Palermo JP

THE TEATRO MASSIMO FILIES TO JAPAN WITH LA TRAVIATA AND TOSCA

Five cities, eight performances, over 150 artists and staff departing

The tour starts on Saturday 10th from Palermo airport and ends on Monday 26th

The shows already sold out in all the stages

PALERMO. One hundred and fifty people departing between technical artists and staff, two works, five cities, six theaters, eight performances. All set for the Teatro Massimo tour in Japan, which will begin on Saturday 10 June with a greeting in music from Palermo's Falcone-Borsellino airport to end on Monday 26, with the return from Tokyo. A great international showcase for the Theater, which will bring La Traviata and Tosca to Japan, both directed by Mario Pontiggia and the scenes of Francesco Zito, which were staged in Palermo in recent months with great success, two productions by Teatro Massimo representing the great tradition of Italian opera.

In particular the scenographies of La Traviata are inspired by the Belle époque of Palermo and entirely realized in the laboratories of the Teatro Massimo di Brancaccio, with reconstructions of some foreshortenings and Liberty buildings of the city. A "piece" of Palermo that will come to Japan to tell the splendor of the Florio, Basile, Ducrot and the skill of the theater's craftsmen.

Today the presentation press conference, with the president of the Leoluca Orlando Foundation, the superintendent Francesco Giambrone, the Palermo soprano Desirée Rancatore, beloved in Japan, who will be Violetta de La Traviata. Beside her an exceptional cast, with the great Leo Nucci in the role of Germont father and Sebastian Catana in the recital of Hamamatsu, Antonio Poli in that of Alfredo. Ivan Ciampa on the podium. For Tosca he directs Gianluca Martinenghi, in the main roles there are Angela Gheorghiu and Fiorenza Cedolins (Tosca), the Sicilian Marcello Giordani (Cavaradossi), Sebastian Catana (Scarpia).

"Proud of a theater that brings to Japan works that are the fruit of his extraordinary workforce - says superintendent Francesco Giambrone - proud of a theater that returns abroad for a long tour with two operas and great casts, proud of a theater that has been able to respond to the crisis by betting on himself and not folding in on himself ”.

"Once again the Teatro Massimo - says the president of the Leoluca Orlando Foundation - is ambassador of the city of Palermo and of all Italy in the world, with its artists and its workers. Palermo city of art, music and culture ".

“Even the Teatro Massimo - says the artistic director of the Teatro Oscar Pizzo - aligns with the great European opera houses, with a series of major international events and a vocation towards the Middle East and the East, a vocation in line with its position cross-border ".

"I am happy to return to Japan once again - says Desirée Rancatore - an extraordinary country with a wonderful audience that at the end of the show gets in line asking for autographs and photographs. But this time I am particularly happy because I go there with my theater, the theater of my city ”.

The shows are already sold out in all the stages. The tour will hit the Hamamatsu Act City, the Aichi Arts Center in Nagoya, the Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo, the Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Tokyo, the Biwako Hall in Otsu, the Festival Hall Osaka.

Hamamatsu first stop, where La Traviata will take place on Wednesday, June 14th. Second Nagoya stage where Tosca will be represented Saturday, June 17th. Third stop Tokyo, where on Sunday 18 June and Monday June works will be performed at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, while on Wednesday 21 June and Thursday 22 June they will move to Bunkamura Orchard Hall. Fourth stage Otsu, where Saturday, June 24 will be staged La Traviata, fifth and final leg of Osaka, where Sunday, June 25 will be the turn of Tosca. Between one stage and another, complex dismantling and transfers that the Teatro Massimo will make use of the collaboration of Concert Doors, the historic tour organizer in Japan.

The two Tokyo theaters are known throughout the world. The Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, one of the main examples of contemporary architecture in the city, was designed by the architect Kunio Mayekawa and inaugurated in 1961. It is known for its excellent acoustics and is also called "Palace of Music". It was built by the City of Tokyo in response to the request of the population of a place where they could attend operas and ballets, as well as to commemorate the five hundredth anniversary of the founding of the city. The Bunkamura Orchard Hall, founded in 1989, is the largest cultural complex with concert halls in Japan: the main hall can accommodate up to 2,300 people and is used for operas, ballets and concerts by large orchestras.