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Sferisterio
Opera Festival
The Sferisterio of Macerata stands out as one of the most prominent
architectural structures of the late European Neoclassical Style.
Walking inside, one may be struck by the surprisingly wide space the
Sferisterio reveals: a huge arena (90 x 36 mt.) marked by two straight
edges joined by means of a long, wide curve facing the huge background
wall, which is 18 metres high and almost 90 metres wide.
Over the years the Sferisterio, which had been conceived for sports
activities, turned into a venue for opera performances. The first opera to
be staged at the Sferisterio was Aida, in 1921.
This unique space and its wonderful acoustics have drawn to Macerata the
most popular international performers like Luciano Pavarotti, Placido
Domingo, Monserrat Caballè, Marilyn Horne, Fiorenza Cossotto, Ruggero
Raimondi, Mariella Devia, Josè Carreras, Katia Ricciarelli and Renato
Bruson.
2006 was a year of great changes: the summer season officially became a
Festival and the changeover coincided with Pier Luigi Pizzi’s
appointment as artistic director.Milanese by birth but Venetian at heart,
Pizzi is a stage director, set and costume designer of international
renown.
The Seduction is the
common thread which runs through the 2008 edition of the Sferisterio Opera
Festival at Macerata. The selection of this theme brings to a natural
conclusion the fascinating triptych devised by Pier Luigi Pizzi. Being the
most insidious form of power which can be exerted on others, seduction
establishes a strong link with last year’s season, devoted to Power
Games.
The 2008 edition of the Festival will be launched by Philippe Daverio on
24 July, with a conference which is to be followed, on the same day, by
the first staging in modern times of Cleopatra, a melodrama by the
composer Lauro Rossi who was born in Macerata. The operas to be staged at
the Sferisterio are Bizet’s Carmen, designed and directed by
Oscarwinning set designer Dante Ferretti, Verdi’s Attila and
Puccini’s Tosca, the latter coming as a tribute to the Italian
composer on the 150th anniversary of his birth. The Festival will also
feature Resurrexi, a sacred oratory by Alberto Colla which has been
written as a homage to Pope Benedict XVI.
The Lauro Rossi theatre, in cooperation with Ancona’s Teatro delle
Muse, will host Neues vom Tage by the German composer Paul
Hindemith.
Finally, the new season will see the University of Macerata as a venue
for two of the Festival’s performances: the San Paolo Auditorium will
host the first-ever staging of The Servant,
created by Marco Tutino and inspired by the homonymous short story by
Robin Maugham, whereas the University’s Aula Magna will be the venue for
a conference on Seduzione e Filosofia, held by the philosopher
Umberto Curi, but also for Per aver troppo amato il mondo, a
reading performance
celebrating the 400th
anniversary of Alberico Gentili’s death.
Stagione Lirica 2008
"La
seduzione"
Arena
Sferisterio
Venerdì 25, Giovedì 31 Luglio
Martedì 5, Venerdì 8, Martedì 12 Agosto
Ore 21:00
Georges Bizet
Carmen
Opera
Libretto di Henri Meilhac e Ludovic
Halévy
Arena
Sferisterio
Sabato 26 Luglio
Venerdì 1, Giovedì 7, Domenica 10 Agosto
Ore 21:00
Giacomo Puccini
Tosca
Opera
Libretto di Giuseppe Giacosa e Luigi Illica Coproduzione
con la Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini di Jesi e Teatri S.p.A. di
Treviso
Arena
Sferisterio
Sabato 2, Mercoledì 6, Sabato 9 Agosto
Ore 21:00
Giuseppe Verdi
Attila
Opera
Libretto di Temistocle Solera
Arena
Sferisterio
Domenica 3 Agosto
Ore 21:00
Alberto Colla
Resurrexi
Concerto
Oratorio sacro su testo di Roberto Mussapi e musiche di
Alberto Colla a cura di Paolo Panizza
Teatro
Lauro Rossi
Giovedì 24, Martedì 29 Luglio
Ore 21:00
Cleopatra
Opera
Melodramma su libretto di Marco
d'Arienzo
Auditorium
San Paolo
Domenica 27, Mercoledì 30 Luglio
Ore 21:00
Marco
Tutino
The
Servant
Opera
Tratto dal racconto di Robin Maugham
Teatro
Lauro Rossi
Domenica 10, Lunedì 11 Agosto
Ore 17:00
Paul Hindemith
Neues
vom Tage
Opera
Libretto di Marcellus Schiffer. L'11
agosto in scena alle ore 21
Aula
Magna - Università degli Studi Macerata
Giovedì 24 Luglio
Ore 17.00
Philippe Daverio
La
Seduzione
Sponsored
by Comune di Macerata
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