1783, Wien: a young composer met an Italian poet; the name of the former is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the name of the latter Lorenzo Da Ponte. It is one of the happiest circumstances in the history of musical theatre, a partnership that has given us what has always been, in the heart of opera lovers, the trilogy par excellence. And the 10th<\/sup> anniversary of the Autumn Trilogy, which Ravenna Festival introduced in 2012, is celebrated precisely with Le nozze di Figaro<\/em>, Don Giovanni<\/em>, and Cos\u00ec fan tutte<\/em>, which will take turns on the stage of the Alighieri Theatre, evening after evening, from 31 October to 6 November. Thus, the Festival crowns its 33rd<\/sup> edition with three productions for which it joins forces with two of Europe\u2019s oldest theatres, the Swedish Drottningholms Slottsteater and the Op\u00e9ra Royal de Versailles.\u00a0On the podium of the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra, will be Giovanni Conti, Erina Yashima, and Tais Conte Renzetti.\u00a0Erina Yashima, who will conduct Don Giovanni, participated to the first edition of Riccardo Muti’s Italian Opera Academy in 2015 and was subsequently his assistant in Chicago; after having been assistant conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, she is now first Kapellmeister at the Komische Oper in Berlin.\u00a0Giovanni Conti and Tais Conte Renzetti have instead been selected for the 2020 edition of the Academy.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThey are three different plays, but performed with aesthetic harmony \u2013 explains director Ivan Alexandre<\/strong>, who has worked for the Wiener Staatsoper, Palais Garnier, and Salzburg\u2019s Mozartwoche <\/em>\u2013 and telling the story of the same character: a libertine we call Cherubino in his youth, Don Giovanni in adulthood, and Don Alfonso at a later age. So the love-crazed youth turns into a heart-breaker who, when old enough, encourages the young people to re-enact his vices. It is as if one heart were beating in three different chests, a \u2018cycle of desire\u2019 within which each title can exist on its own. Bringing all three to stage as a sequence, however, gives particular meaning to each one and makes a coherent whole. They are three moments in a love life, crafted from the same material; familiar dramas in which everyday life turns into an extraordinary adventure. We wanted to return to the spontaneity of the touring theatres of the past: make-up tables, clothes valets, and screens are scattered across the stage. There are no wings, nothing is on the hangers (except for a few lights), there are no traps, only a few wooden structures and a few sketches on moving canvas.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the course of four acts, the story of Le nozze di Figaro<\/em><\/strong> unfolds (and twists) around the attempt by the Conte di Almaviva\u2013whose role is entrusted to baritone Clemente Antonio Daliotti<\/strong>, already the brilliant protagonist of Transitus<\/em> in the Basilica di San Vitale in June\u2013to impose the ius primae noctis<\/em> on Susanna (who has the unmistakable timbre of Arianna Vendittelli<\/strong>), maid of the Countess (Ana Maria Labin<\/strong>, acclaimed Mozart interpreter) and betrothed to the Figaro of\u00a0Canadian bass-baritone\u00a0Robert Gleadow<\/strong>. French-Italian mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre<\/strong>\u00a0takes on the role of the unforgettable Cherubino, one of the main driving forces behind the whirlwind of mocked husbands, cunning ladies-in-waiting, noblemen… The cast is completed by Manon Lamaison<\/strong> as Barbarina, Norman D. Patzke<\/strong> as Bartolo and Antonio, Valentina Coladonato<\/strong> as Marcellina, and Paco Garcia<\/strong> as Don Basilio and Don Curzio. At the fortepiano sits Lars Henrik Johansen<\/strong>, also involved in the other two titles; in this case, the choirs are entrusted to the singing company.<\/p>\n Where the Commedia dell’Arte meets the supernatural and the lyricism of ‘serious’ opera, where the tragic and the comic coexist, there is Don Giovanni<\/em><\/strong>: Arianna Vendittelli and Robert Gleadow return to the stage as Donna Elvira and the servant Leporello, respectively, while the eponymous protagonist is the baritone Christian Federici<\/strong> (already involved in the 2019 Trilogy’s Carmen<\/em>). His Don Giovanni, destined for a hellish finale after erotic and non-erotic escapades, attempts to seduce Iulia Maria Dan<\/strong>‘s Donna Anna (betrothed to Julien Henric<\/strong>‘s Don Ottavio) and ends up killing her father in a duel, the Commendatore played by bass Callum Thorpe<\/strong>, who in his native England works with the Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne and Opera North. In the spirit of the Commedia dell’Arte, which sees the performers alternating in different roles, Thorpe also plays the peasant Masetto, while his bride Zerlina\u2013also the object of Don Giovanni’s aims\u2013is Chiara Skerath<\/strong>. In this case, Antonio Greco leads the Luigi Cherubini Chorus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The school of lovers referred to in the title of Cos\u00ec fan tutte<\/em><\/strong> has only one master: Don Alfonso (again Christian Federici) is the architect of the gamble that turns into a cruel hoax; his hilarious accomplice is the maid Despina, or Miriam Albano<\/strong>, a mezzo-soprano who was a soloist at the Vienna State Opera for years. The young officers Guglielmo and Ferrando, who bet on the fidelity of their fianc\u00e9es, are Robert Gleadow and Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani<\/strong>, recently at the Festival with Accademia Bizantina for Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno<\/em>. Fiordiligi and Dorabella, who are seduced by each other’s fianc\u00e9s, are Ana Maria Labin and Jos\u00e9 Maria Lo Monaco<\/strong>, who\u2013like Vendittelli and Zorzi Giustiniani\u2013made her Festival debut in the project dedicated to the Neapolitan School. The Chorus 1685<\/strong> of the Istituto Superiore di Studi Musicali ‘Giuseppe Verdi’ of Ravenna, again prepared by Antonio Greco, will perform this title.<\/p>\n Le nozze di Figaro<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Monday 31 October at 8.30 pm Info and presales Alighieri Theatre Ticket Office:<\/strong>\u00a0ph<\/strong>\u00a0+39 0544 249244\u00a0\u00a0email<\/strong>\u00a0tickets@ravennafestival.org<\/a><\/p>\n
\nDon Giovanni<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Tuesday 1 November at 8.30 pm
\nCos\u00ec fan tutte<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Wednesday 2 November at 8.30 pm
\nLe nozze di Figaro<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Friday 4 November at 8.30 pm
\nDon Giovanni<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Saturday 5 November at 8.30 pm
\nCos\u00ec fan tutte<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Sunday 6 November at 3.30 pm<\/p>\n