Teatro Municipale di Piacenza

Staged at the 45th Festival della Valle d'Itria in Martina Franca, this 2019 production of Nicola Antonio Manfroce's rare opera Ecuba brings a forgotten early-19th-century tragedy back to the spotlight. Directed, designed, and costumed by Pier Luigi Pizzi, the staging delivers a striking visual interpretation of Giovanni Schmidt's libretto surrounding the aftermath of the Trojan War. Under the musical direction of Sesto Quatrini, the performance features powerful vocal delivery from Lidia Fridman and Carmela Remigio alternating in the title role alongside an accomplished ensemble. Backed by the Orchestra del Teatro Petruzzelli di Bari, this gripping revival offers an intense, rarely-heard exploration of classical myth and maternal grief.

Discover this rare Verdian jewel! Aroldo—one of the composer’s least performed works—premiered in 1857 in Rimini, Italy. The work was created in response to the censorship of Verdi’s 1849 Stiffelio, whose tale of a protestant pastor publicly pardonning an adulterer and his wife proved too scandalous for 19th-century Italian society. In creating Aroldo, Verdi’s librettist and collaborator Francesco Maria Piave transposed Stiffelio’s story and characters to the more distant setting of Great Britain at time of the Crusades, and the composer took advantage of this new version to add a fourth act to the opera, and to rewrite part of the first act as well as a few arias.