Adriana Lecouvreur, opera in four acts by Francesco Cilea, on a libretto by Arturo Colautti, returns to the Teatro Regio di Parma after an absence of 42 years, on Friday, March 24th, 2023, at 8.00 p.m. (performances on Sunday, March 26th, 8.00 p.m., Friday, March 31st, 8.00 p.m., Sunday, April 2nd, 3.30 p.m.), for the Opera Season 2023. The production, co-produced with Teatro Comunale di Modena and Teatro Municipale di Piacenza, is directed by Italo Nunziata, the sets by Emanuele Sinisi, the costumes by Artemio Cabassi, and the lights by Fiammetta Baldiserri. Francesco Ivan Ciampa conducts the Orchestra dell’Emilia-Romagna Arturo Toscanini and the Choir of the Teatro Regio di Parma, prepared by Martino Faggiani.
In the cast, Maria Teresa Leva (Adriana Lecouvreur), Riccardo Massi (Maurizio), Adriano Gramigni (Principe di Bouillon), Saverio Pugliese (L’abate di Chazeuil, for the first time at the Teatro Regio), Claudio Sgura (Michonnet), Stefano Consolini (Poisson), Steponas Zonys (Quinault, for the first time at the Teatro Regio), Sonia Ganassi (making her debut in the role of the Princess of Bouillon), Vittoriana De Amicis (Mademoiselle Jouvenot), Carlotta Vichi (Mademoiselle Dangeville).
Inspired by the historical figure of the French actress Adrienne Lecouvreur, from whom Eugène Scribe and Ernest-Wilfrid Legouvé drew the 1849 drama of the same name, the opera saw the light between 1899 and 1902 and debuted with great success in November 1902, at the Teatro Lirico in Milan, conducted by Cleofonte Campanini from Parma, and with Angelica Pandolfini and Enrico Caruso in the lead roles. It was Cilea himself who chose the subject of the opera: “the variety of action,’ wrote the composer, ‘that could offer me new and elegant situations, the fusion of comedy and drama in the setting of the 18th-century environment (which I knew well), the passionate love of the protagonist, touched my heart and ignited my imagination”.
The parallel between real life and artistic life is at the heart of Adriana’s story, which this production chooses to move from the original 18th-century setting to the 1950s: amidst worldly events, glossy magazines and glamorous atmospheres, the characters move in a world of appearances, obsessions and jealousies, where the boundaries between theatre rules and social rules, stage and real life, become increasingly blurred to the point of blurring. “Adriana lives in the world of theatre. She is its undisputed queen,” explains director Italo Nunziata. Like all actors or most of them, she lives only for those few hours on stage, in a social microcosm whose rules of behaviour and play she knows perfectly well. Having left this protective womb, she finds herself in a world that does not follow the planned script, and at that stage of life, there are actors who are much better and more prepared than her to play their roles. The result is an estrangement that, Nunziata continues, finds visual expression in a unified scenic space: “a sort of room/stage, cut diagonally by the image of a large torn curtain, like a torn diaphragm that allows the passage from the stage of the theatre to the stage of life without a break”.
PRIMA CHE SI ALZI IL SIPARIO
The composer, the style, and the genesis of the opera are some of the themes explored by Giuseppe Martini in Prima che si alzi il sipario, Saturday, March 18th 2023, 5 p.m., at the Ridotto of the Teatro Regio in Parma, with the participation of soprano Sara Mihali and baritone Takeshi Sawachi, students at the Conservatorio di Musica Arrigo Boito in Parma, accompanied on piano by Nicola Mottaran—musical coordination by Donatella Saccardi.
OPEN REHEARSALS
The rehearsals of Adriana Lecouvreur are open to the public in the days leading up to the debut: crucial moments in which the complex work on stage and behind the scenes finds a fascinating synthesis. The rehearsal on Monday, March 20th 2023, at 8.00 p.m., is reserved for the under-30 audience, while the rehearsal on Wednesday, March 22nd, 2023, at 3.30 p.m., is open to the public.
ADRIANA LECOUVREUR LIVE ON OPERASTREAMING
The performance on Friday, March 24th, 2023, at 8.00 p.m., will be broadcast live on operastreaming.com, the free portal of the Emilia-Romagna Region developed in collaboration with EDUNOVA-University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. The work, available with Italian and English subtitles, will remain available on the platform for the following six months after the broadcast.