I talked with Annalisa Stroppa, one of the world’s most sought-after mezzosopranos, on conductors and directors, her family, religion and a singer’s life.
Mario Martone’s new production of Rigoletto at La Scala divided the public with applause for the singers but a chorus of boos for the production team.
Elīna Garanča has sung in Verdi‘s Requiem at La Scala and in recital, but never performed in an opera. There was a planned Don Giovanni which she pulled out of when she became pregnant, and an opera was set up with Riccardo Muti which was then cancelled. This season she arrives for the Milan Expo season with…
I was born a labourer, before I was a singer I was a blacksmith and a mechanic. My father was a miner. I worked in the chorus. Obviously I understand the trade unions’ side. But this is another story altogether. Leo Nucci is commenting on the continuous threats by the unions in Rome, resulting in performances…
Carmen, Medea and Cassandra… just imagine all three around your dinner table… a diplomatic nightmare. For Italian choreographer Luciano Cannito they have provided him with inspiration for a new pièce: part dance, part poetry. Called ‘Il processo’ – The Trial – it gives these three women a chance to tell their side of their story, stories which are…
Alessandra Ferri brings Martha Clarke’s Chéri to the Ravenna Festival in two weeks, with the same cast that accompanied her for the piece’s début at The Signature Theatre in New York: ABT’s Herman Cornejo and actress Amy Irving. Although Charles Isherwood for The New York Times said that Clarke’s choreography “sometimes falls into patterns of swooning sameness”, of Ferri…
Jonas Kaufmann says that La Scala and Santa Cecilia are the only two important music centres left in Italy, Too many theatres have closed in the last few years; a real shame. Which theatres he’s thinking about isn’t clear, for although many (of the many) Italian opera houses are having financial troubles, none of major…
October 2015 marks the start of Alexander Pereira‘s reign as sovrintendente of one of the world’s greatest theatres, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Yesterday the city’s mayor, Giuliano Pisapia, announced the Austrian’s appointment, He is the person we consider most suited to give true value to the jewel in Milan’s crown. So, coincidentally just as…
“It will not be a normal Norma!” joked Cecilia Bartoli to the Corriere della Sera‘s Giuseppina Manin. A joke that works better in Italian: “Sarà una Norma fuori norma!” She has sung the role in concert form in June 2011 in Dortmund, Germany. Now comes the stage performance in Salzburg, the CD and the commemorative…
I am deeply grateful to my country. I owe everything to Italy. Therefore it hurts me to see the country like this. I feel the need to speak up, to underline some of the perils and the opportunities as I see them. With these words, Italian maestro Riccardo Muti stepped in to the current political fray:…
This week, Eleonora Abbagnato became the first Italian étoile at the Paris Opera Ballet for generations. The only other was Carlotta Zambelli who became one of the company’s stars at the end of the 19th century. Quite an achievement for the 34-year-old dancer from Palermo. Valeria Crippa of the Corriere della Sera spoke to her….
After hanging up her pointe shoes in 2007, Alessandra Ferri has announced her return to the stage. At 49 she has decided to début in a new work, The Piano Upstairs, at the Spoleto Festival on 28 June. When asked by Il Corriere della Sera if she missed the applause, she replied that yes, the applause…
Ute Lemper is touring Europe with her cabaret programme which includes material by that most political of theatre writers, Bertolt Brecht. Lemper herself has always been outspoken about her views, upsetting much of the German establishment along the way. The mix of her native German tongue, with almost perfect English and French, might have made…
To coincide with his Pesaro appearances this year, Juan Diego Flórez talked with Italy‘s Il Corriere della Sera. It was at Pesaro’s Rossini Opera Festival in 1996 that the young Peruvian suddenly burst on to the world stage when he stepped in to take the leading tenor role in Matilde di Shabran after Bruce Ford became indisposed….
Sylive Guillem will be in Venice tomorrow to receive from the Biennale the Leone d’oro (Golden Lion) for “having redesigned the form of the dancer, defying the laws of physics”. Valeria Crippa of the Corriere della Sera talked to her about aspects of her career. I could have ended up like a cork bobbing along on…
Just after Magda Olivero‘s 102nd birthday, (on March 25), the Corriere della Sera went to visit her. This remarkable woman still has a lot to say. While many of her opinions are maybe inevitable for someone of such an age (the Milanese are no longer well-mannered; modern opera productions have gone downhill; there are no outstanding…
The anorexia scandal, started by Teatro alla Scala ballerina Mariafrancesca Garritano, which has had echoes worldwide, at first led to indignation by the public and fellow dancers alike when the theatre fired her for damaging the its reputation. Then the tide started to turn as various professionals – doctors, teachers – with the company and…
The La Scala anorexia scandal rolls on… Valeria Crippa, in Italy‘s Corriere della Sera, has been listening to the other side of the argument, as sacked dancer Mariafrancesca Garritano‘s accusations against the theatre and its school echoes around the world. Luisa Vinci, director of the La Scala Academy (which includes departments of dance and music): This scandal has hit us like…
In two weeks’ time EMI will launch a new CD by Angela Gheorghiu: “Homage To Maria Callas – Favourite Opera Arias” In 2007 the soprano made her début at Milan‘s La Scala. Her first steps onto the legendary stage was with a recital programme, subsequently released as a CD. In an interview with Il Corriere…
The Corriere della Sera‘s Valeria Crippa asked Roberto Bolle what is causing an increase in the numbers of boys studying ballet: There’s been a positive trend over recent years. Films like Billy Elliot have helped, the familiarity of dancing on TV and also new media. YouTube allows you to find any video, to be informed, to make comparisons. Of course, for those who like me who…
End of content
End of content