2024-2025 OPERA AND BALLET SEASON
Il Tabarro-Suor Angelica-Gianni Schicchi
by Giacomo Puccini
Music pub: Casa Ricordi, Milan
Concertmaster and Conductor FRANCESCO IVAN CIAMPA
Director PIER FRANCESCO MAESTRINI
Set designer NICOLÁS BONI
Costume designer STEFANIA SCARAGGI
Light designer DANIELE NALDI
Assistant Director MICHELE COSENTINO
Choir master PAOLO LONGO
A NEW PRODUCTION BY FONDAZIONE TEATRO LIRICO GIUSEPPE VERDI DI TRIESTE IN CO-PRODUCTION WITH FONDAZIONE TEATRO COMUNALE DI BOLOGNA
characters and performers
IL TABARRO
Michele
ROMAN BURDENKO (21, 23, 28 /II, 2/III)
GIUSEPPE ALTOMARE (22/II, 1/III)
Giorgetta
OLGA MASLOVA (21, 23, 28 /II and 2/III)
MARTA TORBIDONI (22/II and 1/III)
Luigi MIKHEIL SHESHABERIDZE
La Frugola CHIARA MOGINI
Tinca ENRICO IVIGLIA
Talpa FULVIO VALENTI
Song seller/Lover PIERLUIGI D’ALOIA
Lover AZIZA OMAROVA
SUOR ANGELICA
Sister Angelica
ANASTASIA BARTOLI (21, 23, 28 /II and 2/III)
MARTA TORBIDONI (22/II and 1/III)
The abbess GIOVANNA LANZA
The Mistress of the novices FEDERICA GIANSANTI
The Princess, Sister Angelica’s aunt CHIARA MOGINI
Sister Dolcina IRENE CELLE
Sister Genovieffa FEDERICA SARDELLA
Sister Osmina VERONIKA FOIA
The nursing sister ERICA ZULIKHA BENATO
The Monitress GIULIA DIOMEDE
Alm sister AZIZA OMAROVA
Alm sister ALESSANDRA GAMBINO
Lay sister ANNA CIPRIAN
Lay sister SELMA PASTERNAK
Novice TATIANA PREVIATI
With the participation of the “Piccoli Cantori della Città di Trieste” choir conducted by Maestro Cristina Semeraro
GIANNI SCHICCHI
ROMAN BURDENKO (21, 23, 28 /II and 2/III)
GIUSEPPE ALTOMARE (22/II and 1/III)
Lauretta SARA CORTOLEZZIS
Zita CHIARA MOGINI
Rinuccio PIERLUIGI D’ALOIA
Gherardo ENRICO IVIGLIA
Nella IRENE CELLE
Betto di Signa ANTONINO GIACOBBE
Simone FULVIO VALENTI
Marco NICOLÒ CERIANI
La Ciesca ERICA ZULIKHA BENATO
Gherardino ILARIA ZANETTI
Pinellino GIULIANO PELIZON
Guccio DAMIANO LOCATELLI
Maestro Spinelloccio/Ser Amantio di Nicolao ALESSANDRO BUSI
ORCHESTRA, CHOIR AND TECHNICIANS BY FONDAZIONE TEATRO LIRICO GIUSEPPE VERDI DI TRIESTE
After 51 years, Puccini’s Triptych – including the operas Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi – is finally back at the Teatro Verdi, in the successful production by the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. In Trieste, the Triptych will be conducted by Francesco Ivan Ciampa, currently among the world’s most sought-after conductors in this repertoire. The cast will be one of the largest ever, featuring great artists such as Roman Burdenko and soprano Anastasia Bartoli, from Verona – the latter a welcome surprise for critics and audiences alike since her participation in the 2024 Rossini Opera Festival.
The Triptych was only performed four times in the whole 100-year history of Trieste’s Teatro Verdi – in 1922, four years after the New York premiere, then in 1952, 1970 and 1974. The February appointment with Pier Francesco Maestrini’s superb production therefore marks a truly unmissable treat for opera lovers throughout the region. The year celebrating the centenary of Puccini’s death may be over, but the Triptych, with its uniquely complex and costly cast – featuring as many as 36 characters – is always a rare treat for Puccini fans. This is especially true when it comes to this striking production, embracing Puccini’s original idea of writing each opera to reflect one of the cantiche in Dante’s Divine Comedy – something which he only did with Gianni Schicchi. An artist from a family of artists and a vastly talented director, Maestrini tells us: “It is the first opera I can remember: I was 4 years old when my father – director Carlo Maestrini – threw me on stage in Dallas to play a sailor in Il Tabarro. That music has been alive in me ever since, combined with my other great passion: The Divine Comedy.” He continues: “In the Triptych, I see Puccini’s unfulfilled Dantean inspiration finally coming true. I see the hell of those damned souls who, in Il Tabarro, work themselves to death at the service of a boatman, their Charon. I see purgatory in Sister Angelica’s atonement for her sin. And finally, I see paradise in Gianni Schicchi – the only real Dantean character, an infernal episode turned into a comedy: utter genius!”. It’s a powerful association, perfectly matched by Ivan Ciampa’s confident conduction style. A real expert when it comes to the Puccini repertoire, Ciampa will include Trieste among his many engagements at the Vienna Opera, the Royal Opera House and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, etc.
The cast is impressive – one of the largest in the traditional opera repertoire, with as many as 36 different roles. This Triptych will feature renowned Italian and international artists, most of them young but with solid careers, such as Olga Maslova, Marta Torbidoni, Roman Burdenko. The performance will also mark the debut, both as Sister Angelica and in Trieste, of soprano Anastasia Bartoli, from Verona. With her powerful voice, controlled singing and strong stage presence, the daughter of soprano Cecilia Gasdia has already impressed audiences and critics at the 2024 Rossini Opera Festival and her Sister Angelica will no doubt show remarkable personality and artistic preparation.
On February 21, on the evening of the Triptych premiere performance and following the successful debut of the initiative on the occasion of “Die Entführung aus dem Serail”, the Victor de Sabata Lounge in our historic Ridotto will again be the perfect setting for an elegant, gourmet interval. Here, in collaboration with Trieste-based Cemût – Piccola Osteria Furlana, superb local wine and food delicacies will complete a truly unforgettable evening.
Performances:
A Friday 21 February 2025 at 8:00 p.m.
C Saturday 22 February 2025 at 7:00 p.m.
D Sunday 23 February 2025 at 4:00 p.m.
B Friday 28 February 2025 at 8:00 p.m.
S Saturday 1 March 2025 at 4:00 p.m.
E Sunday 2 March 2025 at 4:00 p.m.