Received this morning : programme book for '7 Minuti' by Giorgio Battistelli in Nancy

This morning, I have received the programme book published by the Opéra National de Lorraine in Nancy for the world première of 7 Minuti by Giorgio Battistelli, on February 1, 2019.

It is a 96 pages book. It contains :

- complete cast and crew ;
- biography of the composer and librettist Giorgio Battistelli ;
- biography of Stefano Massini, author of the original play ;
- synopsis ;
- Echos de la composition - Opéra pour le temps présent (Echoes of the Composition - Opera for the Present Time), based on an interview of the composer, by dramaturge Carmelo Agnello ;
- Echos de la scène (Echoes of the Stage), by director Michel Didym ;
- Une pièce, le théâtre de Stefano Massini ( A Play, Stefano Massini's Theatre) ;
- Un opéra, les raisons de Giorgio Battistelli (An Opera, Giorgio Battistelli's Reasons) ;
- Titles and duration of the 3 'Tableaux' and 30 scenes of the opera ;
- Conseil d'usine, by Antonio Gramsci, published in L'Ordine nuovo (Turin) on June 5, 1920 ;
- Retour aux sources : les coulisses d'une révolution, by K. Naumov, published in Les Journées d'Octobre (1924) ;
- Un combat pour la dignité ? L'histoire, la vraie !, by Fanny Gallot, reproduced from her blog ;
- Où est la politique ? Vide honteux, by Stefano Massini, excerpt of an article published in La Repubblica in July 2018 ;
- complete libretto ;
- biographies of the artists with black and white headshots ;
- several colour photos of rehearsals.

The book is entirely in French.

I now have 635 programme books for contemporary operas. All scanned covers are available in this flickr folder.

Today : world première of '7 Minuti' by Giorgio Battistelli in Nancy

Today, the Opéra national de Lorraine presents the world première of 7 Minuti (7 Minutes), an opera composed by Giorgio Battistelli with a libretto in Italian by the composer after Stefano Massini's play.

(c) Marco Borrelli

Battistelli has already composed about 20 stage works, including Il Medico dei pazzi (Nancy, June 2014), CO2 (Milano, May 2015), Lot (Hannover, April 2017) and Wake (Birmingham, March 2018).

A textile factory is threatened with closure, unless its workers agree to lose seven minutes on their daily break. A debate ensues, with the question : how far would one go to keep one's job ? (freely adapted from the Opéra national de Lorraine website)

The cast includes mezzo Milena Storti (Blanche), soprano Francesca Sorteni (Mireille), soprano Erika Beretti (Sabine), soprano Alexandra Zabala (Odette), mezzo Elenora Vacchi (Rachel), soprano Lavinia Bini (Agnieska),mezzo Loriana Castellano (Mahtab), soprano Arianna Vendittelli (Zoélie), mezzo Sofia Pavone (Arielle), soprano Daniela Cappiello (Sophie) and soprano Grazia Doronzio (Lorraine). Francesco Lanzillotta conducts the Orchestre symphonique et lyrique de Nancy and the Chorus of the Opéra national de Lorraine. Michel Didym directs.

The performance should last 2 hours and 10 minutes, without intermission.

Received this morning in the mail : Giorgio Battistelli - Il Medico dei pazzi

This Wednesday morning, I have finally received the program book published by the Opéra de Nancy et de Lorraine for the world première of Giorgio's Battistelli's opera Il Medico dei pazzi.

It contains :
- complete cast and crew for the performances
- biography of the composer
- an article by the stage director Carlos Wagner
- an article on Eduardo Scarpetta
- an excerpt of Eugene Ionesco's play Rhinocéros
- the complete libretto, in French
- biographies of the performers
- several pictures of sketches for the sets and costumes

Today : new opera by Giorgio Battistelli in Nancy

Today, the new opera by Giorgio Battistelli, Il Medico dei pazzi, will be performed for the first time in Nancy. The libretto by the composer is a free adaptation of Eduardo Scarpetta's play.

When all masks of the Neapolitan comedy are summoned in a frantic dance sweeping all the quirks of our living together... we admire the wit, we laugh and we are surprised to see how all these truths are part of another wild round, which is nothing more than our daily lives.

The cast includes Alessandro Luongo (Felice Sciosciammocca), Bruno Taddia (Cicillo), Giuseppe Talamo (Michelino), Bruno Pratico (Carlo), Maurizio Pace (Errico), Valeriu Caradja (Raffaele). Francesco Lanzillotta conducts and Carlos Wagner directs.

This 'Neapolitan musical action' is Battistelli's 30th stage work, following, among others Prova d'orchestra (1995), The Cenci (1997), Impressions d'Afrique (2000) and Richard III (2004).