The Program Features 5 Immortal Opera Titles

Press Office 03/07/2017

Friday 23rd June was the inauguration evening of the 95th edition of the Arena di Verona Opera Festival, running through to 27th August 2017 with 48 really thrilling evenings.

The program features 5 immortal Opera titles:

NABUCCO (new production)

AIDA (staged in two different productions)

RIGOLETTO

MADAMA BUTTERFLY

TOSCA

This program is further enriched by 3 exceptional evenings:

ROBERTO BOLLE AND FRIENDS

PLÁCIDO DOMINGO
ANTOLOGÍA DE LA ZARZUELA

GALA CONCERT
BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY No. 9

The 2017 Festival features a really rich program for all those who want to enjoy a musical evening in the world’s largest outdoor amphitheatre: for opera lovers, in particular Italian opera, ballet fans and those who love symphonic music, but also those who simply want to let themselves be moved by immortal melodies, in the enchanting setting of the theatre under the stars.

The Opera Festival opened on 23rd June with one of the Arena audiences’ most popular operas: Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi, programmed for 12 evenings until 26th August. This year it is being performed in a new production directed by Arnaud Bernard, who also designed the costumes, and with set design by Alessandro Camera. The stage make-up was created by make-up designer Michele Magnani, global senior artist of M.A.C. Cosmetics, Official Partner of the 2014 Opera Festival. On the podium for eight performances there is once again Daniel Oren, one of the major Verdi interpreters and habitual guest of the Arena for over thirty years, whose baton alternates for four evenings with that of Jordi Bernàcer, who will also conduct the Arena orchestra on the exceptional show dedicated to Plácido Domingo. Great artists perform the leading roles in the drama to a libretto by Temistocle Solera, starting with George Gagnidze as Nabucco, who alternates with Leonardo López Linares, Boris Statsenko and Sebastian Catana, while Tatiana Melnychenko, Rebeka Lokar, Anna Pirozzi and Susanna Branchini interpret the proud Abigaille; in the role of the high priest Zaccaria, the audiences see Stanislav Trofimov, Rafał Siwek and In Sung Sim; the part of Fenena is performed by Carmen Topciu, Anna Malavasi, Nino Surguladze and that of Ismaele by Walter Fraccaro, Mikheil Sheshaberidze and Rubens Pelizzari.

This is followed from 24th August by Aida, the opera that is a symbol of the Opera Festival, having been performed 650 times from 1913 to the present day. The Verdi masterpiece is staged for 8 evenings until 23rd July in the futuristic visionary version that inaugurated the Centenary Festival in 2013, by the Catalan artistic team La Fura dels Baus, directed by Carlus Padrissa and Àlex Ollé and with set design by Roland Olbeter, costumes by Chu Uroz, choreography by Valentina Carrasco and lighting design by the Arena’s Paolo Mazzon. On the podium Julian Kovatchev conducts a cast of high-profile protagonists: as Aida Amarilli Nizza, Sae-Kyung Rim and Irina Churilova, alongside of Carlo Ventre, Yusif Eyvazov and Fabio Sartori as Radamès; Amneris is performed by Violeta Urmana, Anastasia Boldyreva and Anna Maria Chiuri, while Boris Statsenko and Leonardo López Linares interpret Amonasro.

The 2017 Festival’s third opera is another Verdi masterpiece, Rigoletto, proposed between 1st and 27th July for 5 dates in the elegant traditional production of director Ivo Guerra, with set design by Raffaele Del Savio and costumes by Carla Galleri, which reproduces a small city of Mantua in the Verona amphitheatre, taking great care with the smallest details. Conducting the Arena Orchestra is Julian Kovatchev, entrusted with guiding Amartuvshin Enkhbat, Carlos Álvarez and, for the last performance, the great Leo Nucci in the title role, with Elena Mosuc, Jessica Pratt, Ekaterina Siurina and Jessica Nuccio as Gilda, and Gianluca Terranova, Francesco Demuro and Arturo Chacón-Cruz alternating as the Duke of Mantua.

This will be followed from 8th July to 19th August by 6 performances of Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. The opera is staged in the successful 2004 production with Franco Zeffirelli as director and scenographer, costumes by Academy Award winning designer Emi Wada and choreography by Maria Grazia Garofoli. The orchestra conducting is entrusted to Jader Bignamini and in the leading roles it is possible to appreciate the voices of Oksana Dyka, Sae-Kyung Rim and Hui He as Cio-Cio-San, alongside Pinkerton performed by Marcello Giordani and Gianluca Terranova.

On 17th July there is the first special evening of the 95th Opera Festival: the Roberto Bolle and Friends gala evening is visiting the Arena again in 2017, for the very eagerly awaited event that features world étoile Roberto Bolle in a repertoire ranging from ballet to contemporary dance, in which he is joined by key names of the international ballet scenario: Young Gyu Choi (Dutch National Ballet), Herman Cornejo (American Ballet Theatre), Melissa Hamilton (The Royal Ballet), Misa Kuranaga (Boston Ballet), Anna Ol (Dutch National Ballet), Polina Semionova (Staatsballett Berlin), Daniil Simkin (American Ballet Theatre), with the special participation of Francesco Pannofino.

This is followed on 21st July by the evening entitled Plácido Domingo - Antología de la Zarzuela, when the key player is one of the worldwide legends of opera, with the most moving and thrilling arias of the popular Spanish tradition, in a program that aims at conveying the audience all the warmth and energy of Madrid. Alongside maestro Domingo, there is soprano Ana María Martínez and tenor Arturo Chacón-Cruz singing zarzuela romanzas,duets and terzets by Ruperto Chapí, Gerónimo Giménez, Federico Moreno-Torroba, José Serrano, Pablo Sorozábal and Manuel Penella; while the dancers of the Compañía Antonio Gades directed by Stella Arauzo present an exciting sensual repertoire of Spanish dance and flamenco, to music by Georges Bizet, Manuel de Falla and Gerónimo Giménez and choreography by the legendary Antonio Gades, Carlos Saura, Mayte Chico and Stella Arauzo herself. The show is directed by Stefano Trespidi and the lighting design is by Paolo Mazzon.

From 28th July until the conclusive date of the Festival on 27th August, Aida is back on Arena stage for 9 more performances in the unmissable historical production, applauded for no less than 20 seasons, based on the first 1913 edition, realized by Gianfranco de Bosio in 1982, thanks to a study of the sketches of Ettore Fagiuoli’s original scenery, and enriched by the choreography of Susanna Egri. The conductors are Andrea Battistoni and Julian Kovatchev, whereas on stage, alternating in the leading roles are Monica Zanettin, Hui He, Cellia Costea and Maria José Siri as Aida, with her rival Amneris performed by Olesya Petrova, Marianne Cornetti, Giovanna Casolla and Anastasia Boldyreva; Radamès is interpreted by Gaston Rivero, Hovhannes Ayvazyan and Walter Fraccaro, alongside Ambrogio Maestri and Carlos Almaguer as Amonasro.

The 2017 Festival’s last opera is Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca, staged from 5th to 25th August with 5 performances of the spectacular 2006 production by Hugo de Ana, responsible for its direction, set design, costumes and lighting. The baton of Antonino Fogliani conducts the voices of Susanna Branchini and Ainhoa Arteta as Tosca, Murat Karahan and Marcelo Álvarez as Cavaradossi, while Ambrogio Maestri and Boris Statsenko are the wicked Scarpia.

To conclude, on 15th August there is the third special evening, featuring the performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 conducted by Daniel Oren, with the voices of soprano Erika Grimaldi, contralto Daniela Barcellona, tenor Saimir Pirgu and bass Ugo Guagliardo. A truly emotional gala evening, enriched by the lighting design of Paolo Mazzon, during which the absolute masterpiece by the genius from Bonn – the first musical composition to become part of UNESCO’s official cultural heritage treasures (in 2001), with the inclusion of its original manuscript in the “Memory of the World Register” – resounds round the amphitheatre, embracing it with the enthusiasm of the renowned Ode to Joy.

The 95th Opera Festival features the Fondazione Arena di Verona Orchestra, Chorus, Dance Company and Technicians, as well as numerous mimes and extras. The Chorus is directed by Chorus Master Vito Lombardi, the Coordinator of the Dance Company is Gaetano Petrosino and the Director of Technical Operations and Stage Design Giuseppe De Filippi Venezia.

At the 95th Arena di Verona Opera Festival, performances begin as follows:
9:00 pm in June and July and 8:45 pm in August. The three special evenings, on the other hand, begin at 10:00 pm.

Thanks go to all the supporters of the 2017 Arena di Verona Opera Festival, in particular to UniCredit, leading European banking group, Major Partner of the Opera Festival for over twenty years, Special Partner AGSM, Official Sponsors Intimissimi and Veronafiere, Automotive Partner Volkswagen Group Italia, Mobility Partner DB Bahn Italia and Media Partner Radio Monte Carlo.

Info

Fondazione Arena di Verona Press Office – Via Roma 7/D, 37121 Verona

tel. (+39) 045 805.1861-1905-1891-1939 - fax (+39) 045 803.1443

– www.arena.it

Ticket Office – Via Dietro Anfiteatro 6/B, 37121 Verona

tel. (+39) 045 59.65.17 – fax (+39) 045 801.3287 – e-mail

Call center (+39) 045 800.51.51 - www.arena.it - Advance ticket sales Geticket

ARENA DI VERONA

95th OPERA FESTIVAL - 2017

from 23rd June to 27th August 2017

23, 29 June (9:00 pm) - 7, 12, 15, 18 July (9:00 pm) – 4, 9, 12, 18, 23, 26 August (8:45 pm)

Nabucco

Giuseppe Verdi

Director: Arnaud Bernard
New production

24, 30 June 9:00 pm - 5, 9, 11, 16, 20, 23 July 9:00 pm

Aida

Giuseppe Verdi

Directors: Carlus Padrissa and Àlex Ollé / La Fura dels Baus

1, 6, 14, 19, 27 July – 9:00 pm

Rigoletto

Giuseppe Verdi

Director: Ivo Guerra

8, 13, 22, 29 July 9:00 pm – 11, 19 August 8:45 pm

Madama Butterfly

Giacomo Puccini

Director: Franco Zeffirelli

17 July – 10:00 pm

Roberto Bolle and Friends

21 July – 10:00 pm

Plácido Domingo

Antología de la Zarzuela

28 July (9:00 pm) – 3, 6, 8, 13, 16, 21, 24, 27 August (8:45 pm)

Aida (Historical 1913 Edition)

Giuseppe Verdi

Director: Gianfranco de Bosio

5, 10, 17, 22, 25 August – 8:45 pm

Tosca

Giacomo Puccini

Director: Hugo de Ana

15 August - 10:00 pm

Gala Concert

Beethoven Symphony No. 9

THANKS GO TO ALL THE SUPPORTERS

OF THE 2017 ARENA DI VERONA OPERA FESTIVAL