Opera Rara and Britten Sinfonia join forces once again to bring to light another neglected bel canto opera, Donizetti’s L’esule di Roma. Celebrating the 225th anniversary of Gaetano Donizetti’s birth, Opera Rara has restored an opera which is considered a milestone in the composer’s illustrious career. L’esule di Roma is filled with political conspiracy, romantic intrigue and great sacrifice set in Imperial Rome. Vocal fireworks fly in this opera from 1828 with remarkable ensembles, touching arias, and one of the composer’s finest bass-baritone roles. A concert performance of the work will take place at London’s Cadogan Hall on 11 May 2023. The recording of the opera will take place in studio in the weeks prior. Further information and tickets can be found here…
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Carlo Rizzi, Opera Rara’s Artistic Director, leads an all-star cast. Albina Shagimuratova, the Times’ “new queen of bel canto”, returns in the role of Argelia. Nicola Alaimo sings the role of Murena, Argelia’s father conflicted by a choice between the love for his daughter and his service to the Emperor. Sergey Romanovsky sings the role of Settimio, Argelia’s lover who has been condemned to death by her father.
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Opera Rara’s mission is to restore neglected operatic masterworks, giving them new life through engaging recordings and concert performances. With over 50 years of operatic archeology, Opera Rara has reshaped how the works of Donizetti and many other composers have been viewed.
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“Carlo Rizzi evidently knows every inch of the music, and conducted the excellent Britten Sinfonia with passion and a sense of committed ownership…” – The Daily Telegraph
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“Musical archaeology is seldom as successful as this…” – Seen and Heard International
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“Albina Shagimuratova: a new queen of bel canto” – The Times
The BBC World Service followed Opera Rara’s Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi as he revived Mercadante’s Il proscritto after 180 years of neglect.
In the most recent episode of In the Studio, Luke Whitlock journeys with Carlo Rizzi as he prepares Il proscritto to be heard at the Barbican in London, after nearly 200 years of silence.
From collaborating on a new performance edition, heading into the studio to record the opera for commercial release, to journeying to London’s Barbican to rehearse and perform the work before a 21st-century audience, this creative process has been a labour of love.
Opera Rara and the London Philharmonic Orchestra are pleased to announce that Dame Harriet Walter, the acclaimed British actress best known for her roles in Downton Abbey, Killing Eve, Ted Lasso, Succession and The Crown, will join the cast of Offenbach’s La Princesse de Trébizonde for the performance on Friday 16 September at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. Walter will narrate an English adaptation of Offenbach’s original dialogue created by theatre director Jeremy Sams in this one-night-only performance of one of the composer’s funniest, yet little-known works.
Harriet Walter has appeared in over 60 shows on television and has been featured in numerous movies including Sense and Sensibility, The Young Victoria, Rocketman and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. She has received a Laurence Olivier Award and has been nominated for a Tony Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Walter is joined by an ensemble cast of singers including Anne-Catherine Gillet, Virginie Verrez, Christophe Gay, Antoinette Dennefeld, Josh Lovell, Katia Ledoux, Christophe Mortagne and Loïc Félix. Conductor Paul Daniel leads the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Opera Rara Chorus in the UK premiere of the new critical edition of Offenbach’s La Princesse de Trébizonde by Jean-Christophe Keck.
“Opera Rara holds a unique place in the music world: from last December’s recording of the original 1912 London version of Leoncavallo’s Zingari to our performance of Mercadante’s Il proscritto earlier this week which had not been heard since 1842, it has been, and will continue to be a privilege to lead this special organisation in its ongoing journey of operatic discovery”, said Rizzi.
The restoration and revival of Il proscritto was spearheaded by Rizzi who discovered Mercadante’s original autograph score during the first lockdown of 2020. The Times, which gave the performance at the Barbican on Tuesday night with Britten Sinfonia 5 stars, said: “Il proscritto proved a most worthy rediscovery, especially when singers and musicians generated enough gusto, electricity, and brute force to loosen the Barbican’s foundations. Look out for the forthcoming recording.” Prior to the release of Il proscritto in March 2023, Opera Rara will release Leoncavallo’s Zingari on Friday 23 September.
Carlo Rizzi was appointed Opera Rara’s Artistic Director in 2019 and his new contract, starting today, will extend to June 2025. In addition to maintaining his current commitment to leading Opera Rara’s restoration projects and engaging with friends, followers and supporters through concerts, recording releases, special events and initiatives such as the online “Carlo Talks” series, Rizzi will help the company continue to forge new artistic partnerships and give a platform to emerging operatic talent. Internationally renowned for his interpretations of both famous and lesser-known Italian operas, Donizetti’s oeuvre, which has remained Opera Rara’s heartland for over 50 years, will be a key focus for Rizzi.
“On behalf of the Trustees of Opera Rara, it gives me great pleasure to share this news,” said Charles Alexander CBE, Opera Rara’s Chairman. “In the last three years, Carlo’s dedication to Opera Rara has been inspiring. We are grateful that he has accepted our invitation to work with us for the next three years.”
“I am thrilled that Carlo Rizzi has accepted Opera Rara’s invitation to work with us until 2025,” said Henry Little, Opera Rara’s Chief Executive. “Carlo has been a positive and energetic force within our small team helping us navigate the challenges of the recent years. I look forward to continuing to work with him.”
To learn more about supporting Opera Rara’s work of operatic discovery, please click here.
For the month of June, we’re celebrating Saverio Mercadante. On the 28th of June at the Barbican Hall, Opera Rara return to the works of Mercadante with his Il proscritto, an opera once thought lost that has not been heard since 1842. In celebration of our composer of the month, our recording of Mercadante’s Virginia, a work composed in 1846, is discounted 15%. Follow us on our social media channels for insights into this composer’s works and Opera Rara’s upcoming recording and performance of Mercadante’s Il proscritto.
Born in 1795, Mercadante studied in Naples, attracting the attention of Rossini. His first opera, L’apoteosi d’Ercole, was well received in 1819 at the Teatro San Carlo. Others quickly followed. Having begun in the heyday of Rossini, Mercadante’s career extended well into the middle of Verdi’s. In fact, he was slightly embittered at being eclipsed by Verdi, on whom his music had some influence. He died in 1870, having put his name to close on sixty operas. Read more and see our Mercadante recordings here…
For the month of April, we’re celebrating Vincenzo Bellini. Adelson e Salvini, Bellini’s first opera, is discounted 20% for the month as well as all digital downloads of our Bellini recordings. Follow us on our social media channels for insights into this composer’s works and Opera Rara’s recordings.
Born in 1801 in Catania, Sicily, to a family already steeped in music; his father and grandfather were both career musicians, Bellini began composing before receiving any formal music education.
He entered the Royal College of Music of San Sebastiano, now the Naples Conservatory, in 1819 and became a primo maestrino in 1824. The conservatory’s students performed Bellini’s first opera, Adelson e Salvini and after the initial performance in February 1825 it was performed repeatedly throughout the year. This particular work was never performed outside of the conservatory, but served as a source of material for at least five other operas Bellini composed. Read more and see our Bellini recordings here…
2 recordings and performance, 3 new releases, and so much more…
We are delighted to announce our 2022/23 Season of restorations as we resume our schedule of two recording and performance projects a year. The 2021/22 Season saw the launch of a new strand of releases, Opera Rara Classics, as well as our return to the stage for the first time since early 2020 with the performance and recording of Leoncavallo’s Zingari. This celebratory event featured Carlo Rizzi in his first major recording and concert project as our Artistic Director, and as we look ahead to the 2022/23 Season, there is much more to celebrate.
The 2022/23 Season includes two full opera recordings. On Tuesday 28 June 2022, we present Mercadante’s Il proscritto at the Barbican in London marking the first performance of this work since its Naples première in 1842. Opera Rara’s Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi conducts Britten Sinfonia in our second collaboration with the company following Donizetti’s Il Paria in June 2019. Mercadante’s original autograph score was discovered in the Naples Conservatory Library by Rizzi who spearheaded its full restoration by Opera Rara. A week prior to the Barbican performance, Il proscritto will be recorded under studio conditions, and for the first time ever.
On Friday 16 September 2022, we return to the works of Offenbach with the performance of La Princesse de Trébizonde at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. In collaboration with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Paul Daniel, a French repertoire specialist, will lead an all-star cast in the UK premiere of Jean-Christophe Keck’s critical edition of the score. Recorded in studio the week before the performance, this delightfully comic opera marks the company’s first Offenbach recording project since the release of Fantasio in 2014.
Three recordings are planned for release in the upcoming season. First, Leoncavallo’s Zingari will be available in September 2022. Zingari is a tale of passion, jealousy and crime in a camp on the banks of the Danube. This one-act opera was a huge success immediately after its creation in London in 1912. Marking Leoncavallo’s return to the verismo style of Pagliacci, Opera Rara’s version of Zingari showcases rich, colourful orchestral music with powerful choral moments and seductive arias sung by a stunning cast including the great Bulgarian soprano Krassimira Stoyanova, tenor Arsen Soghomonyan and baritone Stephen Gaertner.
We continue our Opera Rara Classics series of releases with a boxset of Offenbach recordings including Robinson Crusoe, Vert-Vert and Entre Nous. This boxset features two acclaimed full opera recordings and a celebrated compilation, Entre Nous, which includes selections of Offenbach rarities. This set will be available in January 2023 followed by the release of Mercadante’s Il proscritto in Spring of 2023. All three releases will be bundled in a new subscription package. Sales of Opera Rara’s new-release subscriptions will begin from 2 May 2022.
In addition to the company’s mainstage concert productions and recordings, Opera Rara will present a series of Opera Insider events and Salon concerts. The Opera Insider Series will feature musicologists in talks on subjects surrounding Opera Rara’s mainstage concert projects. This series will offer a chance for opera aficionados to learn more about the art form and expand their enjoyment of Opera Rara’s work. The first of the 2022/23 events will be held on the 26th of April at London’s Fidelio Cafe featuring Drs Flora Willson and Katy Hamilton in an evening exploring French operetta and the works of Jacques Offenbach. With a similar mission in mind, the Opera Rara Salon Series will highlight the emerging, UK-based artists featured in Opera Rara’s recording projects in intimate concerts of songs and arias. Tenor Alessandro Fisher, winner of a 2022 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and featured on Opera Rara’s upcoming recording of Mercadante’s Il proscritto, is joined by pianist Anna Tilbrook on the 10th of May at the historic Grade II* listed Stone House in a concert curated by Opera Rara’s Artistic Dramaturg Roger Parker.
If you would like to support our work of bringing to life lost and forgotten masterpieces, please click here.
Throughout the month of March, we are celebrating Opera Rara’s members. With special videos highlighting the impact members make on Opera Rara’s work as well as fun content on our social media channels such as Mad Scene Mondays, there’s much to look forward to.
As we come to the end of the fiscal year, we invite you to take on an important role as a supporter of our work. When you become a Friend or Patron Member, you will help to ensure a strong financial future for Opera Rara and our journey of live operatic archaeology. Opera Rara is a charity which doesn’t receive public funding, and over 85% of our annual revenue comes from supporters like you. In appreciation for your support, we are delighted to offer you privileges all year round, including:
A subscription to Opera Rara’s member newsletter, Cadenza
Access to our online member portal, My Opera Rara, featuring insightful content to enhance your opera listening experience
Exclusive online content, priority shipping for your orders of our new releases, as well as access to our digital events series, and more
And, for the month of March, new members receive special benefits to show how mad we are for you!
With a gift of £25 or more, you’ll be able to download our complimentary March Madness Mad Scene Playlist
With a gift of £100 or more, you’ll receive our compilation CD Cruel Madness of Love
As a new Friend at the £250 Connoisseur level, you’ll receive a copy of Echosigned by Joyce El-Khoury
As a new Friend at the £500 Enthusiast level, you’ll receive a copy of Puccini’s Le Willissigned by Ermonela Jaho
As a new Patron, you’ll receive a copy of both Echo and Espoirsigned by the artists and Opera Rara’s Artistic Director, Carlo Rizzi
While the benefits of membership are truly rewarding, you can also be proud to know that your contribution directly supports the continued artistic excellence and operatic rediscovery for which Opera Rara is known worldwide. As an added incentive, new gifts will be matched pound for pound by Opera Rara’s Board of Directors – but only until the end of our fiscal year on the 31st of March. Your support will make an impactful difference.
To all our customers in the European Union, we apologise for any inconvenience you may have had or additional costs you may have incurred in the delivery of your recordings due to issues caused by Brexit. For all deliveries to the EU, we have provided a 20% discount to thank you for your continued loyalty to Opera Rara as well as to offset any additional local customs cost that you may have incurred, costs over which we have no control. If you would prefer to purchase our titles from a local distributor, please click here. Whether you choose to continue to buy directly from Opera Rara, which enables us to build a relationship with you, or if you decide to buy from a local distributor, we thank you for your purchase.
For the month of February, we’re celebrating Giovanni Pacini. All digital downloads of our Pacini recordings are discounted 20% for the month. Follow us on our social media channels for insights into this composer’s works and Opera Rara’s recordings.
Pacini was hugely prolific. Born in the Sicilian town of Catania in 1796, he wrote his first opera, Don Pomponio, while a teenager. A spate of works followed. He produced a dozen comedies in four years, then won recognition with Adelaide e Comingio in 1817. Moving to Rome in 1820, he wrote La gioventu di Enrico V in just 24 days for the opening of the Carnival season. Pacini found time for some sub-contracting work too, helping out Rossini, who had fallen behind with work on Matilde Shabran: Pacini obliged with three numbers. Read more and see our recordings of Pacini’s operas here…
