Natalka Poltavka

Mykola Lysenko

Opera in 2 acts
Beginning: 9.09.2016 – 19:00
Completion: 20:50

Based on I.Kotliarevsky’s play.
Edited by M. Skoryk and A. Solovyanenko.
Premiered on the stage of the Kyiv Opera on July 5, 2012.

GALLERY

CAST

• МАТУШЕНКО Ольга
• ПРИЙМАК Павло

• КИСЛА Наталя
• СКОЧЕЛЯС Сергій

• КОЛИБАБ’ЮК Василь
• ПРИЙМАК Петро

SYNOPSIS

Act I

Natalka awaits the return of her fiance Petro, who is working abroad. She is noted by the elderly landowner Vozniy, who persuades Viborniy to intercede with her on his behalf.

Act II

Viborniy persuades Natalka’s mother, Terpilikha, that her daughter should marry the wealthy Vozniy, rather than await the uncertain return of Petro. The village maidens prepare Natalka for her wedding, although she is in despair.

Act III

Petro returns: Mykola informs him of Natalka’s engagement. Natalka appears and tells Petro she loves only him. Terpilikha objects, and Petro undertakes to leave the village if it will prevent bad feeling. Touched by this gesture, Vozniy relents and all ends happily.

Libretto by C. Sterbini based on Pierre Beaumarchais’s French comedy Le Barbier de Séville.

Translated into Ukrainian by M. Rylskyy.

Premiered on the stage of the Kyiv Opera on October 25, 1990.

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SYNOPSIS

Time: 18th century

Act 1

The square in front of Bartolo’s house

In a public square outside Bartolo’s house a band of musicians and a poor student named Lindoro are serenading, to no avail, the window of Rosina. Lindoro, who is really the young Count Almaviva in disguise, hopes to make the beautiful Rosina love him for himself—not his money. Almaviva pays off the musicians who then depart, leaving him to brood alone. Rosina is the young ward of the grumpy, elderly Bartolo and she is allowed very little freedom because Bartolo plans to marry her, and her not inconsiderable dowry, himself – once she is of age.

Figaro approaches singing. Since Figaro used to be a servant of the Count, the Count asks him for assistance in helping him meet Rosina, offering him money should he be successful in arranging this. Figaro advises the Count to disguise himself as a drunken soldier, ordered to be billeted with Bartolo, so as to gain entrance to the house. For this suggestion, Figaro is richly rewarded.

Act 2

A room in Bartolo’s house with four doors

The scene begins with Rosina’s cavatina. Knowing the Count only as Lindoro, Rosina writes to him. As she is leaving the room, Bartolo and Basilio enter. Bartolo is suspicious of the Count, and Basilio advises that he be put out of the way by creating false rumours about him. When the two have gone, Rosina and Figaro enter. Figaro asks Rosina to write a few encouraging words to Lindoro, which she has actually already written. Although surprised by Bartolo, Rosina manages to fool him, but he remains suspicious.

As Berta, the Bartolo housekeeper, attempts to leave the house, she is met by the Count disguised as an intoxicated soldier. In fear of the drunken man, she rushes to Bartolo for protection and he tries to remove the supposed soldier, but does not succeed. The Count manages to have a quick word with Rosina, whispering that he is Lindoro and passing her a letter. The watching Bartolo is suspicious and demands to know what is in the piece of paper in Rosina’s hands, but she fools him by handing over her laundry list. Bartolo and the Count start arguing and, when Basilio, Figaro and Berta appear, the noise attracts the attention of the Officer of the Watch and his men. Bartolo believes that the Count has been arrested, but Almaviva only has to whisper his name to the officer and is released right away. Bartolo and Basilio are astounded, and Rosina makes fun of them.

Act 3

A room in Bartolo’s house with a piano

Almaviva again appears at the doctor’s house, this time disguised as a singing tutor and pretending to act as substitute for the supposedly ailing Basilio, Rosina’s regular singing teacher. Initially, Bartolo is suspicious, but does allow Almaviva to enter when the Count gives him Rosina’s letter. He describes his plan to discredit Lindoro whom he believes to be one of the Count’s servants, intent on pursuing women for his master. Figaro arrives to shave Bartolo. Bartolo demurs, but Figaro makes such a scene he agrees, but in order not to leave the supposed music master alone with Rosina, the doctor has Figaro shave him right there in the music room. When Basilio suddenly appears, he is bribed by a full purse from Almaviva and persuaded to leave again, with much discussion of how ill he looks. Figaro begins to shave Bartolo, but Bartolo overhears the lovers conspiring. He drives everybody away.

The scene returns to the location of act 1 with a grill looking out onto the square. Bartolo orders Basilio to have the notary ready to marry him to Rosina that evening. He also explains his plot to come between the lovers. Basilio leaves and Rosina arrives. Bartolo shows Rosina the letter she wrote to “Lindoro”, and persuades her that this is evidence that Lindoro is merely a flunky of Almaviva. Rosina believes him and agrees to marry him.

The stage remains empty while the music creates a thunder storm to indicate the passage of time. The Count and Figaro climb up a ladder to the balcony and enter the room through a window. Rosina shows Almaviva the letter and expresses her feelings of betrayal and heartbreak. Almaviva reveals his identity and the two reconcile. While Almaviva and Rosina are enraptured by one another, Figaro keeps urging them to leave. Two people are heard approaching the front door, who later turn out to be Basilio and the notary. However, when the Count, Rosina, and Figaro attempt to leave by way of the ladder, they discover it has been removed. The Count quickly gives Basilio the choice of accepting a bribe and being a witness to his marriage or receiving two bullets in the head (an easy choice, Basilio says). He and Figaro witness the signatures to a marriage contract between the Count and Rosina. Bartolo barges in, but is too late. The befuddled Bartolo (who was the one who had removed the ladder) is pacified by being allowed to retain Rosina’s dowry.

Unprecedented success for the XXXVII edition of the Rossini Opera Festival. The box office registered an absolute record in takings (1.158.000 euro) and a number of patrons (17.250) never recorded in the recent history of the event. The percentage of foreigners has even reached 71%, showing the ever-growing interest of the public and the popularity of the Festival; the largest numbers came from France, Germany, Japan, England, the USA, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain and Holland. No fewer than 42 nations were represented, including newcomers such as Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Costa Rica and Turkey.

Many of the journalists also come from abroad. Articles on the Festival have been written by journalists from 24 countries throughout the world: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, the Vatican, France, Germany, Japan, Greece, England, Latvia, Luxembourg, Peru, the Czech Republic, Rumania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, the USA, Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa, Hungary.

Rai Radio3 has broadcast live the operas presented in the Festival, repeated by the radio of 14 countries in 3 continents (Australia, Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, England, Latvia, Poland, Portugal,  Rumania, Serbia, Spain, the USA, Sweden). Furthermore, the three operas were heard live on line all over the world, and, for a week, on streaming on demand on the RAI Radio3 website.

On the 12^th August Il viaggio a Reims was broadcast on live streaming on the Rossini Opera Festival’s website, Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Together with the big names of the international critical faculty, the Festival was visited by representatives of some of the most important opera houses and concert organizations: the Metropolitan Opera, the Japan Opera Foundation, the Theater an der Wien, De Vlaamse Opera, the Opera Vlandeeren, the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, the Dutch National Opera & Ballet, the Semperoper Dresden, Rossini in Wildbad, the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Opéra National de Paris, the Théâtre Châtelet de Paris, the Opéra de Rennes, the Opéra National du Rhin, the Royal Opera House of Muscate, the Teatro Comunale, Bologna, the Teatro Comunale, Ferrara, the Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa, the Macerata Opera Festival, the Teatro San Carlo, Naples, the Teatro Massimo, Palermo, the Teatro Regio, Parma, the RAI International Orchestra.

The XXXVIII Rossini Opera Festival (10-22 August 2017) will propose two important musicological novelties, realized in collaboration with the Fondazione Rossini: Le siege de Corinthe (conducted by Roberto Abbado and staged by Fura dels Baus) and La pietra del paragone (conducted by Daniele Rustioni and staged by Pierluigi Pizzi).  Beside these, a revival of the very rarely performed Torvaldo e Dorliska (conducted by Francesco Lanzillotta and staged by Mario Martone).

Ciro in Babilonia returns to the ROF 2016

After the triumphant first performances in 2012, Ciro in Babilonia returned to the Rof (performances on the 10th, 13th, 16th and 20th August at 8.00 p.m. at the Teatro Rossini) as the third opera on the bill of the XXXVII Rossini Opera Festival. Jader Bignamini, a well-established conductor making his Pesaro début, conducted the Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale, Bologna, and a cast led by the indispensable Ewa Podles in the title role; joined by Pretty Yende (another important début at the Rof), the confirmed Rossini specialist Antonino Siragusa, the promising Oleg Tsibulko and some of the promising singers issuing from the Accademia Rossiniana: Isabella Gaudì, Alessandro Luciano and Dimitri Pkhaladze.

Davide Livermore, assisted by D-wok (video design), Nicolas Bovey (sets) and Gianluca Falaschi (costumes, for which he won the Abbiati Prize), have placed the action in the sets typical of the early cinema. Cuttings of silent films were used (among them the complete Babilonian scene from David W. Griffith’s celebrated film Intolerance), the projection of which forms a background to the intricate biblical story, which takes on all the colouring of a colossal historical film. The show has been realized in collaboration with the Museo Nazionale del Cinema of Turin.

CIRO IN BABILONIA

Dramma con cori per musica by Francesco Aventi

Conductor Jader Bignamini

Director Davide Livermore

Videodesign D-WOK 

Settings and Lighting designer Nicolas Bovey

Costumes Gianluca Falaschi

Interpreters Baldassare Antonino Siragusa, Ciro Ewa Podles, Amira Pretty Yende, Argene Isabella Gaudí, Zambri Oleg Tsybulko, Arbace Alessandro Luciano, Daniello Dimitri Pkhaladze

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Comunale di Bologna

Chorus Master Andrea Faidutti

Il Turco in Italia second opera on the  program

The second opera on the bill at the XXXVII Rossini Opera Festival is Il Turco in Italia (to be performed on the 9th, 12th, 16th and 18th August at the Teatro Rossini at 8.00 p.m.). Speranza Scappucci will conduct the Filarmonica Gioachino Rossini, the Chorus of the Teatro della Fortuna, Fano, and a brilliant young cast: Erwin Schott, making his first appearance in Pesaro; welcome return appearances of true Rossini stars such as Olga Peretyatko, Nicola Alaimo, Rene Barbera, Pietro Spagnoli; young students from the Accademia Rossiniana like Cecilia Molinari and Pietro Adaini, the last a graduate of this year’s course. This is a co-production with the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, Valencia.

The production has been entrusted to the visionary liveliness of Davide Livermore, who has created such important productions for the Rof as Demetrio e Polibio, Ciro in Babilonia (revived this year) and L’Italiana in Algeri. Together with D-Wok (video design) and the costumist Gianluca Falaschi, Livermore has imagined the intricate love-passages between Selim, Fiorella, Geronio and Zaida in a setting typical of Fellini, full of references to 8½: the poet Prosdocimo is dressed as Marcello Mastroianni, Fiorilla as Claudia Cardinale, while Selim is the classic playboy.

Livermore explains: “Just as happens to Mastroianni in 8½, Prosdocimo is also always on the look-out for a story. The similarity between the two scripts was so appealing, for each has the same ferocious social criticism, that we wanted to pursue it as far as possible. Together with the revival of Ciro in Babilonia, it amuses me to create a kind of cinematic and musical diptych. Then, truth to tell, Rossini and Fellini are sons of the same soil.”

IL TURCO IN ITALIA

Dramma buffo per musica by Felice Romani

Conductor Speranza Scappucci

Director and Settings Davide Livermore

Videodesign D-WOK

Costumes Gianluca Falaschi

Lighting designer Nicolas Bovey

Interpreters Selim Erwin Schrott, Fiorilla Olga Peretyatko, Geronio Nicola Alaimo, Narciso René Barbera, Prosdocimo Pietro Spagnoli, Zaida Cecilia Molinari, Albazar Pietro Adaini

Coro del Teatro della Fortuna M. Agostini

Chorus Master Mirca Rosciani

Filarmonica Gioachino Rossini

New coproduction with Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, Valencia

La donna del lago  amazes the audience

La donna del lago (performed on the 8th, 11th, 14th and 17th August at 8.00 p.m. at the Adriatic Arena) has been entrusted to Damiano Michieletto, assisted by Paolo Fantin and Klaus Bruns: his well-known talent enabled him to put on one of the operas most difficult to stage. This was a co-production with the Opéra Royal de Wallonie of Liège. The Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale, Bologna, was led by Michele Mariotti, returning here fresh from his triumphs in conducting this opera at Covent Garden, London, and the Metropolitan, New York. The cast featured international stars who have already enjoyed spectacular successes at the Rof, like Juan Diego Flórez and Michael Spyres, and others coming from the Accademia Rossiniana, like the discovery of the 2015 edition, Salome Jicia, who undook the title rôle, and then Marko Mimica (the Podestà in La gazza ladra), Ruth Iniesta and Francisco Brito. The actors Giusi Merli and Alessandro Baldinotti also took part. The promising and rapidly progressing young mezzo-soprano Varduhi Abrahamyan sang Malcom for the first time. This is how Michieletto introduced his production: “This is an all-female story, in which the themes of nostalgia and memory play their part in creating an ambiguous atmosphere. The title itself does not tell us the name of the leading lady, but indicates a place, a liquid element from which all the story seems to originate. My dramaturgy brings back the day when Elena met the King: the elderly lady of the title is celebrating the anniversary of her wedding to Malcom and opens the gateway to the past through the filter of her memory. Thus nostalgia becomes the theme of a tale, dominated, as in Walter Scott’s poem, by rugged nature and ruins.”

LA DONNA DEL LAGO

Melodramma by Andrea Leone Tottola

Conductor Michele Mariotti

Director Damiano Michieletto

Settings Paolo Fantin

Costumes Klaus Bruns

Lighting designer Alessandro Carletti

Interpreters Giacomo V-Uberto Juan Diego Flórez, Duglas Marko Mimica, Rodrigo Michael Spyres, Elena Salome Jicia, Malcom Varduhi Abrahamyan, Albina Ruth Iniesta, Serano / Bertram Francisco Brito

Elder Elena Giusi Merli, Elder Malcom Alessandro Baldinotti

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Comunale di Bologna

Chorus Master Andrea Faidutti

New coproduction with Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège 

This production is dedicated to the memory of Gae Aulenti