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Zanetto in New York in June

April 29, 2007 – Submitted by Erik Bruchez

Visit: Official News 

The first New York performance of Zanetto since 1902 will take place on June 4, 2007, conducted by Peter Tiboris.

Artistic Director and General Director Peter Tiboris will conduct the Manhattan Philharmonic in an evening of opera music featuring the first New York performance of Mascagni's opera Zanetto since 1902, in concert form, with mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore (Zanetto) and soprano Eilana Lappalainen (Sylvia).

The evening will be completed with works by Verdi, Cilea and Donizetti.

Where: Carnegie Hall, New York City, USA
When: Monday June 4, 2007, 8:00 PM
Tickets: Tickets, at $94, 57, 35, may be obtained by calling CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800, going online at www.carnegiehall.org , or by visiting the Carnegie Hall Box Office at West 57th Street and Seventh Avenue in NYC. For more information, call our Box Office at (212) 239-4699 or visit our web site at www.midamerica-music.com .

Zanetto

Zanetto: Jennifer Larmore
Sylvia: Eilana Lappalainen
Conductor: Peter Tiboris
Orchestra: Manhattan Philharmonic
Chorus: Russian Chamber Chorus of New York
Chorus Artistic Director: Nikolai Kachanov

Amica in French in Martina Franca this Summer

March 18, 2007 – Submitted by Hilaire de Slagmeulder, Remo Mazzetti

The Martina Franca (Italy) festival will present two performances of Amica on August 4 and August 6 2007. The performances will be in French, the language of the original libretto written by French editor Choudens, and will likely be the first performances in French of Amica since its premiere in 1905.

The libretto was adapted in Italian by Mascagni's long-time friend and librettist, Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti. However, the music was written to the French text, which makes these performances an important milestone in the history Amica.

Zandonai's La farsa amorosa on Saturday, November 11, 2006

November 6, 2006 – Submitted by Erik Bruchez

Visit: Teatro Grattacielo 

Teatro Grattacielo will present a single concert performance of Riccardo Zandonai's La farsa amorosa this coming Saturday.

Teatro Grattacielo specialises in operas from the verismo period, and has presented Mascagni's Iris in 1998 and Guglielmo Ratcliff in 2003. Riccordo Zandonai studied at the Liceo of Pesaro with Mascagni. He is primarily known for the masterpiece Francesca da Rimini, on a text by Gabriele D'Annunzio (the librettist of Mascagni's masterpiece Parisina).

Denia Mazzola Gavazzeni in Concert in Caravaggio this Sunday

September 21, 2006 – Submitted by Erik Bruchez

Visit: Announcement 

Soprano Denia Mazzola Gavazzeni will perform a concert this Sunday in Caravaggio, Italy. An homage to the late composer, essayist and conductor Gianandrea Gavazzeni, the concert will include excerpts from Mascagni's Parisina.

The program will include works by W. A. Mozart (Ave Verum Corpus KV 618), G. Donizetti (Concertino in Fa), P. Mascagni (from Parisina), A. Ponchielli (from Marion Delorme), F. Chopin (Notturno in Do min. Op. n. 48) and G. Gavazzeni (Iscrizioni di Meridiane, Mattutino, Due arie religiose, Interludio da Canti per Sant'Alessandro e Bergamasca), featuring of course the voice of Denia Mazzola Gavazzeni accompanied by the Ensemble "Collini" from the Lodi Camber Orchestra and Giovanni Brollo on the piano.

Maestro Gavazzeni was the companion of the soprano and a fervent supporter of the music of Mascagni. In particular we owe him most of the reprises of Parisina since Mascagni's passing, including performances given in 1952, 1978, and 1995 (Act IV, performed by Denia Mazzola Gavazzeni). The soprano sang the role of Parisina wonderfully in Montpellier in 1999, a performance available on CD.

Upcoming Performances of Excerpts From Guglielmo Ratcliff, Parisina and Il Piccolo Marat in Livorno

July 8, 2006 – Submitted by Erik Bruchez

Visit: Teatro Goldoni 

The Teatro Goldoni of Livorno has just announced performances of individual acts from Guglielmo Ratcliff, Parisina and Il Piccolo Marat in November 2006, in the context of the Mascagni Project of the Teatro Goldoni Foundation.

These three operas are among the most beautiful Mascagni has ever written, so this is an occasion that should not be missed. In particular, according to Mascagni specialists such as the late David Stivender and the late conductor Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Act IV of Parisina contains some of Mascagni's most beautiful music.

These performances are co-produced with the Association Clara Schumann of Collesalvetti.

Upcoming Performances of Iris in Livorno

July 8, 2006 – Submitted by Erik Bruchez

Visit: Teatro Goldoni 

The Teatro Goldoni of Livorno has just announced two performances of Iris in September and October 2006, in the context of the Mascagni Project of the Teatro Goldoni Foundation.

This is a new production of the Teatro Goldoni Foundation of Livorno and the Teatro Verdi Foundation of Trieste, co-produced with the Teatro Verdi Foundation of Pisa, the Teatro Sociale of Rovigo, the Azienda Teatro del Giglio of Lucca, and the Teatro Communale Foundation of Modena. The complete cast has not yet been announced.

Audio File of Fantasia sulla Cavalleria Rusticana

July 8, 2006 – Submitted by Erik Bruchez

Visit: Fantasia sulla Cavalleria Rusticana

An audio file of Calogero Di Liberto's beautiful Fantasia sulla Cavalleria Rusticana (Fantasy on Cavalleria Rusticana), performed by the composer.

The audio file is available in mp3 and ogg formats, from the recording page or from the Cavalleria Rusticana Audio Files page. With the kind permission of the artist and Casa Sonzogno .

New Audio Files Online

May 28, 2006 – Information submitted by Erik Bruchez

Visit: Audio Files

Mascagni.org presents 20 new audio recordings converted from historical 78 rpm records. The excerpts range from the magnificent, including Beniamino Gigli's arias from Isabeau, to the rare, like some excerpts from Amica and Le maschere.

The new selection includes:

• Two excerpts from Isabeau sung by tenor Beniamino Gigli.

• Four versions of Mascagni's most famous and maybe most beautiful song, Serenata, sung by Alessandro Ziliani, Alessandro Valente, Giovanni Martinelli and Giacomo Lauri-Volpi.

• Several excerpts from L'amico Fritz: O Amore, o bella luce del cor sung by Dino Borgioli, Son pocchi fiori and Non mi resta che il pianto sung by Lucrezia Bori, and a wonderful Cherry Duet sung by Mafalda Favero and Tito Schipa.

• A large selection from Cavalleria rusticana in German.

• Two excerpts by Aureliano Pertile, O Lola ch'ai di latti la cammisa (Siciliana) from Cavalleria rusticana and Apri la tua finestra (Serenata) from Iris.

• Tu qui Santuzza... No, no, Turiddu from Cavalleria rusticana, a duet sung by Beniamino Gigli and Dusolina Giannini.

• Two versions of what is possibly the best soprano aria of Cavalleria rusticana (and one of the top opera arias in general), Voi lo sapete o mamma, sung by Eva Turner and Claudia Muzio.

• Rare recordings of La Pavana from Le maschere, Più presso al ciel from Amica and Or dammi il braccio tuo from Iris.

Some beautiful "B-sides" include:

• Funiculi-Funicula sung by tenor Alessandro Ziliani.

• Si, fui soldato sung by tenor Alessandro Valente.

• Colombetta sung by soprano Claudia Muzio.

For more audio excerpts, please visit the Audio Files section of the web site, which provides a categorized access to all the audio excerpts.

Note that the audio quality of the recordings varies greatly depending on the condition of the records and initial recording quality. Some declicking and minor equalization have been performed, but no advanced sound restoration has been done.

Conductor Alfredo Silipigni has Passed Away

April 4, 2006 – Information submitted by John Mucci

Star-Ledger Article: Alfredo Silipigni, maestro of New Jersey Opera, dies 
New York Times Article: Alfredo Silipigni, 74, Who Founded an Opera Company, Dies 
Courier Post Article: Long-time New Jersey State Opera maestro Alfredo Silipigni dies 
New Jersey State Opera: In Memoriam 

Maestro Alfredo Silipigni has passed away on March 25 at age 72. Among operas by other composers, he had conducted Mascagni's Iris, Lodoletta, and Guglielmo Ratcliff in 2003.

Maestro Silipigni was the founder of the New Jersey State Opera and specialized in lesser-known Italian operas. In particular, he conducted the yearly performances of Teatro Grattacielo  in New York, headed by Duane Printz. Quoted by the Star-Ledger, she comments:

"He was unique in all the world [...] There's no one left who understands the difficulty of verismo. He knew how to bring it to life."

Maestro Silipigni will be missed by the lovers of rare Italian operas.

Poetry and Music: Pietro Mascagni's Parisina

February 11, 2006 – Information submitted by Erik Bruchez

Visit: Article

Mascagni.org presents Poetry and Music: Pietro Mascagni's Parisina, an article written by Alessandro Rizzacasa. An Italian version of this article, written in 2000 on the occasion of the release of a recording of this magnificent opera, was already available on Mascagni.org. It is now available for the first time in an English translation.

The author begins with a review of the CD from the performance of Parisina that took place in Montpellier in July 1999. He follows with considerations about the opera, discussing in particular the criticisms that have historically been directed at the work. He concludes with comments about the unfortunate attitude some critics have today when writing about opera.

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