Cecilia Bartoli on Rossini and the Salzburg Whitsun Festival
Cecilia Bartoli, mezzo-soprano and director of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival since 2012, has dedicated the 2018 edition to Gioacchino Rossini on the 150th anniversary of his death. The festival runs from June 2 to 18, featuring a new production of L'Italiana in Algeri, which will also be performed at the summer Salzburg Festival (July 20 to August 31). Bartoli, who has sold over ten million records, notes that the premiere of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg occurred in the same year Rossini died (1868), inspiring her programming. She emphasizes that Isabella in L'Italiana is an intelligent, emancipated woman, not a fairy-tale princess. The production is directed by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, with conductor Jean-Claude Spinosi. Bartoli also programmed Offenbach's La Périchole in concert version for one evening. She describes Rossini's music as making people happy and highlights her long collaboration with Spinosi.
Key facts
- Cecilia Bartoli has directed the Salzburg Whitsun Festival since 2012.
- The 2018 Whitsun Festival is dedicated to Gioacchino Rossini on the 150th anniversary of his death.
- Rossini was born on February 29, 1792, during the French Revolution.
- Rossini retired from opera composition at age 37 due to depression.
- He lived in Passy near Paris until age 76.
- The festival runs from June 2 to 18, 2018.
- A new production of L'Italiana in Algeri will be performed at the Whitsun Festival and later at the summer Salzburg Festival (July 20 to August 31).
- Bartoli notes that the premiere of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg occurred in 1868, the year of Rossini's death.
- Isabella in L'Italiana in Algeri is described as an intelligent, emancipated woman.
- Directors Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier collaborate with Bartoli on the production.
- Conductor Jean-Claude Spinosi leads the orchestra.
- Offenbach's La Périchole will be performed in concert version for one evening.
- Bartoli has sold over ten million records and videos.
- Previous Whitsun Festivals were dedicated to female figures: Cleopatra, Norma, Cinderella, Maria, Iphigenia.
- Bartoli's contract as festival director was renewed until 2020.
Entities
Artists
- Cecilia Bartoli
- Gioacchino Rossini
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Riccardo Muti
- Moshe Leiser
- Patrice Caurier
- Jean-Claude Spinosi
- Jacques Offenbach
- Richard Wagner
- Giuseppe Pennisi
Institutions
- Salzburg Festival
- Salzburg Whitsun Festival
- Rossini Opera Festival
- Artribune
Locations
- Salzburg
- Austria
- Passy
- Paris
- France
- Palermo
- Cagliari
- Venice
- Naples
- Trieste
- Italy
- Pesaro
- Rome