Upcoming events
Le Nozze di Figaro
May 25 / 26, 2013
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia La folle giornata is the first of three works written in Italian by Mozart from the libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Mozart wrote this music at the age of 29, the text by Da Ponte was taken from Beumarchais’s comedy “Le mariage de Figaro”.
The work- in four acts- revolves around the story of Count Almaviva who is infatuated with his wife’s maid Susanna. He seeks to impose the "droit de seigneur" on her. The whole plot takes place on one complicated and crazy day. Women and men are set against one another on this day of overwhelming passion, full of both dramatic and comic events. In the end, the "servants" prove to be more intelligent than their masters. Mozart used this opera as an excuse to make fun of social classes at a time when they would soon be turn upside down by the French Revolution.
Don Giovanni
June 22 / 23, 2013
Don Giovanni, ossia Il dissoluto punito is in its dramatic intensity, Mozart’s most modern opera, and is probably the most loved by the general public worldwide.
On its firs performance at the Prague National Theatre in 1787, it was "received with the greatest enthusiasm," and has since enjoyed the very rare privilege of having a virtually uninterrupted stage life.
In the two acts of this dramma giocoso (as it was defined by Mozart) we see the intertwining of the dissolute affairs of the protagonist, a lover of both women and good wine, full of irrepressible passion. He fears nothing, not even a confrontation with a vengeful ghost but true his fundamental character and lifestyle – he agrees to be dragged down to hell rather than abjure his personal philosophy.
Così fan tutte
August 31 / September 1, 2013
Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti is the third and last of the three "Italian" works composed by Mozart with libretto by Da Ponte. Don Alfonso’s saying “Woman’s constancy is like the Arabian Phoenix; everyone swears it exists, but no one knows where!” has become proverbial.
Condemned as immoral after its first performance, this opera is now considered a comedy of manners. It wickedly traps both sexes in the seductive deceptions (and self-deception) of love. Over the course of two acts, the witty and intriguing story unfolds of a dangerous bet proposed by a cynical and calculating philosopher, one that tests the strength of the feelings of two young engaged couples, and reveals the fragility of the human being.
Translation of Hannah Moss e Myra Barrs
Mozart - Da Ponte Trilogy
Teatro dei Rassicurati of Montecarlo (Lucca)
on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the reopening
Past events
Gioacchino Rossini
Il Barbiere di Siviglia
January 11 / 12 , 2014
Teatro dei Rassicurati of Montecarlo (Lucca)
The Barber of Seville, whose title originally was “Almaviva, or The Futile Precaution” and which was written in just twenty days, has been described as the greatest masterpiece of Italian opera buffa; charming melodies and enthralling rythms are a trademark of Rossini’s modern comic vein and inventiveness. The libretto of Cesare Sterbini is based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville (1775). The première of Rossini's opera took place on 20 February 1816 at the Teatro Argentina of Rome and was a disastrous failure: the audience hissed and jeered throughout. Many of the audience were in fact supporters of one of Rossini's rivals, Giovanni Paisiello, who had already composed The Barber of Seville; they took Rossini's new version to be an affront to his version.The second performance met with quite a different fate, becoming a roaring success; indeed, even after two hundred years, its popularity on the modern opera stage attests to its greatness.
Gaetano Donizetti
Don Pasquale
June 13 / 14 / 15, 2014
Teatro dei Rassicurati of Montecarlo (Lucca)
Don Pasquale represents the bitter laughter of an old man facing his own decadence; it is the love triangle in which youth eventually wins, the typical stereotype of comedy from Plautus to today.The last occurrence of this kind of comic sense, which combined laughter with the bitter smile of lost years, is to be found in the italian movie comedy of the 50s: movies by Vittorio De Sica and Marcello Mastroianni, but also Roman Holiday by Audrey Hepburn. Stories which described the daily life of middle-class characters, and referred to the myth of a dream-like life, made by bouffant clothes, flashy cocktails and fairy sunsets.The movie industry thus becomes the sad tale of Don Pasquale, a mature actor who deludes himself about being still attractive, of Norina, young soubrette, resolute and enterprising, of Ernesto, young melancholy and dreamer. Malatesta is the stage director of this comedy, which takes place between the set and the dressing rooms, in a continuous alternation of fiction and reality: theatre opens its doors to cinema, creating an unusual but powerful artistic union when coupled to the universal language of the Opera.
Gaetano Donizetti
L'Elisir d'amore
July 18 / 19, 2014
Chiostro S. Micheletto (Lucca)
With his L'Elisir d'Amore, composed in 1832 to lyrics by Felice Romani, Donizetti wrote something far greater than a mere comic opera: this was perhaps the first example of a moving, middleclass genre of theatre where the characters lose their farcical stereotyped characteristics and, thanks to clever writing, become much more realistic. Romani wrote the libretto for L'Elisir d'amore, which he described as "a playful drama", using the libretto for Le Philtre by Eugène Scribe set to music by Daniel Auber as his starting point.
L'Elisir d'amore was premiered at the Teatro della Canobbiana in Milan on the 12th of May, 1832 and was a huge success with the public and critics alike. And this Donizetti's comic masterpiece has continued to enjoy similar success right up to the present day.
Selected scenes from La Bohème
by Giacomo Puccini
December 13 / 14, 2014
Oratorio degli Angeli Custodi (Lucca)
Mimì Michelle Buscemi
Rodolfo Artemy Nagy
Marcello Mattia Campetti
Musetta Anna Maria Sarra
Alcindoro Dante Francesconi
Piano Jonathan Brandani
Gioacchino Rossini
L'Italiana in Algeri
in memory of Christopher Hogwood
May 22 / 23, 2015 - 8.30 pm
Teatro dei Rassicurati di Montecarlo (Lucca)
The Italian in Algiers: one of Rossini's most successful operas and a masterpiece of the comic genre. LuccaOPERAfestival 2015 will realize a fresh and appealing interpretation of this opera performing it on period instruments and rediscovering period performance practices. Thanks to the charming timbres of period instruments, Rossini's music will sound even more brilliant and sparkling, and the score will be freed from the many alterations that over the course of the centuries had distorted its original freshness and boldness. The vocal cast will try to recreate the original expressive richness of Bel Canto by looking for a more varied tone colour palette and by realizing embellishments and ornamentations based on the style and techniques commonly employed during Rossini's time.
A musical experience not to be missed!
LuccaOPERAfestival on tour
Australia / New Zealand
February 3 / 8 / 9 / 14, 2015
Melbourne - Auckland - Mount Gambier
LuccaOPERAfestival makes its appearance in Australia and New Zealand presenting Mattia Campetti and Michelle Buscemi accompanied by the pianist Dario Tondelli on a concert tour featuring arias, duets and popular songs .
A special thank to Erica Jarman, without whose generosity this production would have not been possible.