Gian-Carlo del Monaco Director
Gian-Carlo del Monaco, the son of the famous tenor Mario del Monaco.He made his debut as a stage director in 1964 in Siracusa (Italy) with
Samson et Dalila (starring Mario del Monaco).
He started his career in Germany as assistant to Wieland Wagner, Günther Rennert and Walter Felsenstein before assuming the post of principal stage director in Ulm from 1970 to 1973 where he staged some 15 productions.He was General Manager of the Macerata Festival (Italy) from 1986 to 1988 and the General Manager of the Opera der Bundesstadt Bonn from 1992 to 1995. From 1997 to 2001, Giancarlo del Monaco was the General Director of the Opera House of Nice (France).
Contemporaneous with his career as General director, Giancarlo del Monaco becomes one of the most important and sought after stage directors of his generation.He has staged productions in renowned theatres in major cities around the world and collaborated with the most important conductors and stage designers of the operatic world. Fluently speaking 5 languages, his operatic repertoire contains more than 100 operas, staged in their original language.
In 1991, he was invited to stage
La Fanciulla del West at the Metropolitan Opera. This was followed by
Stiffelio,
Madama Butterfly,
Simon Boccanegra and
La Forza del Destino (for which he was honored by the American Institute of Verdi Studies). All of these Met productions were filmed and internationally broadcast.Gian-Carlo del Monaco has been the recipient of numerous honors. From 2009, he is the artistic director of the Tenerife Opera Festival.
William Orlandi Set Design
After studying at the Academy of Belle Arti of Brera in Milan, William Orlandi designed sets and costumes for
Il Trovatore directed by Alberto Fassini at the Theater San Carlo in Naples,
Don Carlos, Don Giovanni directed by Lorenzo Mariani in Parma and numerous other operettas. He worked with Alberto Fassini in various operas, such as
Romeo et Juliette in Palermo,
Il Trovatore and
Werther at the New National Theater in Tokyo and
Norma at the Regal Theater in Turin.
Since 1987 he has worked regularly with Gilbert Deflo, Liebermann's
La Foret at the Grand Theater Geneva is the beginning of this collaboration, followed by
Aida,
The Coronation of Poppea,
Carmen etc. And in the 2005-2006 season a new version of
L'amour des trois oranges for the Opera Bastille in Paris.
His design also can be seen in
Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni, Massenet's
Therese,
Rigoletto by Verdi and
La Gioconda by Ponchielli in 2002 and 2003 seasons at Hopernhaus Zurich and
Cavalleria Rusticana,
Pagliacci for Arena of Verona in 2006 season.
Jesus Ruiz Costume Design
Born in Cordoba, Spain, Jesus Ruiz got a degree in Art History, Design and Music Composition at the Complutense and Politecnica universities in Madrid and at the Real Consevatorio Superior de Musica.
Awarded with the First National Contest "Ciudad de Oviedo" for stage design, he began his career working with Emilio Sagi as a stage and costume designer in Mozart's
Magic Flute which was put on at the Hong Kong Arts Festival.
He has cultivated all the theatrical genres: drama, ballet, flamenco, opera, musical comedy and films, with a special devotion to opera of which he has debuted in over fifty productions.
He has worked for some of the main theaters and festivals: Teatro Real (Madrid), Grand Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona), Theatre Chatelet (Paris), Maggio Musicale (Florence), Euskalduna (Bilbao), Saddlers Wells (London), Palau de les Arts (Valencia), opera houses in Nize, Laussane, Achem, Perm...
Vinicio Cheli Lighting Design
From 1974 to 1979, Vinicio Cheli worked at the "Magio Musicale Fiorentino" involved in all productions. Since 1979 he joined the "Piccolo Teatro" of Milan and became the light collaborator of Giorgio Strehler, making the entire production of Piccolo until 1989. Since 1987, for four years, he worked with the "Rossini Opera Festival" to produce shows with several directors. At the same time since 1989 he worked at the Salzburg Festival, Theatre Champs-Elysees, Chalet Theatre in Paris with the set design by Ezio Frigerio, then responded to the La Scala in Milan. He collaborated some years with the Teatro La Fenice in Venice.
Sun Xiuwei as Tosca Soprano
Sun Xiuwei was studying vocal composition under a famous opera sopranist in Milan, Italy. She competed many kinds of contests around the world within less than two years and won first prize six times. In 1994, she began her opera career in Europe with her first singing engagement of G. Verdi's
La Traviata at the Tokyo Opera House. She sang
Norma,
La Traviata,
La Forza Del Destino,
Trovatore,
Atilla,
Sucr Angelica,
Andrea chenier,
Macbeth,
Turandot,
Pagliacci,
Requiem. She, also, sang Madama Butterfly by G.Puccini, after it's first night in Verona Di Arena, Italy, 1997, and it was played more than two hundred performances around the world. She sang at opera houses in Roma, Bologna, Palermo, Trieste, Genova, Venice, Torre Di Lago, Catania, Verona, Italy; Berlin, Bonn and Carlsruhe, Germany; Nizza, France; Zurich, Switzerland; Oslo, Norway; Helsinky, Finland; Bilbao, Spain; Serbia; Washington, Los Angeles, Detroit, Philadelphia in the United States; Toronto, Canada; and Santiago, Chili. She worked with famous cantors like Arena, Bartoletti, Domingo, Gatti, Nagano, Oren, Palombo, Renzetti, Rizzi e Santi. She is one of the few Chinese sopranists that is still active on European opera stages.
Cellia Costea as Tosca Soprano
Cellia Costea was born in Piatra Neamt in a family of musicians. She studied at Music High School of Piatra Neamt with Professor Elena Botez and Music University of Bucharest.
She performed Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro as La Contessa, at Royal Opera Amsterdam, Wienner Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Stuttgart Staatstheater, Klagenfurt Staatstheater, La Finta Giardiniera as Aminda at Stuttgart Staatstheater, Hannover Staatstheater, Greek Opera House, and Don Giovanni as Donna Elvira at Wienner Staatsoper, Opera Municipal de Marseille, and Opera Royal de Wallonie Liege. In Bizet's Carmen she acted as Michaela at Greek Opera House, Herodes Atticus Theatre Athen, Bucharest Opera House. In Puccini's Turandot she acted as Liu at Convent Garden London, Gran Teatre del Liceu de Barcelona, Opera West Bergen. And her other roles include Mimi in La Boheme, Floria Tosca in Tosca, Leonora in Verdi's Il Trovatore, and Elisabetha in Don Carlo, Adalgisa in Bellini's Norma; Antigone in Enescu's Oedipe, Suzel in Mascagni's L'amico Fritz, Pallaide in Gluck's Paris & Helene, Fedima in Karrer's Marathon-Salamis.
Aquiles Machado as Cavaradossi Tenor
He was born in Barquisimeto (Venezuela) and began his music studies at the Vicente Emilio Sojo Conservatory. He studied with professor William Alvarado at the Simon Bolivar Music Conservatory in Caracas. Once he arrived in Spain, he attended the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía where he studied with maestro Alfredo Kraus, thanks to a scholarship from Banco de Espana and the Mozarteum Foundation in Venezuela.
In 1996 came his debut in Caracas with
Elisir d′Amore, and in Europe that same year, with
Macbeth at the Teatro Benito Pérez Galdós in Palmas de Gran Canaria. His career has been constantly evolving since then, with memorable performances in the most prestigious theatres worldwide as Teatro Sao Carlo in Lisbon, L′Arena di Verona, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, Teatro Regio di Parma, Opera di Roma, Washington Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Gran Teatre de Liceu -Barcelona, Teatro Real de Madrid, Teatro de la Zarzuela de Madrid, Staatsoper Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper, Zurich Opera, Metropolitan Opera House and Teatro alla Scala di Milano, among others.
He has received many awards from different lyric associations, including one from the Parma Lyric Association for his Verdian performances. He also won the first prize in lyric contests like
Francisco Vinas in Spain,
Cardiff Singers of the World in the UK, and Plácido Domingo's world famous contest
Operalia in 1997.
Renzo Zulian as Cavaradossi Tenor
Born in Venice, Renzo Zulian was attracted to music at a tender age, first playing his father's guitar, and then singing. A local singing teacher discovered his tenor voice and later he improved his singing technique with the great tenor Franco Corelli.
Now his repertoire includes:
Il Trovatore, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, La Bohème, Lucia di Lammermoor, La Traviata, Un Ballo in Maschera, Turandot, Aida, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, Adriana di Lecouvreur, Andrea Chénier, I Vespri Siciliani, La Fanciulla del West, Conchita, Norma, S. Francesco, Rhea.
Where he has sung around the world: England, Ireland (Wexford festival, 2000); Taiwan; Hong Kong; Austria Salzburg; Spain (Teatro della Maestranza, Sevilla 2001); France (Opéra de Toùlon, 2002); Japan (on tour and then at the New National Theater, Tokyo,2003); Germany (Staats Theater,Stuttgart, 2004).
Zhang Yalun as Scarpia Baritone
Mr. Zhang is an American Chinese baritone. He graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music in China. Pavarotti once claimed him as "a real Verdi baritone". In 1990, his excellent performance in
Un Ballo in Maschera as Renato catapulted him to stardom, and started his career on the stages around Europe and America. He has won numerous awards in international singing competitions, including: winner of Metropolitan National Council Auditions in 1991, winner of Luciano Pavarotti Voice Competition in 1992, Silver Medalist in 1988 the 9th International Competition for Young Singers in Sofia, Bulgaria, First Place in the Loren L. Zachary Voice Competition in 1996, and First Place in the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Competition, among others. In recent years, he has performed the principal baritone roles in dozens of opera productions in such prestigious opera houses as the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National du Rhin, and the Stuttgart Opera, among many others. In 1998, Yalun Zhang performed in
Turandot in the Forbidden City in Beijing conducted by Zubin Mehta. He was the only Chinese performer at that time. In early 2006, he performed the leading role in
the Flying Dutch in Hannover Opera with a huge success.
Carlos Almaguer as Scarpia Baritone
Carlos Almaguer was born in Mexico City, where he studied with Francesco Amador and sung in the School Chorus and in the Monteverdi Madrigal. He obtained many prizes that brought him to famous master classes. He received a scholarship that allows him to continue his studies with Carlo Bergonzi, at the Sienna Academy in Italy and with Vicente Sardinero in Madrid. As winner of the Singing Competition in Verviers (1997), the artist has been engaged for the role of Amonastro /
Aida in Cologne (1999) and at the Opera Royal de Wallonie (2000).
Among his future engagements should be mentioned: Il Trovatore (Opera de Marseille), Rigoletto (Hamburg State Opera, Festival Avenches, Israeli Opera Tel Aviv), La fanciulla del West (ORW Liege), Aida (Opera de Toulon), La battaglia di Legnano NP (Hamburg State Opera).