Carmela Remigio

Don Giovanni (Sferisterio Opera Festival)

The first of the triumvirate of Mozart’s last three superlative operas – Cosi fan Tutte (1790) and Die Zauberflöte (1791) being the others – Don Giovanni (1787) tells the tale of this legendary womanizer, already a cautionary tale of considerable merit, with the added power and weight of a brilliant musical setting by one of mankind’s greatest musical geniuses and a stunningly effective libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. This tragicomedy of the highest order cries out for the finest musical forces, voices and staging to be truly overwhelming and meaningful. The cast for this production includes Ildebrando D´Arcangelo and Carmela Remigio. With direction from Riccardo Frizza and one of Italy’s finest stage and set designers on hand in veteran Pier Luigi Pizzi, the course is set for a staggering night at the opera.

Alceste - Teatro La Fenice

At death’s door, a beloved king is doomed unless someone takes his place. So then his wife resolves to sacrifice herself to save him. Christoph Willibald Gluck composed his reform opera Alceste not once, but twice. In La Fenice’s production of the lesser-known original Italian version, director Pier Luigi Pizzi strips the action down to the bare emotional drama of Alceste’s sacrifice.

Cherubin

This is one of the most enjoyable opera produced. The playful production by Paul Curran (Teatro Lirico di Cagliari [Sardinia]) has a wealth of clever touches, and the sets and costumes are lovely, whimsical, imaginative, and wonderfully captured. T The libretto for "Cherubin" (1905), an homage to Beaumarchais and da Ponte, takes up the story of the character Cherubino from Mozart's "Le nozze di Figaro" and shows him suffering his first great disappointment in love, his rejection by the courtesan/dancer Ensoleillad. All ends happily, however, as Cherubin finds his real destiny in Nina, a girl his own age. The story is tightly constructed, the text full of wit and humor in lighter moments and rapturous poetry in the love scenes, and the DVD's subtitles are expertly handled.

Donizetti: Il castello di Kenilworth

Recorded during the 2018 Donizetti Festival, Il castello di Kenilworth was first staged at Naples’s San Carlo in 1829. Based on a novel by Sir Walter Scott and adapted by librettist Leone Tottola, this rare opera has long been unjustly neglected. The recording features the original version of the score, with the role of Warney entrusted to a tenor (the composer changed the voice to baritone in his 1836 revision). Il castello di Kenilworth was followed by several other successful works that Donizetti similarly based on British history (Maria Stuarda, Anna Bolena, Rosmonda d’Inghilterra, Emilia di Liverpool, Lucia di Lammermoor); it presents the character of Queen Elizabeth I, torn by the inner struggle between a monarch’s duty and a woman’s feelings. The fundamental pivot of the drama is the antagonism between the two female characters who both dwell and suffer in loneliness in a male-dominated world.

Handel - Rinaldo

George Frideric Handel was one of those rare composers who excelled in both sacred, secular, instrumental and operatic music, leaving us extraordinary masterpieces in every field. Already renowned in Italy, Handel introduced himself to the city of London with his opera Rinaldo in 1711, which was such a success that he decided to remain in England for good. It is still regarded as one of his greatest operas. Set during the Crusades, Rinaldo is a lavish spectacle that tells a story of love, magic, struggles for power and ultimate reconciliation. Pier Luigi Pizzi’s acclaimed production brings us into a ‘dreamlike, unreal … world of spells and incantations’ (Epoca). Cast:- Armida: Carmela Remigio, Goffredo: Leonardo Cortellazzi, Almirena: Francesca Aspromonte, Rinaldo: Raffaele Pe, Argante: Andrea Patucelli

L'Orchestra della Toscana e il Maestro Luisi

World-renowned Genoese conductor Fabio Luisi conducts the ORT for the first time. The concert opens with Vivaldi's Sinfonia Al Santo Sepolcro, a liturgical composition on the Passion of Christ. This is followed by Mahler's Fourth Symphony in a chamber version with soprano Carmela Remigio.

Don Giovanni

Live performance at Teatro La Fenice in 2017.

La Donna Serpente

Performance of Alfredo Casella's opera The Snake Woman by Orchestra and Chorus Teatro Regio Torino, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda