La Traviata

by Giuseppe Verdi

Taormina Greek Theatre, July 16, 19 and 21 2016 @ 9.30pm

The most famous opera of Giuseppe Verdi performed by the cast of the Teatro Massimo Bellini of Catania.
Director: Jordi Bernàcer
Staging, Sets, Costumes and Lights > Massimo Gasparon

CAST

Violetta Valery > Desirée Rancatore

Alfredo Germont > Stefan Pop

Giorgio Germont  > Giuseppe Altomare

Flora Bervoix  > Loredana Rita Megna

Annina  > Piera Bivona

Gastone, visconte de Letorières   >Roberto Covatta

Barone Douphol  > Giuseppe Esposito

Marchese d’Obigny  > Alessandro Busi

Dottor Grenvil > Maurizio Muscolino

Giuseppe > Giuseppe Costanzo

Domestico di Flora / Commissionario  > Alessandro Vargetto

TICKETS

Stalls (Parterre): € 85,00
Upper circle (numbered seats): € 50,00
Upper circle (non-numbered seats): € 30,00

Saturday 16 > on boxol.it and ticketone.it
Tuesday 19 > on boxol.it and ticketone.it
Thursday 21 > on boxol.it and ticketone.it

Ticket Office in Taormina @ Taormina Arte:
Congress Hall >> 10-12am / 5.00-7.00pm (9.00pm on event’s day)
Tel. +39 0942.628730 – 0039 0942 21142 info@taormina-arte.com www.taormina-arte.com

Madama Butterfly

Opera by Giacomo Puccini

Taormina Greek Theatre, 7 and 9 July 2016 @ 9.30pm

TICKETS (prices slightly different)

On July 7 >> on boxol.it and ticketone.it
On July 9 >> on boxol.it and ticketone.it
Stalls (Parterre): € 105,00/108,00
Gallery: € 80,00/81,00
Upper circle (numbered seats): € 59,40/60,00
Upper circle (non-numbered seats): € 32,40/33,00

Ticket Office in Taormina @ Taormina Arte: Congress Hall >> 10-12am / 5.00-7.00pm (9.00pm on event’s day)
Tel. +39 0942.628730 – 0039 0942 21142
info@taormina-arte.com www.taormina-arte.com

Synopsis

Time: 1904.

Place: Nagasaki, Japan.

Act 1

In 1904, a U.S. Naval officer named Pinkerton rents a house on a hill in Nagasaki, Japan, for himself and his soon-to-be wife, “Butterfly”. Her real name is Ciocio-san, (cio-cio, pronounced “chocho”^{[needs IPA]}: the Japanese word for “butterfly” is chō (蝶^?) or chōchō/chōcho (蝶々 or 蝶蝶^?)). She is a 15-year-old Japanese girl whom he is marrying for convenience, since he intends to leave her once he finds a proper American wife, and since Japanese divorce laws are very lax. The wedding is to take place at the house. Butterfly had been so excited to marry an American that she had earlier secretly converted to Christianity. After the wedding ceremony, her uninvited uncle, a bonze, who has found out about her conversion, comes to the house, curses her and orders all the guests to leave, which they do while renouncing her. Pinkerton and Butterfly sing a love duet and prepare to spend their first night together.

Act 2

Three years later, Butterfly is still waiting for Pinkerton to return, as he had left shortly after their wedding. Her maid Suzuki keeps trying to convince her that he is not coming back, but Butterfly will not listen to her. Goro, the marriage broker who arranged her marriage, keeps trying to marry her off again, but she won’t listen to him either. The American Consul, Sharpless, comes to the house with a letter which he has received from Pinkerton which asks him to break some news to Butterfly: that Pinkerton is coming back to Japan, but Sharpless cannot bring himself to finish it because Butterfly becomes very excited to hear that Pinkerton is coming back. Sharpless asks Butterfly what she would do if Pinkerton were not to return. She then reveals that she gave birth to Pinkerton’s son after he had left and asks Sharpless to tell him.

From the hill house, Butterfly sees Pinkerton’s ship arriving in the harbour. She and Suzuki prepare for his arrival, and then they wait. Suzuki and the child fall asleep, but Butterfly stays up all night waiting for him to arrive.

Act 3

Suzuki wakes up in the morning and Butterfly finally falls asleep. Sharpless and Pinkerton arrive at the house, along with Pinkerton’s new American wife, Kate. They have come because Kate has agreed to raise the child. But, as Pinkerton sees how Butterfly has decorated the house for his return, he realizes he has made a huge mistake. He admits that he is a coward and cannot face her, leaving Suzuki, Sharpless and Kate to break the news to Butterfly. Agreeing to give up her child if Pinkerton comes himself to see her, she then prays to statues of her ancestral gods, says goodbye to her son, and blindfolds him. She places a small American flag into his hands and goes behind a screen, cutting her throat with her father’s hara-kiri knife. Pinkerton rushes in, but he is too late, and Butterfly dies.

L E   T E R R E   D E L   S O L E   F E S T I V A L

Sinatra playSinatra

Taormina Greek Theatre, Tuesday June 28th @ 9.30pm

28th June is the last day of the festival. The guitarist Tom Sinatra, nephew of the famous
singer Frank Sinatra, will perform together with the soprano Silvana Froli.

Tickets on http://terredelsolefestival.com/index.php/compra-online
(the following prices do NOT include pre-selling)
Stalls (Parterre): 45,00
Gallery (Tribuna numerata): € 35,00
Upper circle, numbered seats (Cavea numerata) : € 25,00
Upper circle, non-numbered seats (Cavea non numerata): € 15,00

E-tickets can be collected only on the same day of the event (7.00-8.30pm) at the Taormina Congress Hall which is few metres before the entrance of the Greek Theatre.

More info: WhatsApp: 366 7081718 – info@terredelsolefestival.com

L E   T E R R E   D E L   S O L E   F E S T I V A L

Cavalleria Rusticana – Rustican Chivalry

Taormina Greek Theatre, Saturday June 25th AND Sunday 26th 2016 @ 9.30pm

The Greek theatre in Taormina will host the festival Le Terre del Sole next 24-28 June.
On June 25th and 26th the baritone Alberto Gazale conducts Prologo Rusticano and Cavalleria Rusticana an opera from the famous Italian composer Pietro Mascagni.

Cavalleria Rusticana is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945) to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from a play written by Giovanni Verga based on his short story. It is the first and best known Mascagni’s works. Its success has been phenomenal from its first performance in the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on May 17, 1890 until the present day. At the time of Mascagni’s death in 1945, the opera had been performed more than 14,000 times in Italy alone.

Before this Opera a short film “Prologo Rusticano” will be projected. The film will show the backstory of the Cavalleria Rusticana, live soundtrack composed by Luis Bacalov.

Tickets on http://terredelsolefestival.com/index.php/compra-online
(the following prices do NOT include pre-selling)
Stalls (Parterre): (SOLD OUT)
Gallery (Tribuna numerata): € 80,00
Upper circle, numbered seats (Cavea numerata) : € 50,00
Upper circle, non-numbered seats (Cavea non numerata): € 25,00

E-tickets can be collected only on the same day of the event (7.00-8.30pm) at the Taormina Congress Hall which is few metres before the entrance of the Greek Theatre.

More info: WhatsApp: 366 7081718 – info@terredelsolefestival.com

SYNOPSIS

Place: A 19th-century Sicilian village     Time: Easter morning

Before the action takes place, the young villager Turiddu had returned from military service to find that his fiancée Lola had married the carter Alfio while Turiddu was away.[9] In revenge, Turiddu had seduced Santuzza, a young woman in the village. As the opera begins, Lola, overcome by her jealousy of Santuzza, has begun an adulterous affair with Turiddu.

The main square of the village

Offstage, Turiddu is heard singing The Siciliana – “O Lola, lovely as the spring’s bright blooms”. To one side is the church; to the other is Lucia’s wine shop and the house where she lives with her son, Turiddu. The villagers move about the square, singing of the beautiful spring day (Gli aranci olezzano sui verdi margini – “The air is sweet with orange blossoms”) and a hymn to the Blessed Virgin. Some villagers enter the church, and others wander off still singing.

Santuzza, having slept with Turiddu and suspecting that he has betrayed her for Lola, is distraught and approaches Lucia as she comes out of her house. Santuzza asks for Turiddu, but Lucia replies that he has gone to another town to fetch some wine. Santuzza tells her that he was seen during the night in the village. Lucia asks her inside to talk, but just at that moment Alfio arrives on his wagon, accompanied by the villagers. He praises the joys of a teamster’s life and the beauty of his bride. Alfio asks Lucia for some of her fine old wine. She tells him it has run out and Turiddu has gone away to buy more. Alfio replies that he had seen Turiddu early that morning near his cottage. Lucia starts to express surprise, but Santuzza stops her.

Alfio leaves. The choir inside the church is heard singing the Regina Coeli. Outside, the villagers sing an Easter Hymn, joined by Santuzza. The villagers enter the church, while Santuzza and Lucia remain outside. Lucia asks Santuzza why she signalled her to remain silent when Alfio said that he had seen Turiddu that morning. Santuzza exclaims, Voi lo sapete – “Now you shall know”, and tells Lucia the story of her seduction by Turiddu and his affair with Lola. Lucia pities Santuzza, who the villagers are considering excommunicating for her seduction. Santuzza cannot enter the church, but begs Lucia to go inside and pray for her.

Turiddu arrives. Santuzza upbraids him for pretending to have gone away, when he was actually seeing Lola. Lola enters the square singing. She mocks Santuzza and goes inside the church. Turiddu turns to follow Lola, but Santuzza begs him to stay. Turiddu pushes her away. She clings to him. He loosens her hands, throws her to the ground, and enters the church. Alfio arrives looking for Lola. Santuzza tells him that his wife has betrayed him with Turiddu. Alfio swears to take vendetta (revenge) which causes Santuzza to repent for having disclosed the affair and begs Alfio to stop to no avail.

The square is empty as the orchestra plays the famous Intermezzo.

The villagers come out of the church. Turiddu is in high spirits because he is with Lola and Santuzza appears to have gone. He invites his friends to his mother’s wine shop where he sings a drinking song, Viva, il vino spumeggiante – “Hail to the bubbling wine!”. Alfio joins them. Turiddu offers him wine, but he refuses it. All understand that trouble is in the air. The women leave, taking Lola with them. In a brief exchange of words, Alfio challenges Turiddu to a duel. Following Sicilian custom, the two men embrace, and Turiddu, in a token of acceptance, bites Alfio’s ear, drawing blood which signifies a fight to the death. Alfio leaves and Turiddu calls Lucia back. He tells her that he is going outside to get some air and asks that she be a kindly mother to Santuzza if he should not return: Un bacio, mamma! Un altro bacio!—Addio! – “One kiss, mother! One more kiss! – Farewell!”.

Turiddu rushes out. Lucia, weeping, wanders aimlessly around outside her house. Santuzza approaches and throws her arms around her. The villagers start to crowd around. Voices are heard in the distance and a woman cries, “They have murdered Turiddu!” Santuzza faints and Lucia collapses in the arms of the women villagers.

POPISM

From Graffiti to Street Art, from Pop Surrealism to Superflat

Palazzo Corvaja, from April 22nd to July 4th 2016

Open everyday 10.00am- 10.00pm
Entrance: € 10,00 – reduced € 5.00 – school students: € 4,00

Fifty years of pop art seen through the works of 50 great artists. 80 masterpieces coming from many famous private collections.

PRESS RELEASE (in Italian)

Pop art employs aspects of mass culture, such as advertising, comic books and mundane cultural objects. One of its aims is to use images of popular (as opposed to elitist) culture in art, emphasizing the banal or kitschy elements of any culture, most often through the use of irony. It is also associated with the artists’ use of mechanical means of reproduction or rendering techniques.

The artists:

| ANDY WARHOL | ROY LICHTENSTEIN | ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG | ROBERT INDIANA | MIMMO ROTELLA | MARIO SCHIFANO | SERGIO LOMBARDO | RENATO MAMBOR | TANO FESTA | MARK KOSTABI | MR. BRAINWASH | DOZE GREEN | KETIH HARING | JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT | RAMMELLZEE | JON ONE | RAE MARTINI | BO130 | ATOMO | TAKASHI MURAKAMI | YASUMASA MORIMURA | YOSHITOMO NARA | TOMOKO NAGAO | KATJA TUKIANINEN | MARK RYDEN | MARION PECK | RON ENGLISH | NICOLA VERLATO | FULVIO DI PIAZZA | ELIO VARUNA | ANTHONY AUSGANG | DOMENICO PELLEGRINO | MAX FERRIGNO | GABRIELS | THE LONDON POLICE | FLYING FORTRESS | BORIS HOPPEK | MICROBO | INVADER | BROS | VHILS | ERICAILCANE | OKUDA | ROSH333 | BORONDO | JBROCK | LUCAMALEONTE | MONEYLESS | ZED1 | SHAPARD FAIREY | BANKSY |

Info ticket:
info@emergencefesstival.it – +39 338 2417482
m.privitera@taoarte.it – +39 0942 21142