The summer season of the Rome
opera, held as always outdoors upon the backdrop of the stunning
ancient ruins of the Baths of Caracalla, will feature 24 shows
this year in a mix of high culture and popular appeal.
The season opens June 22 and runs through August 10, and
will feature classic opera and ballet by Verdi, Rossini, Puccini
and Nureyev, as well as contemporary appeal with dancer Roberto
Bolle, singers Lionel Richie and Neil Young, and Chinese concert
pianist Lang Lang.
Following on last summer's successful season, which saw
over 72,000 spectators and 3.7 million euros in ticket sales,
Rome Opera Superintendent Carlos Fuortes said this year's
programme will replicate a successful formula that brings
together an exceptional line-up with broad appeal.
"Caracalla is the jewel of the Roman summer because it
combines popular interest with excellence," Fuortes said.
"Our programme is made up of 24 evenings for all tastes and
all spectators, whether demanding or not, Italian or foreign,"
he said, adding that with a few free evenings still left to fill
in the season, there may even be some surprises in store.
The ballet company, directed by Paris Opera Ballet etoilè
Eleonora Abbagnato, will inaugurate the season with Nureyev
Evening, a show made up of three pieces from the celebrated
ballets Bayadère, Swan Lake and Raymonda, and featuring guest
artist Friedemann Vogel, principal dancer at the Stuttgart
Ballet.
"We wanted to do a show dedicated to the great master, just
like all the important ballet companies of the world have done,"
Abbagnato said.
She said the difficulty of the technical precision required
by the show's choreography will be useful to the company, which
is composed of promising young Italian talent.
"We're doing everything we can to create a true dance
company in Rome," she said.
The operatic works of the season will follow, first with
Verdi's Nabucco directed by Federico Grazzini and conducted by
John Fiore and Carlo Donadio.
Next up will be The Barber of Seville, in a nod to Rossini
during the bicentennial year of that opera, which debuted in
Rome in February 1816, in a production directed by Lorenzo
Mariani and conducted by Yves Abel.
The third and final opera of the summer season will be
Madame Butterfly, also conducted by Abel, and directed by Alex
Ollé, artistic director of Barcelona's innovative La Fura dels
Baus opera company.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
