Padua enchants with an Opera Season of timeless emotions

The new Opera Season of Padua promises to be an exciting journey through the great universal themes, celebrating works that embody the deepest emotions of the human soul: joy, hope and the triumph of good over evil.

Three iconic operas, three timeless masterpieces and three celebrations of important anniversaries. Starting with the Ode to Joy from Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (August 1), to commemorate the bicentenary of its first performance, a celebration of brotherhood and unity. It continues with the heartbreaking beauty of Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (October 18 and 20), on the centenary of the maestro’s death and the 120th anniversary of its first performance, and concludes with the happy ending of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Magic Flute (December 29 and 31).

The 2024 Opera Season follows the success of 2023, which recorded a positive balance both in terms of audience and takings. “We are dealing with important data: not only are tourists growing, but the Opera audience is also growing – says Andrea Colasio, Councilor for Culture of the Municipality of Padua – Last year we recorded record takings, reaching two hundred thousand euros. This shows that the Paduan Opera audience is growing significantly, attracted by a cultured, refined cultural offering capable of involving young people, extending the boundaries of our audience thanks to a team spirit and collaboration that involves the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto and the Solisti Veneti, the most prestigious and important musical institutions in the area. Padua has also given continuity to the Veneto Region project with Li.Ve. (Lirica Veneto), networking with Treviso and Rovigo and enhancing the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto. I would like to recall an important aspect: Padua produces great opera with limited resources, representing a good model for other opera-symphonic realities».

The Opera Season of Padua is promoted by the Department of Culture with the contribution of the Ministry of Culture and will also see the concert of the finalists of the XXXI edition of the Iris Adami Corradetti competition and the traditional New Year’s Concert on the stage of the Teatro Verdi.

Ninth Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven

The 2024 Opera Season of Padua will kick off on Thursday 1 August at 9:15 pm in Piazza Eremitani with the monumental Ninth Symphony conducted by Marco Angius. This year marks the 200th anniversary of the first performance of Beethoven’s last symphonic masterpiece, with which the composer changed the course of the history of music. For the first time, Beethoven introduced a choir and four solo voices to sing the famous “Ode to Joy” which contains a powerful ethical message: the universal union of all peoples, embraced in an ideal of freedom and brotherhood.

As Marco Angius, artistic and musical director of the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, explains: «The performance of the Ninth Symphony is part of the complete Beethoven symphony that we are conducting this summer. In fact, this piece, so famous for its final chorus, is the fruit of a symphonic journey that starts from the beginning of the nineteenth century and explores different areas: nature, politics, man in the society of the time, dance, up to the utopian abstraction of absolute music. Beethoven’s great intuition is contained precisely in the Finale of the Ninth which on the one hand summarizes, by reversing it, the path of the three previous movements, and on the other entrusts the instruments of the orchestra with an ideal recitation, as if the notes played became words: thus the instruments of the orchestra join the chorus of voices in the hymn to universal joy».

The Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto will be joined by soprano Erika Grimaldi, mezzo-soprano Elmina Hasan, tenor Pierluigi D’Aloia and baritone Markus Werba, with the participation of the Coro Lirico Veneto.

Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini

The Opera Season will come to life with Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini, on stage at the Teatro Verdi on Friday 18 and Sunday 20 October at 8.45 pm, with a preview for young people on Wednesday 16 October. The direction, sets and costumes are by Filippo Tonon, who returns to Padua after the success of Turandot in 2019. The concertmaster and conductor will be Francesco Rosa, with the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto and the Coro Lirico Veneto.

The cast includes Francesca Dotto (Cio-Cio-San), who began her career in Padua as a finalist in the Corradetti competition and now boasts a brilliant career, and Giorgio Berrugi (Pinkerton), one of today’s most appreciated tenors, named by Plácido Domingo as one of his heirs for his unmistakable, warm Italian sound and his exceptional musicality. The show is a co-production with the Teatro Sociale di Rovigo and the Teatro Mario del Monaco di Treviso.

A “Japanese tragedy” as it is defined in the score and the libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica, which tells of the encounter and the misunderstanding between Western and Eastern culture, the latter evoked in a seductive way through the use of traditional melodies and exotic instrumental combinations. Madama Butterfly is the opera of those who do not fear the wait and cling tightly to their dreams, or to their illusions of a better future. Dedicated to love until death, Cio-Cio-San embodies the hope of a “bel dì” that, perhaps, may never arrive.

“When a story touches the heart, brings tears to the eyes and shares the protagonist’s pain with the spectator, one cannot help but talk about Madama Butterfly,” explains Filippo Tonon. “In this 120th anniversary of the first performance, it is inevitable to think of the small and immense Cio-Cio-San, her tragedy, the devastation that forces her to become a victim and a heroine, like the great heroines of ancient Greece. Puccini’s music describes all of this: every pause, every chord, every phrase perfectly describes every state of mind, every emotion, every doubt, every hope and reaches such a level of theatricality that it is impossible not to be involved and fall in love with it.”

The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

On Sunday 29 and Tuesday 31 December, the Opera Season of Padua will culminate with The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, preceded by a preview for young people on Friday 27 December. The show is a co-production with the Teatro Mario del Monaco of Treviso and the Teatro Sociale of Rovigo and is directed, staged and costumed by Paolo Giani, former assistant director and assistant to Stefano Poda and now a regular at the Teatro Verdi.

The conductor and conductor will be Giuliano Carella, director of the Solisti Veneti and a leading figure in the international opera scene. The Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto will accompany an exceptional cast with Markus Werba in the role of Papageno and Gianluca Buratto in the role of Sarastro, together with the winners of the Toti dal Monte Competition in Treviso.

The Magic Flute is one of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s most famous operas, his last theatrical masterpiece composed in 1791 with a libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder, a few months before the composer’s death. This timeless labyrinthine tale is capable of entertaining and moving listeners of all ages, telling the story of the victory of light over darkness and of good over evil. Considered Mozart’s spiritual legacy, the opera brings together sacred elements in a brilliant mix of comic and dramatic opera. At the center of the plot is a real war between Sarastro and the Queen of the Night, in which the young Tamino and Pamina, searching for their place in the adult world, are called to take a stand.

New Year’s Concert

The last event of the 2024 Opera Season of Padua will be the traditional New Year’s Concert with which Padua greets the arrival of the new year, which will be held on Wednesday 1 January 2025 at the Teatro Verdi. Under the direction of Maestro Francesco Ivan Ciampa, the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto will offer a rich and varied program, capable of exciting and enthusing the audience with famous pieces from the classical repertoire.

XXXI Edition of the “Iris Adami Corradetti” Competition

The 2024 Opera Season of Padua will not be limited to major opera productions, but will also offer an important showcase for emerging talents with the XXXI Edition of the International Singing Competition “Iris Adami Corradetti”. Now in its thirty-first edition, it is recognized as one of the most important international opera competitions, thanks to its historicity and the prestige acquired over the years. A unique showcase for young singers from all over the world that offers the opportunity to make themselves known and enter the world of Opera.

The competition will take place at the Teatro Verdi in Padua from September 29 to October 4. After the preliminary and semi-final rounds, the selected finalists will perform in the traditional concert scheduled for Friday, October 4, accompanied by the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto at the Teatro Verdi conducted by Nicola Simoni.

The 2024 edition committee, chaired by Peter Mario Katona, artistic director of the Covent Garden Theatre in London, is also of great international standing. Other members of the committee include illustrious names such as Mara Zampieri, a famous soprano; Christoph Seuferle, artistic director of the Deutsche Opera in Berlin; Brian Speck, casting manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York; Evamaria Wieser, casting director of the Salzburg Festival and Cecilia Gasdia, superintendent and artistic director of the Fondazione Arena di Verona. With such a prestigious jury, the competition confirms its role as a fundamental platform for the promotion of new opera talents.

VERDI THEATRE PRE-SALES
Ticket info: 049 8777 0213
www.teatrostabileveneto.it