Catania, Turandot will open the season of the Teatro Massimo Bellini

It will be an edition of Turandot the one that will open the season of the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania is truly special. This is an authentic event that celebrates the first centenary of the death of Giacomo Puccini, proposing his posthumous masterpiece. The German master Eckehard Stier returns to the podium, authoritative principal guest conductor; the prestigious staging is signed by Alfonso Signorini. The three-act lyric drama by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni will come back to life in the spectacular staging that brings together the Puccini Festival of Torre del Lago and the Georgian National Theater of Tbilisi, with sets by Carla Tolomeo and costumes by Fausto Puglisi.

In the vocal cast, sopranos Daniela Schillaci and Anastasia Boldyreva will alternate in the title role; the tenors Angelo Villari and Marco Berti in that of the unknown prince Calaf; the sopranos Elisa Balbo and Cristina Arsenova in the role of Liù; the basses George Andguladze and Gianfranco Montedoro in those of Timur. The tenor Vincenzo Taormina, the baritone Salvatore Pugliese and the bass Blagoj Nacoski will respectively be the imperial dignitaries Ping, Pang e Pong. The tenor Mario Bolognesi completes the company, in the guise of Emperor Altoum, and bass Tiziano Rosati, in those of a mandarin.

In the foreground once again the Orchestra and Choir, the latter expertly prepared by Luigi Petrozziello and supported for the occasion by the Vincenzo Bellini interscholastic children's choir, instructed by Daniela Giambra.

SEASON 2024

The billboard has a total of seven shows, 5 of lyric and 2 of dance. Of particular importance is the homage to Sicilian literature with a diptych of melodramas both set to music by Marco Tutino, among the greatest active composers. The Teatro Massimo Bellini commissioned the absolute novelty from him The cap a rattles, taken from the comedy by Luigi Pirandello, with a libretto by Tutino himself. It will be combined with the one-act play The Magnifying Glass, inspired by the novel by Giovanni Verga and performed for the first time in 1990 with a libretto by Giuseppe Di Leva.

Fabrizio Maria Carminati directs, well-known baton and artistic director of Bellini, for the visionary and refined direction of Davide Livermore. The set design is by Livermore&Cucco, the costumes by Mariana Fracasso. The cast consists of Nino Surguladze / Laura Verrecchia (the She-Wolf and Lady Assunta La Bella), Irina Lungu / Valentina Bilancione (Mara and Mrs. Beatrice), Alberto Gazale (Ciampa), Sergio Escobar (Fifi The Beauty) for an event that has already aroused keen interest in the musical world (from’ 1 al 9 March).

Returns after several seasons Lucia of Lammermoor. In the voice cast Maria Grazia Schiavo / Irina Dubrovskaya (in the role of the unhappy heroine), Christian Federici / Abdulla Evez (Enrico Asthon), Francesco Demuro / Julius Pellagra (Sir Edgardo). Stefano Ranzani conducts Donizetti's score and Giandomenico Vaccari directs; scene, costumes and projections by Alfredo Troisi. The staging is a co-production of the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi of Salerno (from 19 al 27 April).

Bellini proposes its own staging of the Rigoletto‌ Verdi directed by Leo Nucci, Jordi Bernàcer director and Amartuvshin Enkhbat / Marco Caria as the hunchback, Elkeleda Kamani / Alina Tkachuk / Federica Foresta (Gilda). Sets by Carlo Centolavigna and costumes by Artemio Cabassi (from 29 October to 6 November).

Gianluca Martinenghi directs The Mona Lisa‌‌ by Amilcare Ponchielli, interpreted by Rebeka Lokar / Alessandra Di Giorgio (in the eponymous character), Angelo Villari / Carlo Ventre (Enzo Grimaldo), Franco Vassallo (Barnabas) Silvia Beltrami / Chiara Mogini (Laura Adorno), George Andguladze (Alvise Badoero). Filippo Tonon is the director, set designer and costume designer, Valerio Longo is the choreographer of this co-production which associates the Teatri Lombardi dell'As.Li.Co, the Maribor Theater and the Verona Philharmonic Theatre (from 13 al 21 December).

The two appointments with Terpsichore speak different choreographic languages, classic and contemporary. Exemplary title of the academic ballet, Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky is revived in the choreography of Aleksej Fadeetsev, in turn borrowed from the original by Petipa and Ivanov. Dance troupe and soloists are from the Georgian National Theater in Tbilisi (from 24 al 28 January).

Roberto Zappalà, choreographer and director of international standing in the field of contemporary dance, presents Ecstasy Trilogy, an absolute novelty inspired by famous scores: Afternoon of a faun in Debussy, Bolero in Ravel, The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky. The Zappalà Danza Company will perform to music performed live by the Bellini Orchestra directed by Vitali Alekseenok (from 6 al 13 October).

Here you can purchase tickets presale

Gives Villa Maria you can easily reach Catania by car and by train (the railway station is just a few meters away) in about 20 minutes.