Bieito directs a moving Suor Angelica and Il prigioniero in Rome

Corinne Winters (Suor Angelica)

Marie-Nicole Lemieux (La zia principessa)

Suor Angelica

Mattia Olivieri (Il prigioniero)

Ángeles Blancas (La madre) and Mattia Olivieri (Il prigioniero)

By Pia Maltri, 25 April 2025

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“bel canto is not the only way opera can touch our spirits”

Reviewed at Teatro Costanzi, Teatro dell'Opera, Rome on 23 April 2025

Puccini, Suor Angelica

Dallapiccola, Il prigioniero

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Michele Mariotti, Conductor

Calixto Bieito, Director

Anna-Sofia Kirsch, Set Designer

Ingo Krügler, Costume Designer

Michael Bauer, Lighting Designer

Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Coro del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Corinne Winters, Suor Angelica

Marie-Nicole Lemieux, La zia principessa

Annunziata Vestri, La badessa

Laura Cherici, Suor Genovieffa

Carlotta Vichi, La maestra delle novizie

Irene Savignano, La suora zelatrice

Maria Elena Pepi, La suora infermiera

Ángeles Blancas, La madre (The Mother)

Mattia Olivieri, Il prigioniero (The Prisoner)

John Daszak, Il carceriere (The Gaoler)/ Il grande Inquisitore (The Grand Inquisitor)

Grigolo shines in a mixed new Roméo et Juliette at the Opera di Roma

Pia Maltri, 28th April

With its 1940s setting, Luca Del Fusco’s direction alienates in a new production of Gounod's Shakespeare-inspired opera.

***11

Handel’s Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno returns to Rome

Pia Maltri, 7th April

Robert Carsen’s staging of Handel's oratorio arrives, via Salzburg, in the city where Handel composed it in 1707.

****1

Ariadne in Rome: David Hermann’s Strauss staging highlights contrasts

Pia Maltri, 1st March

In an opera rarely staged in Italy, David Hermann skilfully masters the metatheatrical challenges posed by the libretto to Ariadne auf Naxos.

****1

Abandon all hope: Lucia Ronchetti's Inferno receives Italian premiere

Pia Maltri, 19th February

The Italian premiere of Lucia Ronchetti’s Inferno at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma uses Dante’s original verses, but her score fails to match their beauty.

***11

Livermore’s successful Bohème opens at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Pia Maltri, 14th January

Originally staged at the Caracalla Baths in 2014, Davide Livermore’s production comes in from the cold.

****1

Wagner’s Lohengrin finally returns – swanless – to Rome

Pia Maltri, 27th November

Damiano Michieletto is entrusted with the first staging of Lohengrin in Rome for 50 years, but his distracting staging is redeemed by the musical side of things.

***11

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Pia Maltri

Pia first fell head over heels for opera when she was a teenager by listening to recordings of some of the great voices of the past: Maria Callas, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Mirella Freni, Alfredo Kraus. She holds a degree in Italian Literature and she lives in Rome.

Calixto Bieito directs a moving Suor Angelica and Il prigioniero in Rome