Opera National de Paris
Presseinformation
FRANCESCA DA RIMINI
MUSIC BY RICCARDO ZANDONAI (1883-1944) LIBRETTO BY TITO RICORDI AFTER THE TRAGEDY OF THE SAME NAME BY GABRIELE D’ANNUNZIO
With its sensual and passionate lyricism, Francesca da Rimini is one of the major works of the early 20th century, unjustly overlooked in France. Roberto Alagna makes his return to Paris Opera alongside Svetla Vassilieva.
Daniel Oren Conductor
Giancarlo Del Monaco Stage director
Carlo Centolavigna Sets
Maria Filippi Costumes
Hans Rudolf Kunz Lighting
Patrick Marie Aubert Chorus master
Svetla Vassilieva / Rachele Stanisci (21 Febr.) Francesca
Louise Callinan Samaritana
Wojtek Smilek Ostasio
George Gagnidze Giovanni Lo Sciancato
Roberto Alagna / Zwetan Michailov (21 Febr.) Paolo Il Bello
William Joyner Malatestino dall’Occhio
Grazia Lee Biancofiore
Manuela Bisceglie Garsenda
Andrea Hill Altichiara
Carol Garcia Adonella
Cornelia Oncioiu La Schiava
Alexandre Kravets Ser Toldo Berardengo
Yuri Kissin Il Giullare
Alexandre Duhamel Il Torrigiano
Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Riccardo Zandonai (1883-1944) is an unusual figure in musical history. Born in the southern Tyrol, he studied with Mascagni at Pesaro. On the fringe of verismo, this most Wagnerian of Italian composers was both heir to the great Verdi tradition and a passionate admirer of Debussy and Richard Strauss. It makes him the most representative musical figure of the Art Nouveau movement in Italy, the “Liberty style” of which Segantini was the painter and D’Annunzio the poet. And it was D’Annunzio who offered Zandonai the libretto for his masterpiece, Francesca da Rimini, a flamboyant tragedy written for Eleanora Duse. As with Puccini’s Triptych, a few lines from Dante relating Francesca’s tragic love for the brother of her husband-to-be suffice to provide the thread from which the imagination spins its tale. Borne by an exalted and sublime lyricism of incomparable refinement and sensuality, Francesca da Rimini is one of the major works of the early 20th century, unjustly overlooked in France. Alongside Svetla Vassilieva, Roberto Alagna makes his return to Paris Opera in the role of Paolo Il Bello.
