A tribute to Italian opera and, in particular, to Giacomo Puccini: a journey constructed, aria by aria, around the female and male voices that have characterized the theater for over a century. From the tormented longing of Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly to the astute irony of Gianni Schicchi, from the lyrical verismo of Bohème and Tosca to the enigmatic Turandot, the program follows Puccini's gaze over thirty years of music and stage. The proposal is enriched by the famous 'La Vergine degli angeli', taken from La forza del destino by Giuseppe Verdi, and the duet from L’amico Fritz, a delicate opera with pastoral atmospheres by Pietro Mascagni, a contemporary composer complementing the Puccinian universe.
Featuring three musicians with solid theatrical and chamber experience:
- Anna Viola, a Friulian soprano with a flexible and bright voice, interpreter of roles ranging from Violetta to Lucia, from the Queen of the Night to Musetta.
- Alessandro Cortello, an eclectic tenor, acclaimed both on stage and in the lieder repertoire, guest of Rai productions and European concert halls.
- Federico Lovato, a pianist appreciated at international festivals and partner of soloists and orchestras, here in the role of “chamber orchestra” at the service of a purely Puccinian palette.
One hour of miniature theater: incandescent passions, nocturnal melancholies, light irony. Without scenes or costumes – just voice, word, and piano – the essence of opera lives again in its most direct and perhaps most intense form.
Program
- G. VERDI La forza del destino: La vergine degli angeli,
Aria di Leonora
G. PUCCINI Salve Regina
Madama Butterfy: Addio fiorito asil,
Aria di Pinkerton
Gianni Schicchi: O mio babbino caro,
Aria di Lauretta
Tosca: E lucevan le stelle, Aria di Cavaradossi
Bohème: Quando me'n vo, Aria di Musetta - P. MASCAGNI L'amico Fritz: Suzel buon dì, Duetto Fritz, Suzel
- G. PUCCINI Turandot: Nessun dorma, aria di Calaf
Tu che di gel sei cinta, aria di Liù
Bohéme: Che gelida manina, Aria di Rodolfo
Sì, mi chiamano Mimì, Aria di Mimì
O soave fanciulla, Duetto Rodolfo, Mimì
Anna Viola, soprano
Alessandro Cortello, tenor
Federico Lovato, piano
Friulian soprano Anna Viola began her journey into the world of music at a very young age, dedicating herself to piano studies. Graduated in Organ and Organ Composition at the Conservatorio “J. Tomadini” in Udine under the guidance of Maestro Lino Falilone, she also graduated with honors in European Studies from the University of the same city. She began studying lyrical singing under the guidance of soprano Cecilia Fusco and continued perfecting her repertoire with Maestro Stefano Gibellato. Winner of the Second Prize at the International Competition "Giovan Battista Velluti," chaired by the famous tenor Luis Alva, she engages in intense concert activity, collaborating with various soloists and chamber and orchestral ensembles. She performs in important concert halls in nationally and internationally prominent contexts, including Ridotto del Teatro Verdi in Trieste, Sala Mahler in Dobbiaco, Piccola Fenice in Trieste, Sala Madrassi in Udine, Teatro Bobbio in Trieste, Teatro Verdi in Pordenone, Basilica dei Frari in Venice, etc. in concerts of operatic repertoire, sacred music (she was the solo soprano in the Te Deum by Zoltan Kodaly, in the Messa in Sol by Franz Schubert, in the Requiem by Mozart, in the Sinfonia n. 9 by Ludwig van Beethoven, etc.) and chamber music. In 2004 she debuted as Violetta in La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi, in various performances within the regional circuit of Friuli Venezia Giulia. Since then she has starred in many operatic productions. Among the main roles she has played are Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor, Donizetti), Queen of the Night and Pamina (Il Flauto Magico, Mozart), Clorinda (La Cenerentola, Rossini), Adina (L’Elisir d’amore, Donizetti), Elvira (L’Italiana in Algeri, Rossini), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni, Mozart), Musetta (La Bohème, Puccini), Lisa (La Sonnambula, Bellini), Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Rossini), Lucieta (Il Campiello, Wolf Ferrari), Amore (Orfeo ed Euridice, Gluck), Gilda (Rigoletto, Verdi). In 2001 she played the leading role in the contemporary chamber opera La memoria di Medea by Stefano Sacher. She has graced the stages of prestigious venues in Italy and abroad, including the Teatro Malibran in Venice, Teatro Marrucino in Chieti, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Teatro Sociale in Rovigo, Mainfranken Theater in Wurzburg, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, etc. For the latter, she played Lisa in the new production of La Sonnambula by Vincenzo Bellini. The premiere of this production was broadcast live by Sky Classica and released on DVD by Cmajor. A versatile vocalist spanning opera, sacred and chamber music, alongside lyrical singing she interprets contemporary repertoire and great musicals. For the Silent Film Festival in Pordenone, she was one of the solo voices accompanying the projection of the silent film Nanook of the North, in the score written and directed by Gabriel Thibaudeau, with the flute quartet of the Pordenone Chamber Orchestra. Together with Raffaele Prestinenzi, Alessandro
Cortello and Rudy Fantin at the piano, she is a star of the Gershwin Brothers project, dedicated to the music of George and Ira Gershwin. She is the protagonist of numerous musical shows including Notte da Musical, A tutto Disney and Da Gershwin a Sinatra with the Ensemble of the Pordenone Chamber Orchestra, Musical Match, Hellfre, Il mio mistero è chiuso in me, Le donne di Puccini, La vita è bella, Disney Emotions (and many others) with the G. Verdi Wind Orchestra of Trieste, Il Musical: killer o evoluzione dell'Opera?! and Omaggio a Morricone with the FVG Orchestra. In 2024 she will be among the protagonists of the noir musical 1932. The ‘true’ story of the Vespa Man, written and directed by Raffaele Prestinenzi.
Alessandro Cortello was a student of Cecilia Fusco and Alfredo Mariotti and later studied with Claude Thiolas and Luciana D'Intino. He graduated in Singing at the Conservatorio “Tomadini” in Udine, in Piano at the Conservatorio “Frescobaldi” in Ferrara, and studied composition. He won the International Competition “Seghizzi” in Gorizia in 2005 for the title role in Jephte by Carissimi and in 2007 for the “Liederistica” category in a duo with pianist A. Sica, with whom he also attended masterclasses by soprano C. Dubosc. A passionate interpreter of vocal chamber music, he has performed alongside pianists F. Lovato, A. Miodini, D.G. Leonardi, and M. Bravin, with the Trio di Parma and the Trio Operacento, occasionally accompanied by the reciting voice of Quirino Principe. His repertoire includes compositions by Schubert, Schumann, Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Liszt, Wolf, Mahler, Strauss, Berg, Fauré, Ravel, Rachmaninov, Britten... He has played numerous leading roles in operas by Rossini, Verdi, Puccini, and Offenbach. He participated in the Rai productions of Rigoletto with P. Domingo, directed by Z. Mehta and directed by M. Bellocchio, and of Cenerentola under the direction of G. Gelmetti and the direction of Carlo Verdone. He has covered the solo parts of Te Deum by Charpentier, Magnificat by Mendelssohn, Missa in Tempore Belli by Haydn (director Antonio Ballista), Messa in do by Beethoven (Trinity College, Cambridge), the Requiem by Mozart (Filarmonica della Fenice Orchestra, conductor Enrico Bronzi), Liszt (ensembles from the Teatro Verdi in Trieste), Dvořak and Verdi, and the Petite Messe Solennelle by Rossini. He has performed throughout Italy and in Austria, Croatia, Greece, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Czech Republic, and Russia. He participated in the recording of the complete organ compositions of M.E. Bossi with Andrea Macinanti and of the album dedicated to Rossini by baritone Giorgio Caoduro.
Federico Lovato, graduated in piano in 1995 with the highest honors under the guidance of his father Giorgio and E. Mabilia at the conservatorio “B. Marcello” in Venice, later obtained the concert diploma at the Academy “S. Cecilia” in Portogruaro and the “Incontri col Maestro” Academy in Imola under the guidance of P. Rattalino.
In 1997 he graduated in cello. Crucial for his artistic formation were the meetings with B. Greenhouse, M. Flaksman, and the interpreters of the "Trio di Parma." He performs intense concert activity: regularly invited to international festivals, he has collaborated with important musicians and, as a soloist, with renowned orchestras. Together with his brother Francesco (violin) and Guglielmo Pellarin (horn) he formed the Opter Ensemble, with which he has performed in Europe, Asia, and South America.
He has recorded for Challenge Records, Audite! and Dynamic. His concerts have been broadcast by RAI Radio3, RTV Slovenija, and Croatian national radio. He is a teacher at the conservatorio “J. Tomadini” in Udine and artistic director of the Musical Association San Marco in Pordenone.
Canal San Bovo, Parish Church
