La bohème), the Staatsoper in Berlin (Paolo Albiani
in Simon Boccanegra, conducted by Daniel Barenboim), Brussels and
Hamburg. In summer 2012 Cavalletti made his debut as Marcello in
Puccini’s La bohème at the Salzburg Festival (conducted by Daniele
Gatti, and with Anna Netrebko). In the 2014/15 season he sang Carmen
at the Metropolitan Opera New York, La bohème at Amsterdam’s
Opera House, I puritani in Florence, Falstaff with the Swedish Radio
Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Harding, Carmen at the
Liceu in Barcelona, L’elisir d’amore at Zurich’s Opera House, Un ballo
in maschera in Tel Aviv with Zubin Mehta, La bohème and Il barbiere
di Siviglia at La Scala.
ROBERTA CANZIAN
Norina (soprano)
Roberta Canzian graduated from the Conservatory “B. Marcello” of
Venice and from the Conservatory “G. Verdi” of Milan, she also earned
a degree in Musicology from the University Ca’ Foscari of Venice and
an academic degree from the Conservatory “F. Venezze” of Rovigo.
Winner of the “A. Belli” Opera Competition of Spoleto, she made her
debut as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, followed by an outstanding
career and recognitions such as the Verdi Prize and the Bruson Prize.
At the La Scala of Milan she has sung in Verdi’s Don Carlo, as well as
in Turandot at the Teatro Petruzzelli of Bari and Teatro Carlo Felice
of Genova; Un ballo in maschera at the Teatro Massimo of Palermo;
L’elisir d’amore and Don Pasquale at the Teatro Bellini of Catania;
Capuleti e Montecchi (Giuletta) at Ravenna Festival; Gilda in Rigoletto
at Teatro Verdi Busseto, Teatro Alighieri Ravenna, Macerata Opera
Festival; Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi at Teatro San Carlo di Napoli;
L’elisir d’amore, Quatro Rusteghi (Lucieta) and Campiello (Gasparina)
at Teatro La Fenice in Venice; Micaela in Carmen at Teatro of Spoleto,
Teatro Morlacchi of Perugia and Lecce; Corinna in Il viaggio a Reims;
Les Pecheurs de perles, Rinaldo (Almirena) and Juditha Triumphans
(Abra) at Seoul Arts Center in South Korea. She is also a frequent
guest on Italian national radio and television channels in their direct
transmissions from Italian theatres, on radio and television programs.
BOGDAN MIHAI
Ernesto (tenor)
Romanian tenor Bogdan Mihai trained in Italy under the guidance of
legendary soprano Mirella Freni; he also obtained his Masters Diploma
in belcanto at the Transylvania University in Brasov (Romania). In 2008,
he appeared to great acclaim at Bucharest National Opera as Count
Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia; Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola and
Ernesto in Don Pasquale, and his international career quickly followed.
In 2009, he made his debut with Staatsoper Stuttgart, after which
came his debuts in the UK and at Semperoper Dresden, Deutsche
Oper Berlin, and Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris. He has sung Adelberto
in Adelaide di Borgogna at the prestigious Rossini Festival in Pesaro
(Italy) and the title role in Rossini’s Aureliano in Palmira at the Martina
Franca Festival (Italy). Both productions have been released on DVD.
Mihai also made debuts at the Zurich Opera as Ernesto in Don Pasquale
with Ruggero Raimondi in the title role, and in a new production of
Don Pasquale staged by Brigitte Fassbender at the Cuvilliestheater in
Munich. On the concert platform, he made his highly acclaimed debut
at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam in Rossini’s La scala di seta. At the
invitation of star soprano Angela Gheorghiu he has also appeared in a
series of concerts at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Last season included
his debut as Edmondo in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut with the Berliner
Philharmoniker conducted by Sir Simon Rattle (Baden-Baden Festival,
and at the Philharmonie Berlin) and Belfiore in Il viaggio a Reims at the
prestigious Rossini in Wildbad Festival, which is slated for CD release
under the Naxos label. In the 2014/15 season Bogdan Mihai is making
a series of significant house debuts at the Teatro del Liceu, Barcelona,
and in Paris at the Théâtre du Châtelet.
CHRISTIAN STARINIERI
A notary (baritone)
Christian was born in Chieti (Italy) in 1977. He began studying singing at
the age of 15 and at the age of 17 he won a scholarship with the Angelica
Catalani International Lyric Competition in Italy. He continued his studies and
training, obtaining diplomas from the following Master courses: Hochschule
fur Musik Mozarteum in Salzburg, ORI in Bracciano (Rome), Mario Del
Monaco in Rome. At an audition in Rome with director Peter Brooke he was
the only Italian singer chosen for a master class with him and with conductor
Claudio Abbado to study Mozart’s Don Giovanni. In 2003 he won the title role
of Il barbiere di Siviglia within the As.Li.CO competition in Italy. He studies
composition and orchestral conducting and made his debut as a conductor
with Falstaff, followed by L’elisir d’amore, Le nozze di Figaro, Pagliacci,
Lucia di Lammermoor, and Die Zauberflöte. He has debuted in many roles
in relevant theatres such as Teatro Donizetti (Bergamo), Teatro Ponchielli
(Cremona), as well as in Rovigo, Pisa, Ravenna, Padua, and Trieste.
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THE ORCHESTRA OF THE TEATRO
COMUNALE DI BOLOGNA
The Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna boasts an illustrious
tradition that dates back to the years of romantic melodrama - under
the aegis of Gioachino Rossini, who studied in Bologna and lived
there for a long time - and thanks to an extraordinary period in the
late nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century, marked
by some of the greatest Italian conductors: Luigi Mancinelli, Angelo
Mariani, Giuseppe Martucci, and Arturo Toscanini. In more recent
years Sergiu Celibidache, Zoltán Peško, Vladimir Delman, Riccardo
Chailly, and Daniele Gatti have guided the Orchestra as Musical or
Principal Conductors. Michele Mariotti has been the Musical Director
since January 2015. Some of the conductors who have recently led
the orchestra are: Gary Bertini, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, MyungWhun Chung, James Conlon, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Valery Gergiev, Eliahu
Inbal, Vladimir Jurowskij, Bruno Bartoletti, Pinchas Steinberg, Daniel
Oren, Peter Maag, Sir Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti,
Mstislav Rostropovich, Esa Pekka Salonen, Sir Georg Solti, Christian
Thielemann, Charles Dutoit, George Prêtre. The Orchestra of the
Teatro Comunale has received numerous invitations for international
tours (Japan, The Netherlands, Romania, Spain, France, Switzerland,
Russia) and to participate in prestigious festivals such as the Holland
Festival in Amsterdam (1987), the Verdi Festival in Parma (in 1990 and
again in October 2014), the Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden
(1994), the International Festival of Santander in Spain (2004 and 2008),
the International Festival of Aix en Provence in France (2005), and the
Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland (2006). A special relationship with
Japan has produced six successful tours in 1993, 1998, 2002, 2006,
2011, and 2013. In October 2014, the Orchestra was invited in Macao
for the Macao International Music Festival. Since 1988, the Orchestra
has taken regular part in the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro (Italy).
The Orchestra has made several significant recordings, such as
Donizetti’s La favorita, conducted by Richard Bonynge, Verdi’s Oberto
Conte di San Bonifacio conducted by Zoltán Peško, Rossini’s The
Barber of Seville, conducted by Giuseppe Patané, Donizetti’s La figlia
del reggimento, conducted by Bruno Campanella, Mascagni’s Le
maschere and Puccini’s La bohème conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti,
Rossini’s La scala di seta in Pesaro conducted by Gabriele Ferro, as well
as some recordings with Luciano Pavarotti and June Anderson. Under
the baton of Riccardo Chailly, the Orchestra recorded Verdi’s Macbeth
and Rigoletto, Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, Rossini’s La Cenerentola and
Messa solenne, and video productions of Verdi’s I vespri siciliani and
Giovanna d’Arco, and of Massenet’s Werther. In 1993, in a fortunate
edition of the Rossini Opera Festival, the Orchestra recorded Rossini’s
Armida under the baton of Daniele Gatti. In 2003, the Orchestra
recorded a Decca edition of Werther by Jules Massenet with Andrea
Bocelli and conducted by Yves Abel, and a Deutsche Grammophon
production of Gioachino Rossini’s Le comte Ory, recorded live at
the Rossini Opera Festival in 2003, starring Juan Diego Flórez, and
conducted by Jésus López-Cobos. Again for Decca and starring Juan
Diego Flórez, the Orchestra has recorded a Sacred Arias CD and a
CD of French arias. The Orchestra of the Comunale di Bologna has
recorded La nuit de Mai with Deutsche Grammophon, a CD of opera
arias and songs by Leoncavallo, with Placido Domingo, conducted by
Alberto Veronesi. Recently, on the Sony label, the Orchestra recorded
an album of operatic arias by various authors performed by soprano
Nino Machaidze and conducted by Michele Mariotti. In March 2013,
the artistic ensembles of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna conducted
by Michele Mariotti were protagonists of the opening concert of the
IV International Mstislav Rostropovich Festival in Moscow, where they
performed Giuseppe Verdi’s Messa da Requiem.
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CONCERT MASTERS
Emanuele Benfenati
Willem Johannes Blokbergen
Paolo Mancini
FIRST VIOLINS
Marco Ferri*
Giacomo Scarponi*
Giuseppe Bertoni
Federico Braga
Alessandro Di Marco
Tommaso Luison
Silvia Mandolini
Elisa Maria Menegardi
Paolo Mora
Fabio Sperandio
Alessandra Talamo
Stela Thaci
Laura Zagato
SECOND VIOLINS
Fabio Cocchi*
Davide Dondi*
Stefano Coratti**
Franco Parisini**
Vittorio Barbieri
Giorgio Bovina
Emanuela Campara
Pietro David Caramia
Anna Carlotti
Valentino Corvino
Mauro Drago
Liuba Fontana
Elena Maury
Paola Tognacci
OBOES
Paolo Grazia*
Matteo Trentin*
Alessio Gentilini
Gianluca Pellegrino (Cor Anglais)
VIOLAS
Enrico Celestino*
Emanuela Bascetta**
Alessandro Savio**
Nicola Calzolari
Caterina Caminati
Corrado Carnevali
Stefano Cristani
Loris Dal Bo
Sandro Di Paolo
CLARINETS
Alessandro Falco*
Luca Milani*
Adriana Boschi
Giulio Ciofini (Bass Clarinet)
Stefano Zanolli
BASSOONS
Paolo Bighignoli*
Massimo Ferretti Incerti*
Guido Giannuzzi
Alessandro Bravin (Contrabassoon)
CELLOS
Francesco Maria Parazzoli*
Eva Zahn*
Roberto Cima**
Giorgio Cristani**
Mattia Cipolli
Sara Nanni
Vittorio Piombo
Chiara Tenan
HORNS
Katia Foschi *
Stefano Pignatelli*
Sergio Boni
Giovanni Hoffer
Michele Melchioni
Neri Noferini
BASSES
Gianandrea Pignoni*
Fabio Quaranta*
Paolo Taddia**
Roberto Pallotti
Raniero Sampaoli
TRUMPETS
Ulrich Breddermann*
Gabriele Buffi*
Alberto Brini
Marzio Montali
HARP
Cinzia Campagnoli*
TROMBONES
Eugenio Fantuzzi*
Andrea Maccagnan*
Massimo Baraldi
Gianluca Corbelli
Andrea Talassi
FLUTES
Domenico Alfano*
Devis Mariotti*
Anna Colacioppo
Monica Festinese (Piccolo)
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TIMPANI
Valentino Marré*
PERCUSSION
Mirko Natalizi
*Section Principal
**Associate Principal
THE CHORUS OF THE TEATRO
COMUNALE DI BOLOGNA
Among the most famous ensembles on the international scene, the
Chorus of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna performs opera and
symphonic music in the regular seasons of the Teatro. Among the
Chorus Masters that have led the Chorus are: Gaetano Riccitelli,
Leone Magiera, Fulvio Fogliazza, Fulvio Angius, Piero Monti, Marcel
Seminara, Paolo Vero, Lorenzo Fratini. Since January 2013 the Chorus
Master has been Andrea Faidutti. Great musicians have conducted the
Chorus during the productions of the Teatro’s Seasons: Georg Solti,
Riccardo Muti, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Vladimir Delman, Francesco Molinari
Pradelli, Peter Maag, Vladimir Fedoseev, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Valery
Gergiev, Gary Bertini, Yuri Aronovitch, Gustav Kuhn, Eliahu Inbal,
Daniel Oren, Christian Thielemann, Myung-Whun Chung, Vladimir
Jurowskij, Georges Prêtre, Riccardo Chailly, Daniele Gatti, Claudio
Abbado, Michele Mariotti. Under the baton of Riccardo Chailly the
Chorus recorded Verdi’s Macbeth, Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, Verdi’s
Rigoletto, Rossini’s La Cenerentola, as well as video productions of
Verdi’s I vespri siciliani and Giovanna d’Arco. In 1993, during the Rossini
Opera Festival in Pesaro, a recording of Rossini’s Armida conducted by
Daniele Gatti was produced. Its appearances abroad are numerous: in
1987 at the Holland Festival in Amsterdam, in 1994 at the Internationale
Maifestspiele of Wiesbaden, and in 2001 a performance of Verdi’s
Messa da Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall in London during the BBC
Proms Festival, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted
by Daniele Gatti. A special relationship with Japan has produced five
successful tours in 1993, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2011. In 2006, the
Chorus took part in the Savonlinna Opera Festival and in 2008, the
Festival Internacional de Santander.
After participating for years in the summer productions at the Rocca
Brancaleone in Ravenna, in the 1990s, the Chorus returned to the
Ravenna Festival performing Nabucco, Cavalleria Rusticana, and I
pagliacci, conducted by Riccardo Muti and directed by Liliana Cavani.
Since 2009 the Chorus has returned regularly to the Rossini Opera
Festival in Pesaro receiving great critical and audience acclaim.
Of particular significance, in 2011, was its role in Moses in Egypt
conducted by Roberto Abbado and directed by Graham Vick; and in
2013 in another Graham Vick production, Guillaume Tell, under the
baton of Michele Mariotti. In 2008, under the baton of Claudio Abbado,
the Chorus took part in a special performance of Hector Berlioz’s Te
Deum in Bologna, an event attended by more than 900 orchestra and
chorus artists selected from the schools of the region. The Chorus of the
Teatro Comunale di Bologna performs many concerts for prestigious
institutions interpreting programs by important authors, from Palestrina
to Szymanovski, from Monteverdi to Liszt. In March 2013, the artistic
ensembles of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna conducted by Michele
Mariotti were protagonists of the opening concert for the IV International
Mstislav Rostropovich Festival in Moscow where they performed
Giuseppe Verdi’s Messa da Requiem.
CHORUSMASTER
Andrea Faidutti
SOPRANOS
Gianna Biagi
ALTOS
Stefania Finocchiaro
BARITONES
Marco Danieli
Silvia Calzavara
Anna Gambineri
Gabriele Lombardi
Raffaella Casalini
Manuela Manucci
Mauro Marchetto
Fanny Eszter Fogel
Lucia Michelazzo
Tommaso Norelli
Marinella Francia
Marcella Ventura
Sandro Pucci
Nana Gordadze
Rosa Guarracinl
Maria Adele Magnelli
Marianna Maresca
Antonella Montali
Roberta Pozzer
Silvia Pozzer
Manuela Rasori
Giovanna Ricci
Agnes Sarmiento Vallverdù
Celestina Testaverde
Lucia Viviani
TENORS
Massimiliano Brusco
Giuseppe Caltagirone
BASSES
Michele Castagnaro
Maurizio Cei
Raffaele Costantini
Ercole D’Aleo
Pierpaolo Gallina
Giovanni Dattolo
Ettore Schiatti
Moreno Finotelli
Francesco Orlando Sgroi
Martino Fullone
Alessandro Tabarroni
Cosimo Gregucci
Cristiano Tavassi
Martino Laterza
Paolo Parissi
Enrico Picinni Leopardi
Ugo Rosati
MEZZOSOPRANOS
Lorena Silvia Bartolini
Fabio Sgammini
Marie Luce Erard
Andrea Taboga
Grazia Paolella
Antonino Tavilla
Clio Piatesi
Luca Visani
Nadia Pirazzini
Roberta Sassi
Lucia Sciannimanico
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Ciaran Dominic Rocks
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TEATRO COMUNALE DI BOLOGNA
STAFF ON TOUR
Nicola Sani
Superintendent
Music Director
Michele Mariotti
General Manager
Fulvio Macciardi
Chorus Master
Andrea Faidutti
Administrative Director
Emanuela Lolli
Luca Gandini
Technical Director
Marco Stanghellini
General Affairs Director
Artistic Secretary
Mauro Gabrieli
General Manager’s Assistant
Corinne Baroni
Giuliano Guernieri
Production Office
Sara Piagno
Press and Communication Office
Gianni Marras
Head of Stage Manager
Roberto Polastri
Head of Musical Staff
Euro Lazzari
Music Librarian
Riccardo Puglisi
Development
Patrizia Bonaveri
Boxoffice
Carlo Selleri
Head of I.C.T. and Organization
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PERFORMANCE CALENDAR
March 2015
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26
28, 29
FAMILY CONCERT
6:00pm
A fun-filled introduction to comedy in Italian opera.
PIOTR BECZALA - TENOR IN CONCERT
The Polish tenor star in a programme of much-loved operatic and operetta favorites.
MAESTRO RICCARDO MUTI AND ANNE -SOPHIE MUTTER, VIOLINIST
The legendary Italian conductor alongside his exceptional Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra and
star-violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter present a programme with works by Tchaikovsky and Beethoven.
7:30pm
7:30pm
April 2015
2
9, 10
11
16, 17
24, 26
28
OMAR KHAIRAT WITH THE ROYAL OMAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The dazzling composer Omar Khairat returns to ROHM in a concert with the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra
INTERACTIVE MAGIC FLUTE FOR CHILDREN
Mozart’s celebrated opera The Magic Flute with an interactive twistin performances tailored to
entertain children and families.
THE LOVE OF CHUNHYANG -
UNIVERSAL BALLET OF KOREA
One of Asia’s leading ballet companies performs this classic Korean tale recounting the love of a dancer’s
daughter for a nobleman.
CINDERELLA (LA CENERENTOLA) - OPERA BY GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
Rossini’s charming fairytale is brought to ROHM by the renowned Bavarian State Opera in Munich.
PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND
A welcome return to Muscat for the hugely popular Jazz band from New Orleans.
www.rohmuscat.org.om
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7:30pm
6:00pm
2:00pm
7:30pm
7:00pm
7:30pm