Celebrated Italian Maestro Carlo Rizzi proved once again his credentials as a true holder of the Italian tradition, leading the production of Verdi’s Il Trovatore at the Opera National de Paris. Fresh from a tremendously successful triumvirate of productions across the autumn at New York’s Metropolitan Opera – Tosca, Don Carlos and the widely-acclaimed season opening production of Cherubini’s Medea, making it’s long-awaited first appearance at the Metropolitan with Sondra Radvanovsky’s blazing artistry in the title role, Rizzi returned to Paris after a highly successful new production of Massenet’s Cendrillon last season, for the first of two appearances in 22/23:
“In the pit though, was Carlo Rizzi . Those who expected a routine ‘instrumental’ interpretation did not reckon with the Milanese conductor. With him, the orchestra gave its best: precision, refinement, stylistic perfection and, needless to say, a sense of phrasing in constant close affinity with the singers.” – Alessandro Di Profio, Connessi all’ Opera
“The orchestra performed to its full extent. At its head was Carlo Rizzi, familiar from Pesaro, steeped in Italianità but also with the Grand Opéra style. With gestures as precise as they are elegant, tinged with lightness and sprezzatura, he achieved an ideal balance, and flawless dramatic tension.” – Bénédicte Palaux-Simonnet, Crescendo Magazine
“Carlo Rizzi was a great conductor during the night. The orchestra sounded just as it should sound in a Verdi score.” – João Marcos Copertino, Opera Wire
“Carlo Rizzi conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra national de Paris – the latter impeccably prepared by Alessandro Di Stefano – with his characteristic well-known effectiveness, maintaining momentum throughout, and always searching for balance and harmony. primary efficiency. The two phalanxes together proved once again their overall quality, with strong investment from every individual and the overall sound rendering doing true justice to Verdi’s music.” – Par José Pons, Olyrix
From Paris, Rizzi travels to Munich to lead a revival of Puccini’s Manon Lescaut at the Bayerische Staatsoper, with Elena Stikhina in the title role, and then returns to the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra for a week on the symphonic podium, conducting a programme of Widmann, Saint-Saens and Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, with concerts on 3, 4 and 5 March at Amsterdam’s legendary Concertgebouw Hall. At the end of the season, his second visit to the Opera National de Paris sees him at the helm of a new production of Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette, directed by Thomas Jolly, and starring Elsa Dreisig and Benjamin Bernheim, Pretty Yende and Francesco Demuro, as the star-crossed lovers – performances from 14 June 2023.
Photo credit: Tessa Traeger
