Carlo Rizzi receives Order of the Star of Italy

On Friday 22 November, the Italian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Inigo Lambertini officially awarded our Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi, the Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of Italy, at a ceremony at the Italian Embassy in London.

Rizzi received this award for his outstanding work in promoting Italian culture worldwide through music:

Maestro Carlo Rizzi is a leading figure in the field of opera music. During a highly successful international career, which also led him to play for the Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, the Maestro has made an outstanding contribution to promoting Italy abroad through music. As the Artistic Director of Opera Rara, combining his undeniable talent with a deep passion for history and music, Maestro Rizzi has brilliantly promoted a very important piece of our country’s culture with a keen eye on the recovery of lost masterpieces: by carrying out in-depth and meticulous studies, he has in fact brought back to life works that had disappeared from music history books despite their great artistic value, from Leoncavallo to Donizetti. For all these reasons, Maestro Rizzi is considered worthy of the title of Grande Ufficiale of the Order of the Star of Italy.

In his own speech, Carlo Rizzi reflected on his role at Opera Rara and the connections with his cultural heritage:

Being on the move all the time and living away from my home country of Italy has at times been challenging, however, I can say for sure that working in the UK has always been a pleasure. Both the professionality and openness of British artistic institutions is unrivalled internationally and I have always felt welcome here. My role as Opera Rara’s Artistic Director has particularly brought me great satisfaction as it continues to allow me to express myself musically and draw on my cultural heritage.

Opera Rara’s Artist Ambassador Ermonela Jaho joined the special occasion and together with Rizzi, gave a performance of some of the Donizetti songs they have recently recorded together as part of our Donizetti Song Project.