Giacomo Puccini – 100th Death Anniversary
November 29 and 30
Friday, November 29 marks the 100th death anniversary of Italian composer Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924). Regarded as the most successful Italian opera composer after Giuseppe Verdi, Puccini composed twelve unforgettable operas. As a tribute to the composer, Stingray Classica dedicates the evenings of November 29 and 30 to two of Puccini’s best-known masterpieces, starting off with Puccini’s tragic opera La bohème (1896) on Friday, November 29 at 21:00. This 2012 staging of the heart-wrenching tale of poor seamstress Mimì and her artist friends was directed by Stefan Herheim. He notes: “In bringing La bohème into a present-day setting (…) we hope to revive the immediate power of suggestion and importance that this work at one time reveled in.” The next evening, on Saturday, November 30 at 21:00, Stingray Classica presents Madama Butterfly (1904), in which Puccini brilliantly portrayed the fragility of a geisha in love who naively believed that the dashing North American marine officer would remain faithful. In this 2017 production by the Teatro Real Madrid, director Mario Gas sets the story in a 1930s film studio. This moving drama unfolds from three perspectives: the opera itself, the film being made of the opera, and its large screen projection in black and white.
Puccini - La bohème
Friday, November 29 | 21:00
In 2012, Norwegian opera director Stefan Herheim brought Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème to the stage of the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo. About his choice for this updated version, Herheim explained: “In bringing La bohème into a present-day setting with this new production we hope to revive the immediate power of suggestion and importance that this work at one time revelled in.” The opera about the Bohemian lifestyle of the poor seamstress Mimì and her artist friends is a fast-moving story, and offers some of the greatest arias Puccini ever wrote. Norwegian conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen leads the Orchestra and Chorus of the National Opera Oslo. Among the soloists are Marita Sølberg (Mimì), Diego Torre (Rodolfo), Vasily Ladyuk (Marcello), and Jennifer Rowley (Musetta).
Puccini - Madama Butterfly
Saturday, November 30 | 21:00
Puccini portrayed brilliantly the fragility of a geisha in love who naively believed the dashing North American marine officer also loved her. The musical score evokes agreeably harmonized traditional Japanese melodies. Despite the fiasco of the debut of Madama Butterfly in Milan, the composer stood fast in his determination to make a success of what he considered his most sincere and expressive work. The passing of time has proved him right. Mario Gas places the story in a 1930s film studio. He narrates this moving drama from three simultaneous perspectives: the opera itself, the film being made of the opera, and its projection in black and white on a large screen. The work is performed at the Teatro Real Madrid in 2017, with conductor Marco Armiliato, the orchestra and chorus of the Teatro Real Madrid and star soloists: Enkelejda Shkosa, Jorge de León, Angel Odena, Francisco Vas, Tomeu Bibilioni and Fernando Radó.