The Ancient Theater of Taormina is preparing, after all the difficulties and uncertainties of the past months, to host great music. And there was no better way to return the monument to the great opera events than to represent Mascagni's CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA which will open, on August 1st, the summer program of the "Opera Festival of Stone Theaters" promoted by the SICILIAN OPERA CHOIR.
Although it may seem a paradox, it is important to underline that, due to the Covid protocol and therefore the limitation of seats, for the first time it will be possible to see the theater much freer from the scaffolding that usually covers the archaeological monument every year and that through a wide distribution of seats (all numbered) you can watch the show without the crowds and confusion that usually characterize the Taormina summers. All the safety rules will be guaranteed with an imposing organizational machine, which will allow you to enjoy in the most complete tranquility of a unique show in the world.
Returning to Cavalleria Rusticana, the title that will open The Stone Theaters Opera Festival, Elena Lo Fortewas chosen for the role of Santuzza, which, we like to remember, was Santuzza in the legendary film "The Godfather Part III" by Francis Ford Coppola; to interpret the role of Turiddu Angelo Villari, a tenor on the rise who recently played this role in the major Italian theaters, including the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. While to give voice and body to the jealous and passionate Alfio, the star of the Metropolitan of New York Alberto Mastromarino. To complete the cast, Lucia di Maria Motta and Leonora Sofia, Lola.
Finally, the masterpiece of Mascagni's musical genius will be among the very few complete stage performances at an international level, thanks to the contribution of the innovative direction of Salvo Dolce, a young and promising Sicilian director, who is setting up a staging - specially designed for the distance on the stage - based on plastic movements with a strong emotional impact; to enrich the setting, the artistic creations and the stage jewels of David Brancato S. and the lights of Gabriele Circo.
The orchestra, an essential and fundamental element of every lyrical representation, is among the best that the panorama can offer and among the most prestigious in the world: the Sicilian Symphony Orchestra.
The Sicilian orchestral complex, in its seventy-year career, has been directed by some of the most prestigious conductors: suffice it to say that for 25 years it was led by Sergiu Celibidache and that it was directed - among others - by Igor Stravinski, Riccardo Chailly, Vittorio Gui, Yuri Temirkanov, Daniel Oren, John Barbirolli, Riccardo Muti, Georges Pretre, Hubert Soudant, Ennio Morricone, Donato Renzetti, Gianandrea Noseda, Anton Guadagno, Nello Santi, Muhai Tang, Gunter Neuhold.
Another fundamental element for the excellent success of an opera production is certainly the choir, and also in this case we will have a complex of international importance such as the Sicilian Lyric Choir, already Oscar of Lirica 2017, instructed and guided by Francesco Costa .
The Opera Festival of Stone Theaters, recognized as an initiative of high cultural and artistic importance, takes place under the High Patronage of the European Parliament and the most important Italian institutional offices, the Patronage of the Pontificium Consilium de Cultura, of the Sicilian Region, Regional Department Tourism, Sport and Entertainment and the Department of Cultural Heritage and Sicilian Identity, Rai Sicilia, the Pietro Mascagni Committee, the Verona Foundation for the Arena and the Italian Archaeologists Confederation.
The Festival will then continue in the wonderful Greek Theaters of Syracuse and Tindari with the following programming:
TAORMINA
August 2 - GIUSEPPE DI STEFANO, TAORMINA INTERNATIONAL AWARD
August 20 - PUCCINI & VERDI OPERA GALA
August 26 - OPERA MADE IN SICILY, OPERA GALA WITH THE STARS OF SICILIAN OPERA, TAORMINA
with the extraordinary participation of Simone Alaimo, Pietro Ballo, Jessica Nuccio, Enea Scala
SIRACUSA
August 9 - ITALIAN LOVE SONGS - with the extraordinary participation of MARIO VENUTI; contamination between pop and opera with the most beautiful love songs of all time
August 24 - NESSUN DORMA...THREE TENORS IN CONCERT with Angelo Villari, Dave Monaco and Antonino Interisano
TINDARI
August 13 - ITALIAN LOVE SONGS - with the extraordinary participation of MARIO VENUTI; contamination between pop and opera with the most beautiful love songs of all time
August 23 - PUCCINI OPERA GALA
August 30 - NESSUN DORMA...THREE TENORS IN CONCERT with Angelo Villari, Dave Monaco and Antonino Interisano
