It begins with “The Enigma of Peace. Necessary Aspiration, Inevitable Conflict” meeting related to the subject of Zoraida di Granata that will feature theologian Don Giuliano Zanchi and journalist Andrea Valesini in dialogue

Bergamo, Donizetti Theater, Riccardi Hall, Monday, Nov. 4, 6 p.m.

We are getting closer and closer to the inauguration of the tenth edition of the Donizetti Opera festival, which will take place in Bergamo “City of Gaetano Donizetti” from November 14 to December 1, 2024, but the wait is punctuated by a series of appointments to accompany the public in discovering the operas on the program and the many still topical issues that animate librettos, dramaturgies and staging. In these ten editions, alongside the offering of the various titles in editions that are philologically unimpeachable and consistent with the performance practice of the time, the festival has aimed to investigate Donizetti’s in some respects revolutionary and modern theatricality. In this sense, the subjects of the 2024 operas still inspire quite a few reflections that have been placed at the basis of the three meetings of the Donizetti Today cycle, in which experts and professionals from non-musical fields and related to other city institutions, reflect and discuss how to transfer the scheduled Donizetti operas to the present day. It begins on Monday, Nov. 4 (Donizetti Theater, Riccardi Hall, 6 p.m.) when Don Giuliano Zanchi (theologian, scientific director of the Adriano Bernareggi Foundation of Bergamo and professor of theology at the Catholic University of Milan) and Andrea Valesini (journalist, editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper “L’Eco di Bergamo,” often a correspondent in war zones) will converse on

The Enigma of Peace. Necessary aspiration, inevitable conflict related to Zoraida di Granata.
Then, on Monday, Nov. 11, Alberto Mattioli and Marco Ubezio will discuss a topic dear to them, Tutti pazzi per i Royals creating a connection between Donizetti’s passion for “the Tudori” and the current ruling family in Great Britain; finally, on Monday, Nov. 18, psychiatrist Filippo Tancredi with Albert Mattioli, taking a cue from Don Pasquale, will debate on Desiderio senza età.
All the meetings are free admission with reservations recommended at gaetanodonizetti.org Around the opera titles are then scheduled the long-awaited Donizetti Talks curated by the festival’s Scientific Area with the participation of the directors and conductors of the operas and access to rehearsals. The first meeting on Friday, Nov. 8 (Teatro Donizetti, Sala Riccardi, 5:30 p.m.) is for Roberto Devereux with Livio Aragona and Maurizio Merisio; on Saturday, Nov. 9 (5 p.m.) at the Mai Library and then at the Teatro Sociale, it will be dedicated to Zoraida di Granata and will feature speakers Edoardo Cavalli and Paolo Fabbri. It continues on Sunday, Nov. 10 (5 p.m.) in the Riccardi Room of the Donizetti Theater with Candida Billie Mantica and Livio Aragona for Don Pasquale. All these meetings are free admission with reservations recommended at gaetanodonizetti.org Finally, we talk about libraries and books with Donizetti Bookmarks (Teatro Donizetti, Sala Musica, 6 p.m.), Saturday, Nov. 23 C’è posta per Mai: una nuova lettera di Donizetti alla Biblioteca Civica with Paolo Fabbri and Fabrizio Capitanio about a new acquisition of the “Angelo Mai” Library; then Saturday, Nov. 30 we present Emilio Sala’s new book Opera, neutro plurale (il Saggiatore). These meetings are also free admission with reservations recommended at gaetanodonizetti.org