VERDI, MASCAGNI, GIORDANO, DONIZETTI, PUCCINI, BELLINI
Paolo Arrivabeni - Mariella Devia, soprano | Gregory Kunde, tenore
Paolo Arrivabeni is Music Director of the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Lieges and has been the guest director of leading opera and theatre festivals, such as the MET, the Staatsoper, Berlin, the Grand Théâtre de Genéve, the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, La Fenice, the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris and many others. He is an expert of Italian opera and is interested in rare works and authors such as Spontini and Mercadante. His broad-ranging repertoire includes the great Russian and German composers.
Acclaimed by the public and critics alike as the Queen of bel canto, Mariella Devia has performed to acclaim for over forty years in the world’s most important theatres, thanks to her talented voice and
style of performance “with a splendid projection, the legato, support and control of her breathing, the softness of the high notes, taste and musicality, and supremacy of her timbre” (Elvio Giudici)
Considered by many as one of the most elegant and complete bel canto opera singers performing today, Gregory Kinde has performed in all the world’s greatest theatres: Teatro alla Scala, Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera – Chicago, Wiener Staatsoper, Bayerishe Staatsoper – Monaco, Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris, Rossini Opera Festival, Opera di Roma, Theatre du Chatelet, Opernhaus in Zurich, etc. He regularly works with leading conductors and directors the world over including: Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Chailly, John Eliot Gardiner, Antonio Pappano, Kent Nagano, Gianandrea Noseda, Emmanuel Plasson, Georges Prêtre, Simon Rattle, Andrew Davis, Myung-whun Chung, Jeffrey Tate, Luca Ronconi, Hugo De Ana, David McVicar, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Timothy Nelson, Richard Bonynge, Giancarlo Del Monaco, Claudio Scimone, Zlberto Zedda, etc.
Program
The concert pays tribute to two international opera artists: Mariella Devia and Gregory Kunde.
After a forty-five year career, the great soprano from Liguria, Italy, will be retiring, performing her last role as Norma, in Bellini’s opera. Gregory Kunde has performed in the world’s greatest theatres and is an outstanding singer of the bel canto repertoire.
The program presents some of the arias that have made the two artists famous, for an unforgettable concert dedicated to bel canto.
GIUSEPPE VERDI
from Nabucco
Sinfonia
Gli arredi festivi
from La forza del destino
O tu che in seno agli angeli
from I Lombardi alla prima crociata
Qual prodigio … Non fu sogno
PIETRO MASCAGNI
from Cavalleria rusticana
Gli aranci olezzano
UMBERTO GIORDANO
from Andrea Chenier
Un dì all’azzurro spazio
GAETANO DONIZETTI
from Lucrezia Borgia
Com’è bello, quale incanto
GIACOMO PUCCINI
from Manon Lescaut
Intermezzo
GAETANO DONIZETTI
from Roberto Devereux
Donna reale … Un lampo, un lampo orribile!
VINCENZO BELLINI
from Norma
Sinfonia | Meco all’altar di Venere
Norma viene: le cinge la chioma
Casta Diva
PIETRO MASCAGNI
from Iris
Preludio | Inno al sole
VINCENZO BELLINI
from Norma
In mia mano alfin tu sei
ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS OF THE TEATRO COMUNALE DI BOLOGNA
With its long-standing tradition, the Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna has been led by Musical Directors like Sergiu Celibidache, Zoltán Peskó, Vladimir Delman, Riccardo Chailly, Daniele Gatti, Michele Mariotti. Some of the conductors who have worked with the ensemble include Gary Bertini, Myung-Whun Chung, James Conlon, Pinchas Steinberg, Valery Gergiev, Eliau Inbal, Vladimir Jurowskij, Daniel Oren, Peter Maag, Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti, Mstislav Rostropovič, Esa Pekka Salonen, Georg Solti, Christian Thielemann, Charles Dutoit, Georges Prêtre. The Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale is often invited abroad (The Netherlands, Romania, Spain, France, and Switzerland) and has played in many prestigious festivals (Amsterdam 1987, Parma 1990, Wiesbaden 1994, Santander 2004 and 2008, Aix en Provence 2005, Savonlinna 2006, Macao 2013, Muscat 2015, Guanajuato in Mexico 2017, Paris 2018). A special connection with Japan has brought to several tours, including the tour in June 2019 in Osaka, Tokyo, Yokohama, Fukuoka, with performances of Rigoletto directed by Alessio Pizzech, and of Il Barbiere di Siviglia directed by Federico Grazzini.
Its numerous recordings include La Favorite conducted by Richard Bonynge; Oberto Conte di San Bonifacio conduted by Zoltán Peskó, Il Barbiere di Siviglia conducted by Giuseppe Patané, La Fille du Régiment conducted by Bruno Campanella, Le Maschere and La Bohème conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti, La Scala di Seta conducted by Gabriele Ferro, Macbeth, Manon Lescaut, Rigoletto, La Cenerentola, Messa Solenne, and the video production of Vespri siciliani and Giovanna d’Arco and Werther conducted by Riccardo Chailly, Armide conducted by Daniele Gatti, Simon Boccanegra conducted by Michele Mariotti.
The Orchestra, conducted by Michele Mariotti, has recorded a CD under the label Decca with sacred arias sung by Juan Diego Flórez, and an album under Sony with Romantic arias sung by Nino Machaidze. Under Deutsche Grammophon the Orchestra recorded Le Comte Ory with Flórez, and La Nuit de Mai – a selection or arias and songs by Leoncavallo – with Placido Domingo. Under the label PENTATONE it recently released a CD containing overtures by Rossini, to celebrate 150 years since the death of the composer.
In March 2013 the artistic ensembles of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, led by Michele Mariotti, opened the IV International Festival Mstislav Rostropovich in Moscow, where they performed Verdi’s Messa da Requiem. In October 2015, again with Michele Mariotti on the podium, they opened the Lingotto Music Festival at the Auditorium Giovanni Agnelli in Turin, where they performed Stabat Mater by Rossini, and his Overture and Ballet Music from Guillaume Tell.
After working with the Rossini Opera Festival for nearly thirty years (from 1988 to 2016), the year 2017 brought new collaborations between the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and the Verdi Festival in Parma, where the Orchestra performed, among other productions, the Stiffelio directed by Graham Vick. Staged at the Teatro Farnese, the show was highly appreciated by audience and critics alike and was granted the Special Prize at the 37th edition of the “Franco Abbiati” Critics award. The Orchestra’s engagements with the Verdi Festival for the Fall of 2019 include Luisa Miller at the Chiesa di San Francesco del Prato in Parma, and Aida at the Teatro Verdi in Busseto.
The Teatro Comunale’s 2018 production of La Bohème staged by Graham Vick received the Abbiati Award as best show.
Considered one of the most prestigious ensembles worldwide, through the years the Chorus has been led by Gaetano Riccitelli, Leone Magiera, Fulvio Fogliazza, Fulvio Angius, Piero Monti, Marcello Seminara, Paolo Vero, Lorenzo Fratini, Andrea Faidutti, and, since 2019, Alberto Malazzi. Among its many recordings are those of La Favorita, Macbeth, Manon Lescaut, Rigoletto, La Cenerentola, and Rossini’s Messa Solenne. Its numerous international tours include Amsterdam (1987), Wiesbaden (1994), Japan (1993, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2011, 2017), Savonlinna (2006), Santander (2008), Muscat (2015), Paris (2018). In 2001 the Chorus performed Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at the London Royal Albert Hall within the BBC Proms Festival, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Daniele Gatti. In June 2019 the Chorus is again touring Japan (Osaka, Tokyo, Yokohama, Fukuoka) with Rigoletto conducted by Alessio Pizzech, and Il Barbiere di Siviglia conducted by Federico Grazzini.
Noteworthy is its return to the Rossini Opera Festival from 2009 to 2016, where in 2011 the Chorus was part of the production of Mosè in Egitto, directed by Graham Vick and conducted by Roberto Abbado, that won the “Abbiati” award as best show for that year.
In 2017 the Chorus was at the Verdi Festival in Parma performing Traviata, and the Stiffelio directed by Graham Vick at the Teatro Farnese that was awarded the “Franco Abbiati” Special Prize.
Its engagements with the Verdi Festival for the Fall of 2019 will see the Chorus perform Luisa Miller at the Chiesa di San Francesco del Prato in Parma, and Aida at the Teatro Verdi in Busseto.
The Teatro Comunale’s 2018 production of La Bohème staged by Graham Vick received the Abbiati Award as best show.
