TCBO: OREN, BURATTO, GANCI AND VASSALLO FOR VIVA VERDI

Sunday, February 26th, at 8.00 p.m., the "Verdi Gala" at the Comunale Nouveau, the new venue of the Bologna opera-symphonic foundation, also in prime time at 9.15 p.m. on Rai5 and at the same time on Rai Radio3

Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano will be present

On the programme, famous pages from Traviata, Trovatore, Aida, Nabucco and other Verdi masterpieces

“Verdi Gala” at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Sunday, February 26th, 8 p.m.
The inaugural concert of the Comunale Nouveau space Piazza della Costituzione 4/a, Bologna

As part of the initiative "VIVA Verdi", promoted by the Ministry of Culture and supported by ANFOLS to preserve and enhance the historical and artistic heritage of Villa Verdi

Conductor: Daniel Oren
Choirmaster: Gea Garatti Ansini

Soprano: Eleonora Buratto
Tenor: Luciano Ganci
Baritone: Franco Vassallo

Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna

Simon Lim: bass (La forza del destino, "La Vergine degli angeli")
Aloisa Aisemberg: mezzo-soprano (La Traviata, "Coro di Zingarelle e Mattadori")
Nicolò Ceriani: baritone (La Traviata, "Coro di Zingarelle e Mattadori")

Programme
Luisa Miller, Symphony
Luisa Miller, “Ti Desta, o Luisa, Regina De’ cori” (Chorus)
Un ballo in maschera, “Morrò, ma prima in grazia” (Eleonora Buratto)
Luisa Miller, “Quando le sere al placido” (Luciano Ganci)
Rigoletto, “Cortigiani, vil razza dannata” (Franco Vassallo)
Nabucco, Symphony
La forza del destino, “La Vergine degli angeli” (Eleonora Buratto - Chorus)
La Traviata, “Di Provenza il mare, il suol” (Franco Vassallo)
Otello, “Fuoco di gioia” (Chorus)
Aida, “Celeste Aida” (Luciano Ganci)
La Traviata, “Coro di Zingarelle e Mattadori” (Chorus)
Il Trovatore, “Tace la notte! Immersed in sleep...” (Eleonora Buratto - Luciano Ganci - Franco Vassallo)

Three great interpreters of Giuseppe Verdi’s music, soprano Eleonora Buratto, tenor Luciano Ganci and baritone Franco Vassallo, are the protagonists of the gala proposed by the Teatro Comunale di Bologna on Sunday, February 26th, as part of “VIVA Verdi”, the programme of extraordinary concerts for the acquisition and valorisation of the composer’s house-museum in Sant’Agata di Villanova sull’Arda, promoted by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with ANFOLS, the National Association of Lyric and Symphonic Foundations. On the podium of the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Comunale – prepared by Gea Garatti Ansini – is another appreciated Verdi interpreter, Daniel Oren. Engaged these days in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at the Comunale Nouveau, Ganci has made himself available to sing on this occasion, given the indisposition of Francesco Meli.

The “Verdi Gala” will take place at 8.00 p.m. at the Comunale Nouveau, a new venue of the Bologna theatre in Piazza della Costituzione, in the presence of the Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano, and will be broadcast by Rai Cultura on Rai5 in prime time at 9.15 p.m. and repeated on Sunday, March 5th at 9.00 a.m. on Rai3. On February 26th at 9.15 p.m., the concert can also be heard on Rai Radio3. The rich programme explores famous operas by the “swan of Busseto” such as Luisa Miller, Un ballo in maschera, Rigoletto, Nabucco, La forza del destino, Otello, Aida, La traviata and Il trovatore.

Buratto will sing Amelia’s aria ‘Morrò, ma prima in grazia’ from Un ballo in maschera and Donna Leonora’s aria ‘La Vergine degli angeli’ from La forza del destino, and will be Leonora, alongside Ganci as Manrico and Vassallo as Conte di Luna, in the trio ‘Tace la notte! Immersa nel sonno…’ from Il Trovatore, at the end of the evening. Ganci will also perform Radamès’s aria “Celeste Aida” from Aida and Rodolfo’s “Quando le sere al placido” from Luisa Miller. Vassallo will again tackle Rigoletto’s aria “Cortigiani, vil razza dannata” and Giorgio Germont’s aria “Di Provenza il mare, il suol” from La Traviata. Verdi’s well-known symphonic and choral pages will not be missing.

Tickets, from EUR 10 to EUR 40, are on sale at the TCBO box office (Largo Respighi 1) and online at www.tcbo.it. Any tickets still available on the evening of the event will be sold at the Comunale Nouveau box office (Piazza della Costituzione 4/a) one hour before the start of the performance.

All proceeds from the concert will be donated to the protection of Villa Verdi. Participating in the “Verdi Gala” thus becomes an opportunity to contribute to preserving and enhancing the historical and artistic heritage of Villa Verdi, the composer’s house museum, which has been closed to the public for several months. You can also show your generous support by donating by bank transfer to the IBAN code IT81E0100003245348029368004.

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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

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