TCBO: MADAMA BUTTERFLY IS THE FIRST OPERA AT THE COMUNALE NOUVEAU IN FIERA

Author:

by OPERA Charm Team

February 16, 2023

On the podium M° Daniel Oren, stage directed by Gianmaria Aliverta
On stage from February 19th at 8 p.m., also live on Rai Radio3. Performances until February 25th

Madama Butterfly
Japanese tragedy in three acts
Music by Giacomo Puccini
Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa

Conductor Daniel Oren
Stage Director Gianmaria Aliverta
Chorus Master Gea Garatti Ansini

Sets Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Costumes Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Costumes taken by Stefania Scaraggi
Lights Daniele Naldi
Lights taken by Paolo Liaci
Assistant director Alessandro Pasini

Characters and performers
Madama Butterfly (Cio-Cio-San) Latonia Moore (19, 22, 24) / Zarina Abaeva (21, 23, 25)
Suzuki Aoxue Zhu (19, 22, 24) / Aloisa Aisemberg (21, 23, 25)
Kate Pinkerton Claudia Ceraulo
F.B. Pinkerton Luciano Ganci (19, 22, 24) / Antonio Poli (21, 23, 25)
Sharpless Dario Solari (19, 22, 24) / Angelo Veccia (21, 23, 25)
Goro Cristiano Olivieri
Prince Yamadori Paolo Orecchia
Uncle Bonzo Nicolò Ceriani (19, 22, 23, 24) / Huanhong Li (21, 25)
The Imperial Commissioner Luca Gallo
The registrar Enrico Picinni Leopardi
The mother Maria Adele Magnelli
The aunt Marie Luce Erard
The cousin Chiara Salentino

In collaboration with the "Alessandra Galante Garrone" Theatre School of Bologna

Production of Teatro Comunale di Bologna

Orchestra, Chorus and Technicians of Teatro Comunale di Bologna

Comunale Nouveau
Sunday, February 19th, 8 p.m., First Round
Tuesday, February 21st, 8 p.m., Turno Opera Nuova
Wednesday February 22nd, 8 p.m., Evening Round 2
Thursday February 23rd, 8 p.m., Afternoon Round 1
Friday February 24th, 8 p.m., Evening Round 1
Saturday February 25th, 6 p.m., Afternoon Round 2

After the inauguration at the Teatro EuropAuditorium, Teatro Comunale di Bologna brings its opera season to the Comunale Nouveau, a new theatre just built ex novo inside the pavilion Exhibition Hall in Piazza della Costituzione 4/a at the Exhibition Centre, which will become the temporary home of the Bologna Opera and Symphony Foundation until the redevelopment of its historic headquarters is completed. And the first operatic title to be staged will be Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, a Japanese tragedy in three acts to a libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, scheduled from Sunday February 19th at 8 p.m., also live on Rai Radio3, conducted by Daniel Oren and stage directed by Gianmaria Aliverta (performances until February 25th).

“I am particularly satisfied with the result obtained for the new venue,” says Superintendent Fulvio Macciardi, “We are expecting an opera house with more than a thousand seats that offer an optimal view for all spectators, a state-of-the-art stage with large dimensions and carefully studied acoustics. It will be a new place of artistic production, of meeting, of creating aesthetics and beauty that will enrich the entire city’.

For this production of Madama Butterfly, adapted and rethought for the new space, the Municipal Theatre has chosen to entrust the young stage director Gianmaria Aliverta – who a month ago curated the mise en éspace of Martinů’s Mirandolina for the season premiere at the Manzoni – with an existing stage set of Puccini’s opera, created in 2009 for the theatre’s Opera School. The costumes are taken over by Stefania Scaraggi, while the lighting by Daniele Naldi is taken over by Paolo Liaci.
“Thanks to the essential and abstract scenes and the Japanese ceremonial costumes,” says Aliverta, “we will create a performance that aims to highlight those aspects of the story, with many references to current events: above all, the economic over-power that determines the arrogance of some individuals over the weakest. We cannot in any way accept the arrogance of Kate who has only one aim: to take Butterfly’s child. This is the most rotten character in the whole affair’.

At the helm of the Comunale Orchestra and Chorus, instructed by Gea Garatti Ansini, returns the Israeli conductor Daniel Oren, who last season conducted, in addition to Verdi’s Luisa Miller, another Puccini title: the inaugural Tosca.

The vocal company is led by American soprano Latonia Moore in the title role, who makes her Comunale debut and sings the role of Cio-Cio-San for the first time in Italy. Luciano Ganci, Aoxue Zhu and Dario Solari play Pinkerton, Suzuki and Sharpless respectively. Completing the cast are Claudia Ceraulo as Kate Pinkerton, Cristiano Olivieri as Goro, Paolo Orecchia as Prince Yamadori, Nicolò Ceriani as Uncle Bonzo; and also Luca Gallo (The Imperial Commissioner), Enrico Picinni Leopardi (The Registrar), Maria Adele Magnelli (The Mother), Marie Luce Erard (The Aunt) and Chiara Salentino (The Cousin).

The performances on February 21st, 23rd and 25th feature Zarina Abaeva (Cio-cio-san), Antonio Poli (Pinkerton), Angelo Veccia (Sharpless) and Aloisa Aisemberg (Suzuki). In the performances on February 21st and 25th, Huanhong Li is Uncle Bonzo.

Presenting partner of the performance is Pelliconi & C. S.p.a.

“It is a source of pride for Pelliconi to be the Presenting Partner of Madama Butterfly and once again at the side of Teatro Comunale di Bologna in this exciting project of development and affirmation of opera to sensitise an ever-widening audience – comments Andrea Angotti, Marketing & Communication Manager of Pelliconi & C. Spa – Between innovation and tradition, the beauty of the song will tell the story of a woman’s feelings, of her heartbreaking love and of the most difficult choice a human being can make, as a last tragic attempt to restore the broken balance”.

The performances will be preceded – about 45 minutes before they begin – by a short presentation of the opera.

Tickets – ranging from €20 to €120 – are on sale online via Vivaticket and at the Teatro Comunale box office, open Tuesday to Friday from 12 to 6 p.m., on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Largo Respighi, 1); on performance days at the Comunale Nouveau (Piazza della Costituzione, 4) from one hour before and up to 15 minutes after the start.

Press release

Julie Fuchs & Lawrence Brownlee Lead Paris Opera’s ‘La Fille du Régiment’ Stream

November 2024

Opera Charm Team

Press release

Accademia di Santa Cecilia Names New President & Superintendent

November 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