Franco Ripa di Meana Director
Franco Ripa di Meana was Born in Rome in 1962. In 1984 he made his debut as an actor with the La Gaia Scienza theatre company at the Biennale di Venezia, directed by Giorgio Barberio Corsetti. He left the company to work as a staff director, first at the Teatro la Scala in Milan (1987-1989), then in many of the leading Italian and European opera houses and theatres.
From 1990 to 2000 he collaborated with Luca Ronconi and with Graham Vick, taking responsability for reviving many of their productions. As a director in his own right, he made his Italian debut at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples in 1991, with the chamber opera
Le Notti Bianche by Franco Mannino. He made his wider European debut at Wexford Festival Opera in 1998 with
La Fiamma by Ottorino Respighi.
Since then he has staged about fourty operas, including works by contemporary composers (Berio, Sciarrino, Panni, Ferrero, Arcà, Scogna, Rendine), as well as titles from the classical repertoire (
Carmen, Butterfly, Boheme, Don Giovanni, Figaro, Seraglio, Attila, Boccanegra, Bluebeard's Castle, Return of Ulysses), as well as lesser known repertoire by composers such as Mosca, Pacini, Ibert, Respighi and Rendano. His productions have been presented at various opera houses, both in Italy (Regio di Torino, Comunale di Firenze, Comunale di Bologna, Massimo di Palermo, Opera di Roma, Caio Melisso di Spoleto, Valli di Reggio Emilia, Verdi di Parma, Verdi di Trieste), and abroad (Wexford Festival Opera, City of Birmingham Touring Opera, Opera Zuid, Grazer Oper, ABAO Bilbao).
He has established the first opera touring company in Italy, Operaoggi. In the summer of 2006, the company's first production:
Carmen (se ti amo attento a te!), has opened and toured central Italy. Since then, the company has toured its shows in five different Italian regions, in a variety of venues such as open air theathres, squares, parks, theathres, a cave, a tobacco manifacture. In October 2006 he made his debut at Teatro alla Scala, staging
Ascanio in Alba by Mozart. He wrote for the composer Nicola Sani the libretto of the opera
Il tempo sospeso del volo, entirely based on archives material dedicated to the life of the anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, killed by the mafia with 400 kilograms of TNT in 1992. He then
staged Il tempo sospeso del volo world premiére in Reggio Emilia in october 2007, in a cooproduction beetween Operaoggi,
I Teatri di Reggio Emilia and
Festival Verdi di Parma. In may 2008, a DVD of this production, shooted by the Italian fim-maker Stefano Pasetto, has been released for the home video circuit by the biggest Italian distributor, Medusa Film.
He has also written the libretto of
Cell 27, an opera about the last days of Galeazzo Ciano, Mussolini son–in-law jaled and then executed by the regime in 1944. The composer Marcello Panni is currently writing the score, the premiere will take place in Verona in 2010. From 2004 to 2006 he has teached "arte scenica" at the Rome Music Conservatorio. Future engagements include
Tosca (Opera di Roma at Caracalla),
Traviata,
Rigoletto and
Trovatore for Teatro del Maggio Musicale in Florence,
Vixen (cooproduction beetween Operaoggi and Opera di Roma), a new version theatre version of
Il tempo sospeso del volo in Palermo,
Love of the three oranges (Rome).
Leonardo Catalanotto Piano Coach
Leonardo Catalanotto was born in Caracas in 1966. He graduated in Orchestra Conduction at the Academy of Music of Pescara, guided by Maestro Donato Renzetti.
From 1993 until today, Leonardo Catalanotto works as Pianist - Vocal coach at the Massimo Theatre "V. Bellini" of Catania. He was invited several times by the Massimo Theatre of Palermo, by the Rossini Opera Festival of Pesaro and by the Düsseldorf, Lisbon and Seville theatres. In Florence, at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Theatre, he worked as Staff Conductor for Rigoletto, La Traviata, Il Trovatore and, afterwards, for the Die Frau ohne Schatten by R. Strauss, La Forza del Destino and Tosca directed by Maestro Zubin Mehta.
Besides conducting several symphonic concerts, he was Harpsichord Conductor during the opera La Serva Padrona by Paisiello and the Il Giocatore by Cherubini, Madama Butterfly at the "Mancinelli" Theatre of Orvieto and Aida in Eboli (the last one performed as a concert). He also worked as Assistant of Maestro Jesùs Lòpez Cobos at the Teatro Real of Madrid for the Macbeth by Verdi.
He was invited to China at the Academy of Music of Shenyang, in order to give a series of lectures about the Italian Opera repertoire to the Singing class students. In August 2010 in Japan he conducted the Gunma Symphony Orchestra during a greatly celebrated concert called "Opera senza parole" (Opera without words).
Fabio Ciulla Chorus Master
Fabio Ciulla, Italian musician, carries on an intense music activity as a chorus master, concertmaster and, conductor, pianist and composer. He is the founder and director of the Vocal Ensemble EUFONIA (Ensemble Vocale Eufonia), a choral formation that aims to research and perform pieces out of the chamber choir repertoire, showing great interest in productions from the nineteenth and twentieth century and that carries out a regular and effective activity.
He is charter member of the Soloists of Operalaboratorio (Solisti di Operalaboratorio), a body that over the years trained several musicians who are operative in the musical theatre field and that organized remarkable and interesting productions, some of which performed for the first time, giving birth to several recordings. He is the founder of a vocal group made of four female voices and a piano, named "Les Femmes à la rose", with which he explored repertoires for multiple voices and piano from the Italian and German nineteenth and twentieth century.
Between 1990 and 2003, as Choral Director and Assistant Conductor he partecipated to in the production and staging of baroque operas that the Studio of Ancient Music "Antonio il Verso" (Studio di Musica Antica "Antonio il Verso"), realized in cooperation with the Massimo Theatre of Palermo and the Music History Institute of the University of Studies of Palermo, creating several recordings. From 2004 to 2008, Fabio Ciulla cooperated with the Music Academy of Palermo (Accademia Musicale di Palermo), where he worked as main Manager and carried out a valuable and regular activity both in Italay and abroad - often performing compositions for the first time. Since 2008, he constantly cooperates with the Sicily Symphony Orchestra Foundation of Palermo (Fondazione Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana di Palermo), with a big choral team made of the Vocal Ensamble Eufonia and the Soloists of Operalaboratorio (I Solisti di Operalaboratorio), devoted to symphonic and lyric productions.
Fabio Ciulla also works as a composer, paying great attention to voice and instrumental pieces and chorus compositions, with or without instruments, standing out for the accurate use of the vocal instrument. He cooperated with the Bellini Theatre of Catania, the Massimo Theatre of Palermo, the Manoel Theatre of Malta, the Seoul Art Center (South Korea), the Opera House of Duluth (Minnesota), and the Teatro de Rojas of Toledo. He also works as professor at the Academy of Music "V. Bellini" of Palermo.
Irina Lungu as Adina Soprano
After accomplishing her piano and choir conducting studies, the Russian Soprano graduated at the State Academy of Music of Voronezh (Russia) in 2003.
She has won numerous international competitions such as the Chajkovskij competition of Moscow, la Competizione dell'opera in Dresden, Elena Obraztsova in Saint Petersburg, the price Maria Callas in Athens, the competitions Montserrat Caballé in Andorra, Belvedere in Wien, Voci Verdiane in Busseto and Operalia in Los Angeles.
From 2003 to 2005, she attended the Accademia del Teatro Alla Scala of Milan under the guidance of Leyla Gencer. In Italy, she debuted in
Parisina of Donizetti in Bergamo,
Ugo Conti di Parigi at Teatro Bellini in Catania and
Moise et Pharaon under the baton of M. Riccardo Muti at Teatro Alla Scala of Milan, where she returned to sing
Gli Stivaletti of Chajkovskij, Sancta Susanna of Hindemith and in the 2007/08 season,
La Travita conducted by M. Lorin Maazel.
In the 2007-2008 season, she starred as the main character of a new edition of Maria Stuarda and of
La Travita at Teatro alla Scala in Milan; in
Carmen at Sferisterio in Macerata, in La Boheme during the Settimane Musicali of Stresa and in
Il Corsaro at Festival Verdi in Parma. She has recently debuted in
Il Turco in Italia at Teatro Carlo Felice of Genoa. In the 2009 season, she sang
La Travita in Verona at Teatro Filarmonico, and in Turin, Maria Stuarda in Venice, and
Carmen in Arena di Verona. In 2010 she performed in
La Travita at Teatro di San Carlo in Naples and
Faust at Teatro Alla Scala where she will come back with
L'elisir d'Amore. In the future season she will be performing in
Carmen in Salerno,
La Travita at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and in Wiesbaden, Rigoletto at Aix en Provence and in Turin.
Huang Ying as Adina
Chinese soprano Ying Huang is an outstanding figure in the music world. She has spanned many arenas, including opera and concert stages, television, film and recordings. Her performance in Francois Mitterand's acclaimed feature film
Madama Butterfly brought her worldwide acclaim. For over a decade, she has performed at various stages, among others: the Metropolitan Opera, Danish National Opera, Cologne Opera, Belgium Royal Opera House and the National Centre for the Performing Arts. She played the lead in numerous operas including
Madama Butterfly, Falstaff, Rigoletto, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Juan, The Magic Flute, Werther, Knights of the Rose, and
L'elisir d'Amore. Meanwhile, Huang has sung the most Chinese operas in the international arena, among others: Tan Dun's
The Peony Pavilion, Guo Wenjing's
Poet Li Bai, and Zhou Long's
Madame White Snake which debuted at the Boston Opera House in early 2010.
Huang is also a familiar figure at the Cincinnati Music Festival, Vienna Music Festival and other festivals, as well as Carnegie Hall, Vienna's Golden Concert Hall, etc. She has performed pieces of Handel, Orff and Mahler and worked on many occasions with London Symphony Orchestra, James Conlon, Christoph Eschenbach and other exciting orchestras and conductors.
Huang is also frequently invited to perform at major celebrations around the world: including the sensational Vienna Christmas Concert with reputable tenor Plácido Domingo and superstar Michael Bolton; the inauguration performance of Shanghai Grand Theatre with world renowned tenor Jose Carreras; the concert in celebration of the opening ceremony of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games; party in celebration of Shanghai's successful Expo bid with renowned tenor Andrea Bocelli; theme song at the opening ceremony of Shanghai Expo 2010, etc. Her soft and sweet voice, superb and flexible singing skills, rich musical styles and passionate stage performances have been extolled by counterparts, audiences and the media around the world. She has emerged as a celebrated Chinese soprano in the international arena, and lauded as a "Chinese Nightingale" by Western media.
Francesco Meli as Nemorino
Born in Genova in 1980, Meli began his singing studies at seventeen at his hometown's School of Music.
In 2002 he made his debut in
Macbeth,
Petite messe Solemnelle and Puccini's
Messa di gloria, the latter broadcast by RAI, and later sang in
Don Giovanni and
L'elisir d'Amore at the Opera Giocosa in Savona.
He immediately made his debuts in Lisbon, Bologna, La Scala with Riccardo Muti. He has opened the Rossini Festival in Pesaro in
Bianca e Falliero and
Torvaldo e Dorliska in two following seasons, Genova's 2005/06 Season in
Don Giovanni and La Scala's one in
Idomeneo. He opened new productions of
Don Giovanni at La Scala and in Valencia. He has sung
La sonnambula in Lyon and Paris, released on CD by Virgin,
Anna Bolena in Verona,
L'elisir d'Amore and
Falstaff in Turin. He made his debut in Vienna in
Così fan tutte, conducted by Riccardo Muti. He made his Covent Garden and role debut with
Rigoletto.
Among his engagements, among others, are his MET debut in
Rigoletto, where he'll also sing
La Traviata and a new
Maria Stuarda, a new
Anna Bolena in Vienna,
Simon Boccanegra and
Werther in Parma, a new
Rigoletto at the Paris Opera.
Xue Haoyin as Nemorino
Xue Haoyin studied under the tutelage of Professor Chen Qilian and graduated from Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He successively won Best Singer Award of Professional Bel Canto Group in Shanghai Competition Zone of National Young Singer TV Grand Prix, the sixth place in "Verviers" International Opera Vocal Music Competition in Belgium and the second place in "Montreal and Czech Music Competition". After joining in Shanghai Opera House, he plays lead roles in
Pear Fishers, Thunderstorm, Tosca, Suor Angelica, Le Villi and other operas.
Massimo Cavalletti Baritone
Massimo Cavalletti was born in 1978 in Lucca where he began his vocal studies with Graziano Polidori. He subsequently attended the Young Artists Programme in the Academy of the Theatre of La Scala, Milan, refining his vocal technique with soprano Luciana Serra. Throughout this time he also participated in masterclasses with Leyla Gencer, Leo Nucci, Renato Bruson, Luis Alva, etc. developing his operatic interpretation. He made his operatic debut at the Donizetti Theatre in Bergamo with
La Parisina by Donizetti, organised by the La Scala Academy. The following year he sang the role of Figaro in Rossini's
Il barbiere di Siviglia at La Scala.
In 2005 Massimo performed Schaunard in Puccini's
La Boheme at La Scala and, in the subsequent year, Enrico Ashton in Donizetti's
Lucia di Lammermoor. In 2006 he had his début at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam as Wallace in Puccini's
Fanciulla del West.
In 2007 he sang for the first time the role of Marcello in
La Boheme for his Opernhaus Zurich debut. In the same year he had his first performances at the Regio Theatre, Parma and at the Carlo Felice Theatre, Genoa respectively as Montano in Verdi's
Otello and Melitone in
La Forza del Destino. During the summer season of 2007 he returned to the role of Figaro in
Il barbiere di Siviglia, performing in various locations in Piemont with the Regio Theatre, Torino.
In the 2007-2008 season he performed in
La Boheme at La Scala and returned to Zurich for two more debuts -
La Juive by Halévy and
Le Cid by Massenet– and a revival of
Lucia di Lammermoor. In February he also performed in the th new production of
Lucia di Lammermoor at Teatro Comunale in Bologna.
He started his 2008-2009 season again in Zurich with a new production of
Lucia di Lammermoor, continued with Manon Lescaut at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and sang in
Carmen and
Simon Boccanegra once again at the Opernhaus Zurich. Towards the end of the season he could be seen in
Don Pasquale at the Regio Theatre in Torino.
In the 2009-2010 season followed Puccini's
Messa di Gloria at the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk in Leipzig, revivals of
La Boheme,
Simon Boccanegra, Carmen and the new production of
Barbiere di Siviglia in Zürich. He had his debut at Metropolitan Opera with
La Boheme, followed by a production of
Simone Boccanegra (Paolo) at La Scala in Milan (M. Barenboim conducting).
Current 2010-2011 season:
Barbiere di Siviglia at Hamburg's State Opera, a new production of
La Boheme (Marcello) at Brussels La Monnaie, a new production of
Falstaff (role debut of Ford) as well as revivals of
La Juive and
Carmen in Zürich.
Yang Xiaoyong as Belcore
National First-class performer, one of China's most outstanding baritones, currently a lead actor with Shanghai Opera House.
Yang Xiaoyong came out first during the elimination round of the International Vocal Competition organized by the Ministry of Culture; he is also prize winner of the Italian G. B. Viotti International Music Competition; winner of nomination award among Shanghai's first batch of Top 10 Young Actors; first prize winner of Shanghai TV's Chunlan Cup Art Song Singing Competition; second-prize winner of the First National Vocal Competition organized by the Ministry of Culture; winner of Outstanding Opera Performance at the 15th Shanghai Magnolia Cup, etc. His delicate and passionate singing brings alive the operatic roles he plays. In 1988, Yang played the father Peter in
Hansel and Gretel when he was a visiting scholar to Middlebury College. Yang has played leading roles in over thirty operas, both Chinese and foreign, among others:
Don Pasquale, Cosi fan tutte, Turandot, Eugene Onegin, The Bat, Aleko, Carmen, La Boheme, Die Maskerade, La Traviata, Cavalleria Rusticana, Madama Butterfly, Othello, La Damnation de Faust, The Tales of Hoffmann, Les Pecheurs de Perles, The Nose, Punchinello, Il Tabarro, The Merry Widow, Xi Shi, Qu Yuan, The Wilderness, Confucius, The Sun Bird, A Bet of Life and Death, and
Lady Wenji. In 2004, Yang won Outstanding Opera Performance award at the 15th Shanghai Magnolia Cup for his portrayal of Jago in
Othello. On top of all these, he has held solo concerts at Shanghai Concert Hall, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Central Conservatory of Music, and Sichuan Conservatory of Music, and has recorded a number of albums.
Natale De Carolis as Dulcamara
Renowned around the world as one of the best interpreters of the main Rossini's and Mozart's roles, Natale De Carolis debuted at the Teatro alla Scala in the opening night of the 1987/8 season in
Don Giovanni with Riccardo Muti (recorded for Emi). Important debuts followed in many renowned theatres and productions: in 1988, his U.S. debut at the Metropolitan Opera in the title role of
Le nozze di Figaro; in 1991, his first performance at Sidney Opera in
Don Giovanni, where he returned in 1994 as Guglielmo in
Così fan tutte. From then on, Natale De Carolis has enjoyed a brilliant career throughout Europe, the Americas, Israel and Australia, collaborating with important conductors and stage directors.
Recent seasons' highlights of Natale De Carolis include successful interpretations of Così fan tutte at the Michigan Opera of Detroit, at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, at the Salzburger Festspiele and at the Royal Opera House-Covent Garden in London, as well as the recent debut at Staatsoper unter den Linden in Berlin in L’elisir d’amore (Dottor Dulcamara), under the baton of Daniele Callegari. He has also recently portrayed Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola and Leporello in Don Giovanni at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo; Schaunard in La Bohème at the Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari and at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma; Don Giovanni at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma and in Stresa, conducted by Noseda; Manon, Don Giovanni, Werther and L’elisir d'amore at the New National Theatre in Tokyo. At the Teatro Marruccino di Chieti he just sang as Selim in Il turco in Italia and, on December, 12, 2003 he took part in an evening gala dedicated to the famous singer Nazareno De Angelis, receiving in this occasion the prestigious Premio Nazareno De Angelis (First Edition).
His future engagements include Ford Carmen and Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, La Bohème at the Teatro alla Scala and on a Japan tourn with the Turin Teatro Regio, Werther at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Così fan tutte (Alfonso) on a Japan tour with the Wiener Staatsoper,
Guan Zhijing as Dulcamara
Bass singer. Currently a soloist with China National Opera House. Guan is a familiar figure at domestic and international opera stages for his comprehensive singing techniques, fine tensility and flexibility. His honors include the Wenhua Award (Government Award) at the National Vocal Competition, and Crystal Award at the Televised Foreign Songs Singing Competition. He is a lead singer in operas including Dvorak's
Mass in D Major, Mozart's
Requiem, and
Sounds of Harmony, and has sung in
Turandot,
La Boheme,
Le Mariage de Figaro,
Roi d'Ys,
Sister Jiang,
A Village Teacher,
Wilderness,
Tea: A Heart's Mirror, etc.
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