In Bergamo, Donizetti's Chiara e Serafina resurfaces after 200 years

Giuseppe De Luca (Don Meschino) and Greta Doveri (Chiara)

Valentina Pluzhnikova (Lisetta)

Chorus in Chiara e Serafina

Mara Gaudenzi (Agnese), Valentina Pluzhnikova (Lisetta) and Matías Moncada (Don Fernando)

By Laura Servidei, 21 November 2022

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“after a while you just give up and enjoy the music”

Reviewed at Teatro Sociale, Bergamo on 19 November 2022

Donizetti, Chiara e Serafina

Fondazione Donizetti

Sesto Quatrini, Conductor

Gianluca Falaschi, Director, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Emanuele Agliati, Lighting Designer

Gli Originali Orchestra

Coro del Teatro alla Scala

Giuseppe De Luca, Don Meschino, Gennaro

Aleksandrina Mihaylova, Chiara

Greta Doveri, Chiara

Fan Zhou, Serafina

Nicole Wacker, Serafina

Hyun-Seo Davide Park, Don Ramiro

Sung-Hwan Damien Park, Picaro

Valentina Pluzhnikova, Lisetta

Mara Gaudenzi, Agnese

Matías Moncada, Don Fernando, Don Alvaro

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.

Donizetti Opera Festival: Chiara e Serafina resurfaces after 200 years