CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
The Donizetti Studio is also an exhibition space in which the Foundation tells its story to the citizenry by retracing, each time with a different look, the flourishing years of the Donizetti Theater in which opera, drama seasons, and jazz became undisputed protagonists of Bergamo’s, Italy’s, and international cultural ferment!
Those fabulous 1950s
“Those Fabulous 1950s” is the title of the exhibition set up in July 2023 that aims to embrace the theater’s three production lines: opera, drama and jazz. It is a period of extraordinary vitality for the Donizetti Theater thanks to director Bindo Missiroli.
During the Lyric Seasons, new operas are produced with the experimental titles of the Theatre of Novelties and prestigious performances are staged with traditional titles. Stars such as Renata Scotto, Renata Tebaldi, Giuseppe Di Stefano and Maria Callas, who remains unforgettable in “Lucia di Lammermoor” in 1954, take the stage. Conductors include Gianandrea Gavazzeni many times.
After a long absence (1938-1949) Prose has been returning to the Donizetti since the 1950s. A vital element is the presence of performances by the Piccolo Teatro di Milano, led by Strehler and Grassi, followed by first-rate Italian companies and prestigious foreign guests.
It should be noted that in 1954, the Theater of Musical Novelties was joined for one Season by the Theater of Prose Novelties directed by Enzo Ferrieri.
In 1952 two concerts officially established jazz as a genre worthy of hosting at the Donizetti Theater. The first is scheduled for Feb. 6 withDizzy Gillespie’s Orchestra; the second concert is set for Nov. 17 with the group of soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet and Claude Luter with his Orchestra. Despite the approval of the press and a good portion of the public, the city administration will not support such initiatives again for many years. Bergamo is pioneering, but it is too early!
EXHIBITION OPENING:
Saturdays: July 1 – July 8 – July 21 – July 29 | from 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Sunday: July 2 – July 9 – July 22 – July 30 | from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
– Free admission –
Riccardo Muti, the return to Bergamo
Welcome back Maestro Riccardo Muti: this exhibition focus at Donizetti Studio is meant to be a salute to the conductor on the occasion of the September 9, 2023 concert.
The materials on display here take us back to the happy evening of November 29, 2016, when the Maestro returned to Bergamo to celebrate his golden wedding anniversary with the conductor’s podium.
It was in fact on November 27, 1966 that the Maestro made his debut conducting the “Vit Nejedly” Orchestra of the Prague Musical Youth.
A return to Bergamo in 2016 marked by the coincidence with the dies natalis of Gaetano Donizetti, in the midst of the Donizetti Opera Festival dedicated to him, under the gaze of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella.
An important presence, that of President Mattarella, to recognize Maestro Muti’s value as an international interpreter and his commitment to the protection and enhancement of Italian heritage, more or less known.
Joining Maestro Muti on stage is the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra, excellence always dear to the conductor.
The Maestro’s only date in Italy in the second half of 2016, the concert was an occasion not to be missed, featuring music by Gaetano Donizetti (Sinfonia da “Don Pasquale”), Franz Schubert (Symphony No. 4 in C minor D 417 “Tragica”), Pyotr Il’ič Tchaikovsky (Symphony No. 5 in E minor Op. 64).
The Theater was filled to its every seat, and, at the end from the gallery there was, inevitably memorable, a shower of confetti and sheets reading “Thank you Muti,” accompanied by two large banners leaning against the parapets.
The appointment of Maestro Muti’s return to the Donizetti was also charged with a special significance in the eyes of the city, as it was celebrated with the conferment of honorary citizenship.
EXHIBITION OPENING:
Saturday: Sept. 2 – Sept. 9 | from 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Sunday: Sept. 3 – Sept. 10 | from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
– Free and free admission –
