In just a few years, he would become one of the most prominent opera composers of the 18th century. He would rival Händel in London, mentor the great castrati Farinelli and Caffarelli, and influence Haydn in Vienna. Sadly, he would eventually die in poverty in his hometown of Naples. And it was for Naples that the very young Porpora composed this oratorio dedicated to the Passion of Christ, in which he already showed the mastery of contrapuntal technique and the sensitivity to vocal virtuosity of his approaching maturity. Mary, John, and Magdalene witness Christ’s crucifixion together with Divine Justice. But the latter’s unwavering confidence is not enough to ease the Virgin’s suffering. She barely resists falling into despair, revealing the mixture of humanity and theatricality that one expects from any great mourner.
Una iniziativa di Ravenna Festival per e nei territori alluvionati
Palazzo della Proviancia Forlì-Cesena |
12 March 2024 | at 12:00 PM
Presentation of the program 2024
XXXIV edition
Teatro Alighieri |
24 February 2024 | at 11:00 AM
Gala verdiano
Teatro Giuseppe Verdi, Busseto |
From 27 January 2024
conductor Riccardo Muti
with Elisa Balbo Isabel De Paoli Rosa Feola Juliana Grigoryan Vittoria Magnarello Luca Micheletti Riccardo Rados Giovanni Sebastiano Sala
Riccardo Zanellato
Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini
Coro del Teatro Municipale di Piacenza choirmasterCorrado Casati maestro di salaDavide Cavalli
in collaboration with Regione Emilia-Romagna and Comune di Busseto
thanks to Crédit Agricole Italia
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The Programme
I part
from La forza del destino
Sinfonia
from Simon Boccanegra
“A te l’estremo addio… Il lacerato spirito” Riccardo Zanellato (e coro)
from La forza del destino
“Pace, pace mio Dio” Juliana Grigoryan
from Il trovatore
“Ah, si, ben mio” Giovanni Sebastiano Sala
“Timor di me?… D’amor sull’ali rosee” Rosa Feola
from Macbeth
“Perfidi! All’anglo contro me v’unite!… Pietà, rispetto, onore” Luca Micheletti
from La forza del destino
“Il santo nome di Dio… La Vergine degli angeli” Riccardo Zanellato, Juliana Grigoryan, coro
II part
from Macbeth
“O figli, o figli miei!… Ah, la paterna mano” Giovanni Sebastiano Sala
from Il trovatore
“Stride la vampa” Isabel De Paoli
from Otello
“Ave Maria” Elisa Balbo
from Don Carlo
“Ella giammai m’amò” Riccardo Zanellato
from I Vespri siciliani
“Arrigo! Ah parli a un core” Rosa Feola
from Otello
“Vanne; la tua meta già vedo… Credo in un Dio crudel” Luca Micheletti
from Macbeth
Finale atto primo “Di destarlo per tempo il re m’impose” Giovanni Sebastiano Sala, Riccardo Zanellato, Luca Micheletti, Elisa Balbo, Riccardo Rados, Vittoria Magnarello, coro
Sandro Lombardi reads Testori
Chiostro del Museo Nazionale |
12 July 2023 | at 7:30 PM
On the centenary of the birth of Giovanni Testori (1923-1993) Sandro Lombardi reads Testori
Mater Strangosciàs, 7.30 pm
Gli angeli dello sterminio, 9.30 pm with the participation of Francesca Ciocchetti
A “strange sweetness”, as Walter Siti puts it, animates the torrent of confused, dialectal, mangled, sibilant but necessary words that the late Testori seems to have wished to bequeath not only to posterity but also to Sandro Lombardi himself, who probably owes the most convincing achievements of his long career to the dense and versatile pen of the Milanese genius. An actor of unusual intensity, Lombardi does not smooth over literary roughness and is used to plunging into emotional depths where others fear to tread. Twenty years later, he returns to Testori, the witness to the end, the poet of the Milanese apocalypse, the devotee of a stranguished Madonna, and dedicates an “unbridled ode to life” to those who have known torment.
parabola spirituale per cinque voci soliste, tre attrici, coro misto e ensemble strumentale
Basilica di San Vitale |
from 16 June to 31 December 2023
Stabant Matres
a spiritual parable for five voices, three actresses, mixed choir, and ensemble
music Paolo Marzocchi libretto Guido Barbieri
Maria Valentina Coladonato soprano Tamar Manuela Rasori soprano* Rahab Simona Mastropasqua mezzo* Betsabea Clara La Licata soprano* Rut Benedetta Gaggioli soprano*
Actresses of the Scuola di Teatro di Bologna “Alessandra Galante Garrone”
conductor Paolo Marzocchi
Coro Ecce Novum choirmaster Silvia Biasini LaCorelli Ensemble
*female voices of the Master in canto “Musica Vocale e Teatro Musicale del ’900 e contemporaneo” of the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi di Ravenna
commissioned by Ravenna Festival premiere
The Gospel of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus Christ, in which the names of four women stand out in the line that links him to King David: Tamar, the wife of Judah; Rahab, who married Salmon and was the mother of Boaz; Ruth, the wife of Boaz and the mother of Obed, who became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of King David; and Bathsheba, who married David and became the mother of Solomon. To this list of women who never met the Saviour, another name must be added: Mary.
A new, completely original production combines song, drama and music to evoke these ancient mothers, who were not Jewish and who, with the exception of Bathsheba, came from the lowest classes of society and were sometimes prostitutes. Biblical commentators have no doubts: Christ is the descendant of the chosen people of Israel, but through matrilineal descent he represents all humanity, without distinction of wealth, affiliation or identity.
Tribute to Angelo Mariani
conductor Donato Renzetti
Teatro Alighieri |
from 14 June to 31 December 2023
150 years after the death of Angelo Mariani (Ravenna 11 October 1821- Genua 13 June 1873)
Orchestra dell’Accademia del Teatro alla Scala Solisti dell’Accademia del Teatro alla Scala Donato Renzetti conductor
Giuseppe Verdi from Aroldo Overture
from Giovanna D’Arco “O fatidica foresta” soprano Greta Doveri
from Attila Preludio “Mentre gonfiarsi l’anima“ bass Livio Li Huanhong
from La traviata “È strano!… Sempre libera” soprano Zhou Fan
from Don Carlos Preludio, ballabili from act III
Gaetano Donizetti from Lucia di Lammermoor “Tombe degli avi miei” tenor Andrea Tanzillo
Charles Gounod from Faust “Alerte, alerte, ou vous êtes perdus!” soprano Zhou Fan, tenor Andrea Tanzillo, bass Livio Li Huanhong
Richard Wagner from Lohengrin Prelude to act I
from Tannhäuser Overture
in collaboration with Associazione Musicale Angelo Mariani di Ravenna
It had to be Verdi and Wagner, the two undisputed giants of nineteenth-century opera and now the pillars of a concert commemorating the 150thanniversary of Angelo Mariani’s birth. If the former was a long-time personal friend and collaborator of Mariani’s (although they had a serious falling out due to misunderstandings and probably romantic jealousy), the latter owed the first Italian performances of his operas to Mariani, who conducted the premieres of both Lohengrinand Tannhäuser in Bologna. This further widened the rift with the great composer from Busseto, who perhaps also blamed the charismatic Ravenna-born musician for the liberties he took with other people’s scores. However, Mariani played an important role in the rise of the modern professional conductor, combining the roles of maestro concertatoreand direttore d’orchestra to achieve “a true unity of performance, conception and interpretation”.
Ars Ludi:Antonio Caggiano, Rodolfo Rossi, Gianluca Ruggeri, Alessio Cavalierepercussioni
Steve Reich: Drumming (Part 1)
Francesco Filidei: I funerali dell’anarchico Serantini (versione per 3 esecutori)
Famodou Don Moyedrums e percussioni, Simon Siegerpianoforte e trombone e Christophe Leloil tromba con la partecipazione di Silvia Bolognesicontrabbasso
Alvin Curran live electronics
Carte da musica (estratti): Luigi Espositopianoforte e Monica Benvenuti voce musica di Luigi Esposito, testi di Roberto Masotti
Prima esecuzione assoluta
TAI No-Orchestra Massimo Falascone sax, Roberto Del Pianobasso elettrico e Filippo Monicodrums
con la partecipazione di Silvia Bolognesicontrabbasso,Martin Mayescorno e Gianluca Lo Prestilive visual immagini diRoberto Masotti
Per bussola, nell’esplorare le terre incognite della musica – là dove la musica accadeva o stava per accadere – aveva scelto la macchina fotografica; strumento fra gli strumenti, per mescolarsi ai nomadi del suono lungo un itinerario che era un continuo attraversamento di frontiere. E allora Terre incognite. Concerto per Roberto è un invito al viaggio: il Teatro Alighieri di Ravenna accoglie tanti di quei musicisti che Roberto Masotti, scomparso lo scorso maggio, ha incontrato, conosciuto, ascoltato, fotografato.
Oltre 30 artisti si alterneranno in scena nella città natale di Roberto, straordinario “fotografo della musica” e testimone di una meravigliosa stagione di creatività: sei ore di concerto, dal jazz d’avanguardia, soprattutto europeo ma anche d’oltreoceano, al sound ECM, etichetta discografica alla quale è stato legato da una collaborazione ultradecennale, alle tante altre musiche di oggi, incluse il minimalismo e la sperimentazione elettronica, passando per le contaminazioni fra suoni e l’evocazione dei paesaggi naturali al centro di tante sue fotografie. Né mancheranno testimonianze della sua attività nella videoarte e nella scrittura, anche poetica, quest’ultima poco nota al pubblico.
Miki Matsuse van Hoecke concept and direction choreographies by Micha van Hoecke re-staged by Miki Matsuse
with the participation of Luciana Savignano and Manuel Paruccini performers Rimi Cerloj, Viola Cecchini, Yoko Wakabayashi, Chiara Nicastro, Giorgia Massaro, Francesca De Lorenzi, Martina Cicognani, Marta Capaccioli, Gloria Dorliguzzo, Miki Matsuse.
in collaboration with Armunia and Comune di Rosignano Marittimo
Canto per un poeta innamorato (Song for a Poet in Love), a segment of the project Tre baci per Micha (Three Kisses for Micha), stages a homage to van Hoecke, the international artist and polyglot of the scene that passed away on 7 August last. The Russian-Belgian choreographer was deeply in love with Italy—and reciprocated. So much so that he made it another homeland, with Ravenna as his second home. Three kisses on the cheeks were his usual greeting, which are said to express a desire to be remembered. And so it will be in this fresco of the visions and places of his art, created by Micha’s loving work and life partner, Miki Matsuse, with the support of his many friends and collaborators. In it, fragments from his famous creations, like La dernière danseor Le Voyage, will be combined with performances in his eclectic style, veiled with melancholic poetry.
