“DELIRIO”, NEW CD

Author:

by Opera Charm Team

September 10, 2024

Thursday 12 September at 8 p.m., Zubin Mehta Hall, singing concert by soprano Jessica Pratt.

Orchestra and Chorus of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. On the podium Riccardo Frizza Choir conductor, Lorenzo Fratini.

Arias of ‘madness’ and symphonies from the operas of Vincenzo Bellini and Gaetano Donizetti.

On Thursday 12 September at 8 p.m., in the Zubin Mehta Hall, the soprano Jessica Pratt is scheduled to perform the arias contained on the CD ‘Delirio’ recorded at the Maggio, with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Theatre for the Tancredi label. Officially presented at the Teatro del Maggio on 20 October 2023 to coincide with its release, the CD has received unanimous rave reviews from critics.

Pratt is one of the most talented bel canto virtuosists of our time and in this concert – and on the CD – she tackles an anthology of scenes united by the common thread of ‘madness’ from the operas of Gaetano Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini. On the podium – as on the CD – is Riccardo Frizza, well established in the reading and performance of Italian bel canto and with whom Jessica Pratt collaborates with admirable synergy. The scenes presented in the concert are performed in their entirety and with textbook philological care, such as the famous scene from Lucia di Lammermoor performed in the original key of F major. The Maggio Chorus is conducted by Lorenzo Fratini.

The pieces presented – in order of performance – are therefore taken from La Sonnambula by Vincenzo Bellini, from Emilia di Liverpool, Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti, from I puritani, by Vincenzo Bellini, from Linda di Chamounix by Gaetano Donizetti. In the course of the concert, Maestro Frizza will conduct the symphony from I Capuleti e i Monecchi by Vincenzo Bellini, the symphony from Roberto Devereux by Gaetano Donizetti, and the overture from La Favorita. During the recital, Jessica Pratt will wear magnificent gowns/costumes designed for her by Giuseppe Palella that emphasise both the strength and vulnerability of the women played by the soprano.

This concert is the first in a series of others that will feature mezzo-soprano Teresa Iervolino on 29 September, baritone Nicola Alaimo on 3 November, and then baritone Marco Filippo Romano, also in November, all of whom will perform live on stage and with the Maggio ensembles in the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino’s recordings for the Dynamic label.

The concert programme

Vincenzo Bellini
I Capuleti e Montecchi, symphony
From La sonnambula: ‘Ah! non credea mirarti… Ah! non giunge uman pensiero’.

Gaetano Donizetti
From Emilia of Liverpool: ‘Madre! Deh placati!… Ah! di contento…’
Roberto Devereux, symphony
From Lucia di Lammermoor: ‘Il dolce suono… Ardon gl’incensi… Spargi d’amaro pianto’.

Vincenzo Bellini
From I puritani: ‘O rendetemi la speme… Qui la voce sua soave… Vien diletto è in ciel la luna’

Gaetano Donizetti
La Favorite, Overture
From Linda of Chamounix: ‘Nel silenzio della sera… No, non è ver, mentirono’ (In the silence of the evening… No, it’s not true, they lied)

Orchestra and Chorus of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Conductor, Riccardo Frizza
Chorus Conductor, Lorenzo Fratini

DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE A L'OPÉRA DE PARIS

October 2024

OPERA CHARM TEAM

PREMIERE OF ‘DON CARLO’ AT WIENER STAATSOPER

September 2024

Opera Charm Team

Alice Lechner

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

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

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 Fieraru

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.

BIANCA L. NICA

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur