The 22nd/23rd Opera Season at the Teatro di San Carlo resumes with Madama Butterfly.
On Tuesday 12 September at 20 pm the curtain will rise on Giacomo Puccini's masterpiece in the version directed by Ferzan Ozpetek, with musical director Dan Ettinger leading the Orchestra and Chorus of the Lirico di Napoli.
“Madama Butterfly will be dedicated to the memory of Giovanbattista Cutolo. The premiere on September 12 at the Teatro San Carlo will open with a minute of silence”. In his first official appearance as superintendent Carlo Fuortes, who presented the revival of Puccini's opera alongside director Ferzan Ozpetek, spoke of the tragic death of Giogiò, the 24-year-old who was killed, and of the social vocation of the San Carlo.
"I arrived in Naples on the very day of the young musician's assassination, 200 meters from the theater. The San Carlo has an emblematic role in this city, in our project there will be a large part dedicated to social activities, activities that already exist with excellent results and that will be multiplied".
Ozpetek has purchased 200 tickets for the performances of his opera that will be donated to children. “It is important that the theater expands more and more to the city,” commented the new superintendent announcing the initiative. “Music changes you,” said the Italian-Turkish director.
The sets are by Sergio Tramonti, the costumes by Alessandro Lai and the lights by Pasquale Mari. Double the cast for this production of the Neapolitan Massimo that will see international names of opera and recognized musical talents of the territory on stage side by side: in fact, the role of Cio-Cio-San will alternate Ailyn Perez (September 12, 17, 24 and 27) and Valeria Sepe (September 15, 20, 26, 28) and in those of Pinkerton Saimir Pirgu (September 12, 17, 24 and 27) and Vincenzo Costanzo (September 15, 20, 26, 28). Marina Comparato will be Suzuki while Ernesto Petti will play Sharpless.
Paolo Antognetti will be Goro, Ildo Song will be Bonzo and Paolo Orecchia will be Yamadori. The cast is completed by Laura Ulloa (Kate Pinkerton), Giuseppe Todisco (Commissioner), Antonio De Lisio (Registry Officer), Linda Airoldi (Mom), Anna Paola De Angelis (Aunt), Franca Iacovone (Cousin), Giacomo Mercaldo (Yakusidé).
Ozpetek's reinterpretation of Puccini's opera takes us to 50s Japan, with a strong and determined Cio-Cio-San: “For me, Madama Butterfly is not at all a victim as she is always seen,” says the director in the program notes – “for me the victim is him, Pinkerton, a victim of himself, a puppet.
She is a determined woman, she is aware of the things she does, far from fragile. She talks about her American home, she longs for the West and changes religion. Precisely for this reason she is not a victim. She has her destiny in her hands”.
One of the most beloved and popular melodramas in the history of music, Madama Butterfly is a Japanese tragedy in three acts with a libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on the story Madame Butterfly by John Luther Long and the play Madame Butterfly by David Belasco. It was performed for the first time in Milan, at the Teatro alla Scala on February 17, 1904.
Eight performances are scheduled, from Tuesday, September 12 to Thursday, September 28. Before the premiere, Tuesday, September 12 at 18.30:XNUMX p.m. at Café Opera, for the series “Opera Lessons,” musicologist Dinko Fabris will talk about Madama Butterfly (free admission).
A special project links Officine San Carlo and the staging of Madama Butterfly, born from the recovery of abandoned nets at sea with a view to environmental sustainability, the heart of Officine San Carlo's mission, a project for which a carpet/tapestry woven with ECONYL yarn was created: an eco-sustainable regenerated nylon obtained from the recycling of disused or unused fishing nets.
In this edition of Puccini's masterpiece, in fact, the opera created in a co-design process with the students of the Academy of Fine Arts of Syracuse, MADE Program, coordinated by the professor of "Project Anthropology" Andrea Anastasio, a prestigious guest of a masterclass that took place at the Officine del San Carlo in Vigliena, in which the internationally renowned artist and designer explained the entire project that revolves around sustainability and the themes of the circular economy, exploring the connections between art, artistic craftsmanship and design.
The work, which will be donated to the artistic and educational center of the Theater in Vigliena, as part of the heritage enhancement plan, comes to life from the fruitful and virtuous relationship between students and institutions, thus activating processes of collaborative participation and multidisciplinary paths, in which theater laboratories and private enterprise converge skills, knowledge, common vision and intent, in order to intervene in an important and constructive way in the territory, especially in a difficult context, such as that in which the Officine del Teatro di San Carlo are located.
The activity carried out by the students as part of the “Art Carpet” initiative, curated by Made Program – Accademia di Belle Arti “Rosario Gagliardi” of Syracuse, in collaboration with Officine San Carlo and Luxury Carpet (a company specialized in the production of high-end tailored carpets and rugs), is characterized by an interdisciplinary approach and does not only aim to produce a quality artefact, but also wants to explore the themes that underlie it: the history of the carpet and the tapestry, the anthropological meaning of the objects, the weight of experimentation, the local (and, in general, Italian) tradition, the rediscovery of handmade, the richness of craftsmanship.
Music, art, design, dramaturgy, theater become in this way active subjects of a dialogue woven by the school, in an articulated vision of the community, allowing culture to nourish society and make it more sensitive and capable of facing contemporary challenges. In this particular case, the fact that the company involved uses materials obtained from the recovery and recycling of nets thrown into the sea, allows the community to be sensitized to a deeper awareness and understanding of the interrelation that unites everyone.
Article published on 8 September 2023 - 16:10
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