Last fall marked our first-ever visit to the
thrilling Parma Verdi Festival, which proved to be immensely
rewarding for our sold-out Tour. Again in 2008, we are eagerly
planning to repeat this exceptional experience during the
ideal weather of October, encompassing two Verdi operas in
Parma’s famous Teatro Regio and a third performance
in Verdi’s charming hometown of Busseto. The operas
will be a pair of ‘early Verdi’ rarities –
Il Corsaro and Giovanna d’Arco – and a masterwork
from the composer’s ‘middle period’, Rigoletto.
Among the familiar names of the leading artists announced
for the Festival are Bulgarian soprano Sveta Vassileva (as
Joan of Arc), baritone Renato Bruson (as Joan’s father,
the shepherd Giacomo’), baritone Leo Nucci (as Rigoletto),
and the revered Verdi conductor Bruno Bartoletti (for ‘Giovanna
d’Arco).
Immediately
prior to our Parma dates, we will begin our Italian week in
the matchless Veneto capital of Venice, where we are fortunate
to encounter an international cast of Verdi interpreters in
yet a fourth Verdi opera – Nabucco – at the exquisite
Teatro La Fenice. All opera-lovers are eager to enjoy a performance
in the intimate Venetian jewel of Teatro La Fenice, destroyed
by fire in 1996 but now painstakingly restored to its original
splendor. Our four nights at the perfectly situated Hotel
Monaco & Grand Canal, a stone’s throw from Piazza
San Marco, will enable us to include a Chamber Concert in
the Church of San Vidal, where the exuberant Interpreti Veneziani
will offer a program of virtuoso Baroque composers.
Parma
boasts a lively historic center dominated by the Piazza del
Duomo and the Teatro Regio, and the ‘prosciutto di Parma’
and ‘Parmigiano Reggiano cheese’ account for the
world-famous cuisine. In nearby Busseto, our visit will include
Verdi’s gracious home of Villa Sant’Agata as well
as the ornate 19th century Teatro Verdi (for the performance
of ‘Il Corsaro’). Our three-night stay will offer
ample opportunity to explore the lovely town centre, where
our accommodations are at everyone’s first choice, the
Stendhal Hotel.
Saturday,
October 18th, departure from New York’s Kennedy Airport
at 6:55 pm on Delta Airlines flight #150, arriving in Venice
at 9:45 am on the morning of the 19th. Or independent travel
to Venice.
