ASHER FISCH
Concert for the 40th anniversary of the Bologna massacre
ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS OF THE TEATRO COMUNALE DI BOLOGNA
Born in 1959, Asher Fisch is an Israeli conductor and often works with leading European and American theatres and prestigious symphonic orchestras.
Acclaimed by the critics as one of the best interpreters of Wagner of our times, Asher Fisch has taken his extensive opera repertoire to the world’s greatest theatres, also acting as Music Director of the Israeli Opera of Tel Aviv and the Volksoper of Vienna. He is also an accomplished concert performer and pianist. He has conducted the Chicago Symphony, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Philharmonischer, Israel Philharmonic, NHK of Tokyo and many others orchestras.
Sunday 2 August | H 21.15
Piazza Maggiore
Program
ENNIO MORRICONE
Non devi dimenticare
DANILO COMITINI
Winning piece of the International Composition Competition “2 Agosto”
GUSTAV HOLST
The Planets
Composers
The composer, arranger and conductor Ennio Morricone (1928-2020) was a pupil of Goffredo Petrassi. Landing in music for films, he became famous with Sergio Leone’s westerns (from Per pugno di dollari, 1964, to Giù la testa, 1971) and for the lasting partnerships with directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Elio Petri and Giuseppe Tornatore. He has composed more than 100 classical pieces and since the 1970s he has also dedicated himself to concert production, characterized by an eclectic mix of styles.
Danilo Comitini (1986) graduated in piano at the “G. Rossini ”in Pesaro and then in composition with Lamberto Lugli. He specialized in Milan with Alessandro Solbiati. He has won numerous composition competitions and his music has been awarded by personalities such as Frédéric Durieux, Claudio Ambrosini and Daniele Zanettovich.
Gustav Theodore Holst (1874-1934) was an English composer who became musical director at Morley College in London in 1907. His production was heavily influenced by Richard Wagner and, in his mature years, by Stravinsky. These tendencies are especially present in the suite The Planets (1916), the most famous of his symphonic compositions, in which he tries to translate the different astrological character of each planet into sounds.
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.