This new production of Tosca from Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is set in the late 1920s. Puccini's 'Roman Opera' sees a city bathed in majesty but also curdled by eroticism and sadism, where sartorial elegance and pathological violence co-exist. Taking visual clues from Bernardo Bertolucci's cinematic masterpiece, Il conformista, the cast is led by the passionate Vanessa Goikoetxea and features the magnetic Alexey Markov in the role of Scarpia. Daniele Gatti directs a performance praised for it's 'courageous and surprising' impact.

Puccini: Madama Butterfly

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Erich Wolfgang Korngold was a child prodigy whose early genius was recognized and admired by the likes of Gustav Mahler and Giacomo Puccini. His musical style, deeply affected by music for the theatre, possessed great lyrical breadth; he managed to develop his own voice by blending all the different influences he absorbed in Vienna during his studies. The advent of Nazism in 1934 forced him to seek refuge in the United States, where he became the first composer of film scores, winning two Oscars and marking a milestone in the Hollywood film industry. Teatro Regio di Torino has contributed to the rediscovery of this precious one-act opera by staging its Italian premiere. Violanta is Korngold's second opera, which the composer wrote in 1914 at the age of 17. It was premiered with great success at Munich’s Hoftheater on 28 March 1916, and a few days later in Vienna. The influence of the Austrian capital is key to understanding Korngold’s style. From the late 1800s to the early 1900s Vienna was a place of contrasts: nostalgia for the past and innovative trends; conservatism and creative energy. Korngold grew up in this environment, absorbing various influences which are all present in Violanta, making this opera a sort of 'small-scale Vienna'. Pier Luigi Pizzi, stage director, costume and lighting designer for this production, chose to set the action at the beginning of the 1920s in a decadent Venice, where distant echoes of a melancholic Carnival add a sense of gloom to the whole performance.

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Before starting to work at Nabucodonosor, which will later become his iconic Nabucco, Giuseppe Verdi was on the verge of abandoning music, discouraged as he was by the flop of his second opera. He then received a libretto by Temistocle Solera almost by chance, as it was destined to another composer. Verdi was very reluctant to put himself to work, but later he referred that one night he “threw the manuscript on the table […]. the booklet opened: unwillingly, my eyes were drawn to the page that was before them and on these verses: ‘Va, pensiero, sull’ali dorate’”. So he started focusing on the task and “one day one verse, the next day another verse, a note and a phrase at a time, […] little by little the opera was composed”. The rest is history. Nabucodonosor was a triumph, the public of La Scala, on the night of 9th March 1842, repaid him with an unprecedented success hailing all the numbers of the opera with warm ovations and paying a special tribute to the chorus Va’, pensiero, sull’ali dorate, which in Italy has since become a sort of second national anthem. The reasons of such a success were that the opera possessed such force in itself, such simplicity and smoothness of style that made it the perfect example of tragic opera. This production has been filmed at the 2019 Festival Verdi in Parma. It’s a very powerful and engaging creative project by 2018 Abbiati prize winner duo Ricci/Forte. The most striking feature of this staging is that the action takes place in 2046 on a military ship, which reminds us of an Ark. This performance portrays a dystopic society where we can find many references to real contemporary events. Nabucco is turned into an oppressive dictator who is obsessed with his own image. The Hebrew slaves are portrayed as refugees wearing life vests, while on the ship deck various screens are used to display the regime’s propaganda.

Even though it is mainly to Manon and Werther that Massenet owes his renown, he composed operas of different genre and character, which just as effectively reveal his fine lyrical vein and talent in depicting various emotions. Don Quichotte is brilliantly comic. Finished in 1910, after a career studded with successes, the opera was premièred at the Opera Theatre in Monte Carlo. It was a resounding success, fostered by the presence, in the main roles, of famous singers such as the Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin as Don Quichotte and Lucy Arbell as Dulcinée. A few months later, in December of the same year, it would be repeated at Paris's Théâtre Galté-Lyrique, with Lucy Arbell this time partnered by Vanni Marcoux (Don Quichotte) and Lucine Fugère (Sancho Panza). The subject, from Cervantes's masterpiece, had been versified by the young and extravagant writer Jacques Le Lorrain. The story is quite different from that of Miguel de Cervantes's hero, appearing, rather, as a self-portrait of the poet himself: the knight becomes a model of virtue, of generosity, driven by lofty ideals Dulcinée, from maid in an inn becomes a woman of the world. Massenet, who, despite the difficult period he was going through, conceived a rich score, full of verve and maturity.

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Un mari à la porte ( A Husband at the Door) is a one-act operetta which was recorded at the Teatro del Maggio in occasion of the 200th anniversary of Offenbach’s birth. Premiered in 1859, this rarely performed work is a most amusing comedy of errors, which is the typical frameset that the composer used to represent and mock the quirks and vices of the French society of his times. The action takes place in Susanne’s bedroom, on her wedding night. She is in company of her friend Rosita, with whom she complains about having just found out about her husband’s bad character, that she decides to punish and leave outside the door. Rosita tries to soothe her naive friend and eventually leaves. While alone, the bride realizes that there’s a man hidden under the bed. It’s Florestan Ducroquet, a young and penniless musician, who had broken into the room falling from the chimney, while escaping from the fury of a jealous husband. Rosita joins the pair in the room as Henry, the groom, is waiting outside the door pleading to come in, yet thinking the two friends are pulling a prank on him. Finally the intruder manages to flee from the window, seconds after having proposed to Rosita. Order is restored and love triumphs over all. This carefree play of allusions and misunderstandings is accompanied by the brilliant music of Offenbach that moves gracefully to the rhythm of dance: polka, mazurka and especially waltz. The strong points of this production are indeed the colorful, flamboyant setting and costumes and the amazing acting ability of all four singers, who have the audience laugh with sheer delight.

PIAZZOLLA: Tangos (arr. for accordion quartet)

Directed by Tiziano Mancini.

HARRISON, L.: Homage to Lou Harrison (A), Vol. 3 - In Praise

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Recorded during the 2018 Donizetti Festival, Il Castello di Kenilworth was first staged at Naples’ San Carlo in 1829. Drawn from a novel by Sir Walter Scott and adapted by librettist Leone Tottola, this rare opera was unjustly long neglected. This recording features the original version, with the role of Warney entrusted to a tenor (which the composer changed into a baritone in the 1836 revision of the score).Il Castello di Kenilworth is the first of the several successful works to follow that Donizetti based on British history, introducing the character of Queen Elizabeth I, torn by the inner struggle between a monarch’s duty and a woman’s feelings. The fundamental pivot of the drama is the antagonism between the two female characters who both dwell and suffer in their loneliness, in a male-dominated world. The performance received excellent reviews, praising the richness of the costumes, the sobriety of the stage setting, and, mostly, the vocal and acting skills of the whole cast, which features first-rate singers like opera stars Jessica Pratt and Carmela Remigio, who share the stage with talented tenors Stefan Pop and emerging talent Xabier Anduaga “A first-class cast, with an imaginative production team, under the musical direction of Riccardo Frizza, have been assembled, and it is not an exaggeration to say that together they have produced a compelling case for “Il Castello di Kenilworth” to be given further consideration. […] It was musically engaging, full of bel canto charm, with some wonderful melodies, and notwithstanding its formulaic format, was dramatically convincingly. (Alan Neilson – Operawire)

Rolla: Duets - Caprices

Includes work(s) by Pietro Mascagni. Ensembles: Trieste Teatro Verdi Orchestra, Trieste Teatro Verdi Chorus. Conductor: Nicola Luisotti.

MEYERBEER: Robert le diable

Includes sonata(s) for guitar by Niccolò Paganini. Soloist: Guido Fichtner.

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I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata is an operatic drama in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera. The work is based on an epic poem by Tommaso Grossi, which was “very much a child of its age; a grand historical novel with a patriotic slant.” Verdi dedicated the score to Maria Luigia, the Habsburg Duchess of Parma, who died a few weeks after the premiere. "I Lombardi best encapsulates the spirit of the Italian people’s desire for nationhood. One would be pleasantly surprised, full as it is, of rousing choruses and musical numbers of great beauty, with music wonderfully expressive and perfectly in accord with drama at times. Visually and musically a sumptuous staging, full of contrasting colors and glorious singing for this young Verdi's rare work." (review by Alan Nelson / Operawire). American soprano Angela Meade and the italian tenor Francesco Meli star in the main roles of this production, which is conducted by Michele Mariotti and was recorded in April 2018.