On Friday, November 15, opening of the exhibition D for Ten. Ten words for you say anninellaExhibition Hall of the Donizetti Theater
Sunday, Nov. 17, the Birth House concert with Massimo Spadano and Francesco Libetta and the first Opera Family activity with The Owl Detective
The opening weekend of the 10th Donizetti Opera festival – already the 2019 winner of the “Oper! Award” as best European festival by German critics and with four nominations for the International Opera Award also as best festival of the year – opens at the Balzer Globe on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024 at 9:30 p.m. with the reprise of one of the most innovative and popular projects during these ten editions of the festival: LU OpeRave in which Donizetti’s music meets electronics and new trends; from the title the reference to Lucia di Lammermoor, from which the authors of this experimental project were inspired, is clear.
At the origin of LU OpeRave are Mixopera vol. 1 and vol. 2, electronic music EPs inspired by Donizetti’s music and made by some of the most prominent European electronic musicians gathered around the Fluidostudio label, available on all streaming platforms (Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music, YouTube Music). EP artists involved in LU OpeRave include Stefano Libertini Protopapa(creative director of the project), ilromantic, H.E.R. authors of the music. The booklet is by the Love Maniacs. Directed and choreographed by Mattia Agatiello, who brings to the stage his award-winning and celebrated Fattoria Vittadini dance company based at Milan’s Fabbrica del Vapore. Sets and costumes are by Andrea Cammarosano and Leonardo Persico. The performers are from diverse musical backgrounds and experiences – soprano Laura Ulloa (a Bottega alumna in 2021), renowned vocalist David Blank and performer M¥SS KETA as narrator – and represent a fusion designed to speak to audiences of all generations, confirming the innovative and revolutionary power of Donizetti’s poetics.
To celebrate the 10-year anniversary, coinciding with the festival, on Friday, November 15 from 6:30 p.m., the photo exhibition will open Ten Words for Ten Years curated by Clelia Epis and Floriana Tessitore with images by Photo Studio U.V., set up in the Donizetti Theater’s Exhibit Hall, next to the box office entrance and realized with the support of Assolari Luigi & C., which is among the initiatives entitled D for Ten and will culminate on Friday, Nov. 29, which coincides with Donizetti’s Dies natalis. These are the ten words/sections that guide the collection of images: theater and city, encroachments, rediscoveries, masterpieces, women, Covid-19, awards, night, masters, youth.
The photo exhibition, with free admission, can be visited during the performances, from Nov. 14 to Dec. 1, from two hours before the start. Saturday and Sunday also 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 29 (Dies natalis) 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
All making their debuts are the three operatic titles around which the festival’s entire program is built: two masterpieces by Gaetano Donizetti will be staged at the Donizetti Theater Roberto Devereux (Friday, November 15, 8 p.m.) and Don Pasquale (Sunday, Nov. 17, 3:30 p.m.) entrusted respectively to festival music director Riccardo Frizza and English director Stephen Langridge with the Elizabethan drama, and to director Amélie Niemeyer and the baton of young Mexican Iván López-Reynoso with the last great comedy of maturity. A modern premiere at the Teatro Sociale will be staged, directed by Bruno Ravella , of the “Rome 1824” version of Zoraida by Granata (Saturday, Nov. 16, 8 p.m.) for the #donizetti200 cycle with Alberto Zanardi on the podium.
Contributing to the weekend’s festival atmosphere are the return of the Casa e Bottega concerts: on Sunday, Nov. 17 at 11 a.m. Donizetti’s Birthplace in Upper Town will host the first of three scheduled concerts, featuring Massimo Spadano, first violin of the Donizetti Opera Orchestra, and Francesco Libetta, a pianist and celebrated virtuoso, who will present some of the Bergamasque’s pages for violin and piano as a preview of their new digital release for Sony Music due out in 2025.
For Donizetti Opera Family, also in Città Alta, on Sunday, Nov. 17 at 2 p.m.(ticket €5) you can participate in the exciting Donizetti treasure hunt titled The Owl Detective: young and old alike will be able to have fun, starting from Casa Natale in Via Borgo canale, among the historic streets and alleys in search of the keywords useful in writing the libretto for Donizetti’s next opera.
To follow the festival closely, Donizetti Social Club, the WhatsApp community to learn about everything happening around Gaetano (news, backstage, previews, etc.) is active. Already available on Donizetti Opera Tube are the first episodes of the video series “At Rehearsal with Mattioli”-introductions to the operas recorded this year in the Birthplace-and in the coming days the “Talk to Gaetano” episodes with the artists “confessing” in front of Donizetti’s statue as well as the new “Talk to Gaetano City Edition” with Bergamasque people conversing with the composer will also be online.
