by Alessandra Ressa
The enthusiastic and optimistic management of Trieste’s opera theater Verdi has announced the imminent opening of the opera and concert season with a program full of popular titles as well as previously unreleased works.
The announcement comes after second Covid-19 lockdown forced all theaters in Trieste to cancel events last fall. Theaters have been hit hard by anti-Covid restrictions and have struggled to keep spirits high. During the months of forced closure management and artists at Verdi have continued to work, rehearse and perform with free online concerts, while preparing the program packed full of events, from June 2021 to July 2022.
On June 12 the first concert, Stabat Mater by Rossini will be dedicated to all the victims of the pandemic. For this reason, the event will be open exclusively upon invitation to all those professionals that have been fighting in the front lines: doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, the police.
The second title in the program, one of opera-lovers’ all-time-favorite, La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi, will première June 25th. Tickets will be available starting May 31st. Encore performances are scheduled until July 3rd.
The beautiful ballet Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky will be on stage from July 13th to July 18th while Trieste’s beloved operetta La Vedova Allegra is scheduled for the following week. A tango event and a concert will conclude the first part of the season.
Activities will resume in December with the second part of events which include Rossini’s drama giocoso The Barber of Seville, and the traditional Christmas and New Year’s concerts.
The year 2022 will begin with the original work Amorosa presenza by Antonio Piovani, the Oscar winning composer who has chosen Trieste’s Verdi theater for his first opera. Piovani is currently in Trieste for rehearsals.
Puccini’s Tosca will follow in March, and Donizetti’s Don Pasquale in April. But great operas are not over, as Verdi has announced two more prestigious titles in this third part of the year-long season: Rigoletto and Al Mulino/Pagliacci.
The program is definitely an unprecedented treat for theater goers and a great challenge for Trieste’s Verdi. Director Stefano Pace said he is “optimistic and hopeful when thinking about Verdi’s future. Naturally – he added during the online press conference – we will continue to monitor the health situation, but we sincerely hope to go back to normality, so that our theater will once again be a unique place for culture, entertainment and socialization.”
