![]() ![]() For example, Maria Callas was a regular between 19. Some of the world’s most famous opera singers have graced the stage of the Verona Opera Festival. For some of the earliest performances live elephants and camels were brought on stage and once a small lake was created to conjure the water reflections of the river Nile in Aida. Instead of using the typical for the era flat painted decors, three-dimensional stage sets were developed to really transport the spectator into the heart of the action. The very first festival performances immediately stood apart with their new scenographic style. To this date, Aida is the most performed opera at the Verona Opera Festival. The festival started on 10th August 1913 with a performance of Aida in commemoration of the centenary of Giuseppe Verdi’s birth. The festival is traditionally held in the almost 2000 years old Roman amphitheatre known as Arena di Verona which is located in the heart of this Northern Italian city. Each summer it attracts hundreds of thousands of people. The Verona Opera Festival is one of the most prestigious opera events in the world. It was passionate, inspiring, tragic and soul-uplifting all at the same time. Ping, Pang, and Pong – Turandot’s ministers – providing a welcome comedic relief among all the suffering and bloodthirsty threats. Unrequited love, gender power battles, beheadings, emotions running high, dramatic singing, lavish costumes, splendid decors – the stage kept my full attention for hours on end. Soon, I could feel the pain of the ice-cold princess Turandot struggling to find her place in a male-dominated world by refusing to be treated as a marriage commodity thus imposing impossible to solve riddles to any potential suitor. The large screens showing the lyrics in both Italian and English certainly helped a lot to follow the action. Nothing was left to chance yet it all looked so natural and unrehearsed like it was happening there and then for the very first time. ![]() It was all so splendid, so well thought-out and so effortless. Hundreds of choir artists and dancers filled up the stage creating in mere seconds the illusion that we were at a traditional market square in China some hundreds of years ago. Which was fabulous in terms of singing but, unfortunately, I personally found the stage set a bit lacking in glamour and extravagance. Both of us have been to opera performances before and we even made an effort to go and see Puccini’s Manon Lescaut last year in Varna, Bulgaria. I must admit that we are not really die-hard opera fans. So, this year when my husband received for his birthday tickets for the Verona Opera Festival performance of Turandot, it was just what we needed to get organised and trot to the opera on the last day of June. And then we just kept talking about it but not doing anything to make it happen. ![]() Then, we bought tickets months in advance to see Aida in 2016 but, as it happens, we had to travel to Slovenia on the exact day of the performance. First, our child was too small and we simply couldn’t bear to leave her with a childminder overnight. Yet, for many reasons, it took my husband and me four years to actually do it. And this is the beauty of art which the Verona Opera Festival, on the verge of its 100th edition, is one of the best expressions of.Īttending the Verona Opera Festival has been on my to-do list since the very first month of my life in Italy. The music, the singing, the energy on stage made it possible for me to dream again. If Calaf was savouring his imminent victory on stage, alongside I was savouring the potential of triumph and had my dreams returned to me. Something exceptional and outstanding that made me forget about the small problems of my daily life and lifted my spirit sparkling a long-forgotten desire to savour the world, to turn this mortal, often baffling existence into an inspiring achievement. I felt the goosebumps flowing down my spine and just as the tenor, the conductor, and the orchestra launched into an encore of the iconic piece, I had that unique feeling of being part of something special. As the iconic aria declaring triumph and love reached its victorious point, the conductor energetically extracted the very best crescendo from his orchestra and then the audience dissolved in a loud applause and shouts of ‘ Bravo, Maestro!’ Perched on the edge of the stone step on the penultimate row of one of the largest preserved Roman arenas in the world, I looked at the thousands of people around me collectively holding their breath.Ī large orange moon had made its dramatic appearance in the night sky just moments before. There was definitely something magical in listening to Puccini’s Nessun Dorma soar up to the sky from the stage with a spectacularly lavish stage set. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |