A VIEW TO 2020: ECoC AND CNT GALA CONCERT

Eyvazov, Gallo, Kolar, Rinaldi, Boemi, Matvejeff

A super gala concert with an eminent group of world famous singers and no less than two conductors – is the one not to be missed! The first CNT Ivan pl. Zajc Rijeka and the European Capital of Culture 2020 project brings world famous opera singers onto the Rijeka stage!

Yusif Eyvazov, one of the best and most popular tenors of today, has been described with numerous superlatives as an exciting tenor of clarion, stentorian and markedly Italianate voice, a naturally powerful voice with shining heights, a top class performer, etc. This Azerbaijan giant of the opera stage has sung on stages of the Bolshoi Theatre, the Prague State Opera, Milan La Scala, the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, the Los Angeles Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, New York, the Vienna State Opera, the Berlin State Opera, the Aichi Arts Centre in Tokyo, the Arena di Verona, the Salzburg Festival, etc. Apart from his performances on the most significant opera stages in Europe and America, he has also toured Asia and Australia. It was in Rome where he sang Des Grieux in “Manon Lescaut” under Riccardo Muti’s baton that he met his future wife, famous soprano Anna Netrebko

The only Croatian opera star of this night is Kristina Kolar, the Rijeka Theatre soloist whose voice has been recognized by the profession, audience as well as critics of numerous European opera houses – … Croatian soprano capturing with her crystal pure and exceptionally powerful vocal presence that gives rise to frequent clapping, … convincing in her acting and sensitive fragments of soft tones, … created a distinctly powerful role, … an exciting performance, … Kristina Kolar is a wonderful surprise, etc.

Lucio Gallo, Italian dramatic baritone, dedicated, persuasive, a first class singer who can render the most demanding roles with unbelievable ease, is in Rijeka again! He filled the audience with enthusiasm at the Rijeka Summer Nights 2016 by performing at two concerts, The Best of Opera with Sumi Jo in Opatija and Tribute to Frank Sinatra in Rijeka, as well as the Super Gala Concert Faust. He is coming back to the Rijeka Theatre having appeared in leading world’s concert halls and opera houses, from New York Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Vienna State Opera, Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, London Royal Opera House, Covent Garden National Opera House, Berlin Philharmonic and German Opera Berlin, the Salzburg Festival, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Hamburg State Opera, Bavarian State Opera House, Zurich Opera House, La Monnaie Opera House in Brussels, Opera Australia, etc. He has worked with renowned singers, also conductors, as Abbado, Barenboim, Mehta, Muti and others, as well as recorded for leading world’s publishers, while it was with the Rijeka Opera that he realized his latest CD (of opera Faust).

Rossana Rinaldi, brilliant mezzo-soprano and a favourite of Italian opera houses with a great number of successful opera roles in Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Japan, has cooperated with numerous leading conductors and artists, as Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Nello Santi te José Carreras, Placido Domingo, José Cura, Marcelo Alvarez, Leo Nucci, Ruggero Raimondi, Barbara Frittoli and Katia Ricciarelli. The critics write of her as a rare opera singer of such an intensive voice, admiring vocal and acting performances, impressive!

PROGRAMME:

Giuseppe Verdi: Aida
Aria (Aida) – Qui Radames verrà… O patria mia (Kristina Kolar)

Giuseppe Verdi: Aida
Aria (Radames) –  Celeste Aida (Yusif Eyvazov)

Giuseppe Verdi: Macbeth
Aria (Lady Macbeth) – Vieni! T’affretta! (Maria Guleghina)
Aria (Macbeth) – Perfidi!… Pietà, rispetto, amore (Lucio Gallo)

Giuseppe Verdi: Il Trovatore
Aria (Azucena) – Stride la vampa (Rossana Rinaldi)
Aria (Manrico) – Ah! Si, ben mio… (Yusif Eyvazov)

Giuseppe Verdi: Falstaff
Aria (Falstaff)  – L’onore! Ladri (Lucio Gallo)

Giuseppe Verdi: Falstaff
Fnale – Tutto nel mondo è burla (Lucio Gallo, Rossana Rinaldi, Anamarija Knego, Vanja Zelčić, Ivana Srbljan, Aljaž Farasin, Robert Kolar, Marko Fortunato, Sergej Kiselev, Dario Bercich)

Conductor: Ville Matvejeff

***

Pietro Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana
Duet (Santuzza and Turiddu) – Tu qui’ Santuzza? (Maria Guleghina, Yusif Eyvazov)

Giacomo Puccini: Manon Lescaut – Intermezzo

Giacomo Puccini: Manon Lescaut
Aria (Manon) –  Sola, perduta, abbandonata (Kristina Kolar)

Francesco Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur
Aria (Princess de Bouillon)  – Acerba voluttà (Rossana Rinaldi)

Umberto Giordano: Andrea Chénier
Aria (Chénier) – Un di’ all’azzuro spazio (Yusif Eyvazov)
Aria (Gérard) – Nemico della patria (Lucio Gallo)
Aria (Maddalena) –  La mamma morta (Maria Guleghina)
Duet (Maddalena and Chénier)– Vicino a te (Maria Guleghina, Yusif Eyvazov)

Conductor: Marco Boemi

RUNNING TIME:

The concerts lasts about 2 hours, including one interval.

GALA CONCERT GENERAL SPONSOR

We express our gratitude to: