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INTRODUCTION
BIOGRAPHY
In his search for aesthetic and conceptual unity, Stefano Poda always combines direction, choreography, sets, costumes and lightning: his personal seal is founded on a visionary, multi-level imprint balanced between ancient images and contemporary art. On stage he speaks his own language, immediately recognisable, erasing the barriers between different genres and disciplines, in order to create an all-embracing experience, a world of total art. His way of doing theatre is not a mere story-telling, but a plastic, holistic dimension, able to blend together design, architecture, sculpture, painting, music and dramaturgy. Stefano Poda’s worldwide career numbers about one hundred productions. Recent projects include: the opening of the Centenary Arena di Verona Opera Festival 2023 with the new production of Verdi's Aida, worldwide broadcast; the inauguration of the ROF Rossini Opera Festival 2023 with the first modern performance in the critical edition of Eduardo e Cristina; the inauguration of the 2023/24 Season of the Teatro Regio in Turin with Halevy's Juive; Enescu’s Oedipe at the George Enescu International Festival 2023. His best-known works include Tosca (2021) in the repertoire of the Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow; Dvořák’s Rusalka for the opening season at the Opéra National du Capitole de Toulouse (co-production with The Israeli Opera, Mezzo TV); Alcina (2022 · broadcast on ARTE TV) and Norma (2023) both at Opéra de Lausanne; different new productions of Nabucco, for the Teatro Colón of Buenos Aires (2022) and for the reopening of the National Theatre of Korea (KNO, 2021, 2023); Ariane et Barbe-Bleue at the Opéra National du Capitole de Toulouse (2019 · broadcast on France TV); two different productions of Les Contes d’Hoffmann (coproduction Opéra de Lausanne/Tel Aviv Israeli Opera/ROW Opéra Royal de Wallonie and at State Theatre am Gärtnerplatz in Munich); Roméo et Juliette (2018) at NCPA of Beijing; Ariodante (2016) and Lucia di Lammermoor (2017, broadcast on ARTE TV) at Opéra de Lausanne; Boris Godunov(2017) and Andrea Chénier (2015) at Korea National Opera; Thaïs (2015), Fosca by Carlos Gomes and Titan (2016), a choreography on Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, at Theatro Municipal de São Paulo; L’Elisir d’amore at Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg (2016); Otello at Hungarian State Opera of Budapest (2015, 2023); Tristan und Isolde conducted by Zubin Mehta for the opening of the 77th edition of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival (2014); Il Trovatore at Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Athens Festival (2012, revival in 2017); Trittico by Puccini (2011) and Faust (2023) at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires; Leggenda by Alessandro Solbiati at Teatro Regio di Torino (2011 · DVD EMA Vinci Records); La Forza del destino (2011) at Teatro Regio di Parma (DVD Unitel) and at the Festival Verdi in Parma (2014). His iconic production of Gounod’s Faust at Teatro Regio Torino in 2015, a co-production of the Israeli Opera of Tel Aviv and the Lausanne Opera (DVD & Blu-Ray Unitel Classica/C Major) had been broadcast with great success in movie theatres across the world. This is true also for Puccini’s Turandot in 2018 (DVD Unitel Classica/C Major, streaming on Operavision) and Massenet’s Thaïs in 2008 (DVD & Blu-ray, RAI/Arthaus Musik) both staged at Teatro Regio Torino and conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. Stefano Poda was awarded the prestigious “Prix Claude Rostand de la Critique Française” for best opera production for Ariane et Barbe-Bleue at Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse (2019).
He was invited as special guest to the PQ Prague Quadrennial 2019, the 14th edition of the largest international festival of theatre and stage design. In 2018, the Fifth International Experts Forum of the Stage Arts in Beijing was dedicated to “Stefano Poda, Opera Design as total Art Work” at an international symposium at the Forbidden City. In 2019 he received the “Ombra del la Sera” Lifetime Achievement Award for Performing Arts at the Roman Theatre of Volterra.
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INTERVIEW
RELATED POSTS
Alice Lechner comes from a music-loving family. Her first encounter with the opera universe was at the tender age of six. The grandeur of the stage productions and costumes, the backstage chatter, and last, but definitely not least, the music left her in awe, beginning with Mozart’s Don Giovanni. The overall feeling that opera awakens in anyone who gets a glimpse into this part of artistic eternity, that each and every day passes the test of time, was what drew her to stay and be a part of this world. The Opera House of Brașov became her second home, and the people who worked there were her second family.
Since then, Alice has devoted her spare time to maximising her musical knowledge through instrumental studies, studying both piano and violin for a short time. In the following years, her number one passion stepped out of the limelight and graciously gave way to Law Studies.
Since 2018 she has been studying Law at “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University in Iași.
Her passion for opera, even if it is no longer her top professional priority in terms of career, it has most definitely become her priority during her free time. Wanting to experience the best of both worlds and extend her musical horizons, she regularly attends opera performances throughout Romania and abroad.
With OPERA Charm Magazine, Alice aims to nurture her creative side to help it flourish and bloom and to discover, alongside the magazine’s readers, the fascinatingly complex world of opera.
Currently, she is an LL.M. in Business Law at “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University in Iași.
Oana Zamfir is a second year MA student at the “George Enescu” National University of Arts, at the Department of Musicology.
She studied violin for 12 years at the “Stefan Luchian” High School of Art in Botosani, later focusing on the theoretical aspects of music. In 2019 she completed her bachelor studies in Musicology as a student of the National Academy of Music “Gheorghe Dima” in Cluj-Napoca. Her research during 2018-2019 brought to the forefront elements of the archaic ritual within works of composers who activated during the communist period, giving her the opportunity to start a research internship at the “Carl von Ossietzky” University in Germany. In this context, she recorded conversations with members of the Sophie Drinker Institute in Bremen, and had access to documents directly from the Myriam Marbé archive.
Since 2019 she has been a teacher of Music Education and Theoretical Music Studies, making full use of interactive methods in the musical training of students and working, at the same time, with the children’s choir founded in the first year of her activity.
Her interests include pursuing a degree in interior design in 2020.
Alexandru Suciu inherited his passion for art growing up in a family of several generations of musicians. He began his musical studies at the “Augustin Bena” School of Music in Cluj, where he studied piano and guitar. Even though his main study direction was philological, his passion for music prevailed. He began his academical journey at the Faculty of Letters of the “Babeș-Bolyai” University, studying Comparative literature and English. He continued by studying Opera Singing at the “Gheorghe Dima” National Music Academy. He also graduated the Musical Education section, followed by Artistic Directing at the Musical Performing Arts department.
His multidisciplinary education opened the doors towards research, which is seen both through his participation in national and international conferences and symposia, such as the Salzburg Easter School PhD-forum, organized by the Salzburg Universität or the Silesian Meeting of Young Scholars, organized by the Institute of English at the University of Silesia, as well as the collaboration with Opera Charm Magazine.
During his student years, he won several prizes, including the Grand Prize at the “Paul Constantinescu” National Musical Interpretation Competition, the Romanian Composers and Musicologists’ Union Prize at the same competition, the First Prize and the Schubert Prize at the “Ada Ulubeanu” Competition.
He further developed his artistic skills by specializing in courses and masterclasses held by personalities such as Vittorio Terranova, Giuseppe Sabbatini, Marian Pop, Ines Salazar, Riccardo Zanellato, Paolo Bosisio, Valentina Farcaș and Manuel Lange in contexts such as the Internationale Sommerakademie für Operngesang Deutschlandsberg, Corso Internazionale di Canto Lirico I.M.C. Licata or the Europäische Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst Montepulciano. Besides his activity on-stage, he currently teaches Opera Singing Didactics, and Pedagogical Practice within the Department for Teacher Education and Training at the “Gheorghe Dima” National Music Academy.
Cristina is a 24 year-old Romanian soprano & a student at the National University of Music Bucharest, where she pursues the MA program in Vocal Performance.
She made her debut in Pamina from “Die Zauberflöte” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at only 19 years old at the Bucharest National Opera House, as a member of the Ludovic Spiess Experimental Opera Studio. Over the years she made her debut in roles such as Contessa d’Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Mimì & Musetta (La Bohème), Alice Ford (Falstaff), Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte) in her university’s opera productions.
Her passion and experience extends in the field of choral music, too.
She has been part of our dream team since the fall of 2021. For a good period of time she took care of OPERA Charm’s social media and took you on the monthly journey through the history of opera through our Legends rubric – and a few times through the Theaters around the World rubric.
Her little soul rubric – from 2021 to present – is definitely the Conductors of the Future, where, every month, she gives you the chance to meet a young star of the world of conducting and, of course, to find out what’s the most charming feature of opera in these artists’ views.
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