Guest performance of the Teatro Coccia di Novara
Marco Taralli pays tribute to Maria Callas, the amazing 20th-century opera diva, in his buffo opera called La Rivale (The Rival).
The music of this contemporary author resounds the classics: an atmosphere evocative of Verdi, Mozart, Donizetti, Offenbach and Strauss conjures up La Divina, or la primadonna assoluta, as her admirers used to call her at the time. La Rivale is opera in opera, a story within a story, an absurd and exciting show full of spicy stories and anecdotes, as well as far reaching thoughts on the world of opera.
The protagonist is the rival to Callas, Carmela Astolfi, the attitude of the play is just as irreverent as it is entertaining. Astolfi was the most celebrated soprano before Callas, who is returning after long years of exile in Argentina to find
the lore of the prime of her life. In The Scala, she meets a group of tourists whose guide elaborates how Callas was the most magnificent voice of all times and how she never had a rival. This is a real stab for the old soprano, but this is just the first in the comic plot that invokes the fierce battle the two singers fought.
Cast
Carmela Astolfi: Tiziana Fabbricini
Antonio Melomane (Antonio Melomaniac): Daniele Cusari
Don Bartolo and Salvatore: Blagoj Nacoski
Young shop assistant: Giulia Perusi
Tourist and old shop assistant: Leonora Tess
Annina, the caregiver: Simona Di Capua
Usherette at La Scala: Danile Piscopo
Contributing: MÁV Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by: Matteo Beltrami
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