Rossini Opera Festival’s clever pairing of first and last laughs

Paola Leoci (Fannì), Ramiro Maturana (Norton), Jack Swanson (Edoardo Milfort)

Pietro Spagnoli (Tobia Mill)

Pietro Spagnoli, Ramiro Maturana, Mattia Olivieri, Jack Swanson, Paola Leoci

Jack Swanson (Edoardo Milfort)

Pietro Spagnoli, Inés Lorans, Ramiro Maturana, Mattia Olivieri, Paola Leoci

By Laura Servidei, 12 August 2025

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“The stage direction is meticulous, allowing the lighthearted humour to shine across the centuries”

Reviewed at Teatro Rossini, Pesaro on 11 August 2025

Rossini, Soirées musicales

Rossini, La cambiale di matrimonio (The Marriage Contract)

Christopher Franklin, Conductor

Laurence Dale, Director

Gary McCann, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Ralph Kopp, Lighting Designer

Filarmonica Gioachino Rossini

Inés Lorans, Clarina

Jack Swanson, Edoardo Milfort

Mattia Olivieri, Slook

Ramiro Maturana, Norton

Pietro Spagnoli, Tobia Mill

Vittoriana De Amicis, Soprano

Andrea Niño, Mezzo-soprano

Paolo Nevi, Tenor

Gurgen Baveyan, Baritone

Paola Leoci, Soprano

Quinn Kelsey triumphs in Opera Philadelphia's Simon Boccanegra

Cameron Kelsall, 22nd September

In his role debut as the Genoan Doge, the American baritone continues to burnish his bona fides as the premier Verdi baritone of his generation.

****1

Ariadne’s centennial: a feast at Nederlandse Reisopera

Nicolas Nguyen, 6th October

The Nederlandse Reisopera celebrates Ariadne auf Naxos’centennial with a superb new production directed by Laurence Dale which looks as laving as it is pleasing to the ear.

****1

Appearance vs Reality: Agrippina in Brisbane

Jeremy Eccles, 8th April

Englishman Laurence Dale’s Göttingen Festival production of Handel’s Agrippina, now presented in the second Brisbane Baroque Festival, is based on the political void between appearance and reality.

***11

Bold music-making in Reisopera’s austere Butterfly

Jenny Camilleri, 19th September

Annemarie Kremer is a strong-willed, dramatically voiced Butterfly in Laurence Dale’s sensitive production.

***11

George Petean royal dans Simon Boccanegra à Liège

Irma Foletti, 17th June

Le baryton apporte une noblesse rare au rôle-titre de l'opéra de Verdi, présenté en conclusion de la saison lyrique à l'Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège.

****1

Werther oozes quiet despair in new Canadian Opera Company staging

John Gilks, 7th May

Excellent performances cannot turn a conventional production of Massenet’s Werther into a dramatic experience for the 21st century.

***11

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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.