The first, forgotten Tudor Queen: Il castello di Kenilworth in Bergamo

By Laura Servidei, 26 November 2018

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“Frizza... managed to bring Donizetti’s score to life with elegance and emotional involvement”

Reviewed at Teatro Sociale, Bergamo on 24 November 2018

Donizetti, Il castello di Kenilworth

Fondazione Donizetti

Riccardo Frizza, Conductor

Maria Pilar Pérez Aspa, Director

Angelo Sala, Set Designer

Ursula Patzak, Costume Designer

Fiammetta Baldisseri, Lighting Designer

Jessica Pratt, Elisabetta

Xabier Anduaga, Roberto Dudley

Francisco Brito, Roberto Dudley

Carmela Remigio, Amelia Robsart

Stefan Pop, Warney

Dario Russo, Lambourne

Federica Vitali, Fanny

Orchestra Donizetti Opera

Coro Donizetti Opera

Shipwrecked: Donizetti’s Il furioso comes a cropper in Bergamo

Mark Pullinger, 16th November

Manuel Renga’s sensitive framing device sets up a sympathetic production of a problematic opera, but is scuppered by the central vocal performance.

***11

At Donizetti Opera Festival: farces flop, young singers impress

Mark Pullinger, 15th November

Il campanello and Deux Hommes et une femme bomb at the Donizetti Opera festival, but the young singers of the Bottega Donizetti – and wily old hand Alessandro Corbelli – impress.

***11

Donizetti’s Caterina Cornaro given a controversial update in Bergamo

Mark Pullinger, 14th November

Francesco Micheli reimagines Caterina Cornaro in a contemporary setting, switching to the historical past, to open this year’s Donizetti Opera festival in the composer’s home town.

****1

Young Sicilian soprano grabs the limelight in Bergamo Don Pasquale

Mark Pullinger, 17th November

They came for Javier Camarena, but cheered Giulia Mazzola to the rafters of the Teatro Donizetti as the third production of this year's festival opens.

***11

A modern makeover for Donizetti’s Zoraida di Granata

Mark Pullinger, 16th November

Bruno Ravella's effective production was seen in Wexford in its original 1822 version, but Donizetti Opera opts for the composer's 1824 revision, throwing the spotlight onto Cecilia Molinari's excellent Abenamet.

***11

Tudor history, gothic thrills: Roberto Devereux in Bergamo

Mark Pullinger, 15th November

Is Roberto Devereux the finest of Donizetti's four Tudor operas? Stephen Langridge's stylish, stylised production and a wonderful cast under Riccardo Frizza make a great case for it.

****1

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Laura Servidei

Mathematician, science nerd, translator of popular science books, obsessed opera fan since the teen years. Day job: business analyst in a software house developing systems for the financial industry. Amateur choral singer. Main musical interests: baroque music and Italian opera. Originally from Italy, currently based in Sweden. I make a mean eggplant parmesan.