Marina and Maria: Abramović's 7 Death of Maria Callas in Naples

Marina Abramović in 7 Deaths of Maria Callas

7 Deaths of Maria Callas

By Elena Luporini, 15 May 2022

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“conjures up the image of two mirrors facing each other, reflecting a figure ad infinitum”

Reviewed at Teatro di San Carlo, Naples on 13 May 2022

Nikodijević, 7 Deaths of Maria Callas

Teatro di San Carlo

Yoel Gamzou, Conductor

Marina Abramović, Director, Set Designer, Actor

Riccardo Tisci, Costume Designer

Urs Schönebaum, Lighting Designer

Orchestra del Teatro di San Carlo

Nabil Elderkin, Video

Selene Zanetti, Violetta Valéry

Valeria Sepe, Floria Tosca

Nino Machaidze, Desdemona

Kristine Opolais, Cio-Cio-San

Annalisa Stroppa, Carmen

Jessica Pratt, Lucia Ashton

Roberta Mantegna, Norma

Rosa Feola’s Lucia rescues a San Carlo production showing its age

Lorenzo Fiorito, 11th March

Gianni Amelio's 2021 production of Lucia di Lammermoor at the Teatro di San Carlo serves the music, but it no longer commands the same sense of discovery.

***11

Laurent Pelly’s Falstaff passes the Naples test with flying colours

Lorenzo Fiorito, 15th February

The French director’s much-travelled production arrives at the Teatro di San Carlo, displaying a precise balance between word, gesture and voice.

*****

Ludovic Tézier delivers a noble Nabucco in Naples

Lorenzo Fiorito, 18th January

Andreas Homoki’s staging at the Teatro di San Carlo, setting aside a few inconsistencies with the libretto, does not indulge in redundant symbolism.

***11

Ennio Morricone’s only opera, Partenope, finally premiered in Naples

Lorenzo Fiorito, 14th December

Vanessa Beecroft’s production of Ennio Morricone’s demanding sole opera relies on strong visual images.

***11

San Carlo’s Medea a clash of worlds in a neoclassical framework

Lorenzo Fiorito, 10th December

A new Medea at the Teatro di San Carlo presents three distinct visions – neoclassical in the pit, expressionistic on stage and conceptual in the direction – that never fully merge.

***11

Vocal triumph in Un ballo in maschera at the Teatro di San Carlo

Lorenzo Fiorito, 11th October

Faithful to the libretto’s dramaturgy, the staging unfolds in scenographic environments of strong impact -

****1

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Elena Luporini

After completing their Master's degree in Musicology in Rome, Elena has now moved to Berlin to dedicate themselves to more things musical. With a publication on Béla Bartók and a seminar at the Humboldt-Universität underway, their interests mostly veer toward 20th-century opera, with some forays into queer musicology. Some of their latest undertakings also include oboe lessons, stencil-making and tea-making.