Nov. 25--Italian opera houses have been rocked in recent years by what appears to be a never-ending series of financial, managerial and labor crises that have given an embarrassing black eye to the country where opera was born.
Riccardo Muti's resignation from Rome's debt-ridden Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, where he served for six years as honorary conductor for life, was announced the same week last September in which a less high-profile Italian maestro, Nicola Luisotti, resigned from Naples' Teatro di San Carlo, citing similar frustration with problems stemming from a severe cutback in government subsidy to Italy's opera companies.
Amid all the strife, it appeared that Turin's Teatro Regio di Torino -- the once-provincial theater respected Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda has raised to an enviable international level in his seven years as music director -- would emerge unscathed.
No further proof of the company's renaissance under Noseda was needed than Teatro Regio's announcement last April that he would lead the orchestra, chorus and soloists next month on a four-city North American tour that would begin in Chicago. The vehicle was Rossini's massive final opera, "Guglielmo Tell" ("William Tell"), to be sung in Italian in concert form.
But ongoing conflicts between Noseda and general manager Walter Vergnano prompted Noseda to announce in late August that he would not renew his contract, although he agreed to stay on as guest conductor through the end of the current season and to honor his commitment to lead the "William Tell" tour. The kickoff date remains Dec. 3 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. From Chicago the "William Tell" tour will move on to Ann Arbor, Mich.; Toronto; and New York's Carnegie Hall.
Recently there's been an update to Turin's grand-operatic saga.
In a phone interview last week from Lago Maggiore in the north of Italy, where the 50-year-old Noseda makes his home with his wife, Lucia, he suggested he may not renounce his music director title after all. "The situation is very fluid, a work in progress," he explained, declining to elaborate.
Meanwhile, Italian media are reporting that the Teatro Regio's appointment last month of Gaston Fournier-Facio, the former artistic coordinator at Milan's La Scala opera, as the Turin company's artistic director has brought the two sides closer together, easing tensions.
Declaring that he's "still at the helm," Noseda left open the question of whether he will continue as formal musical chief of a theater he's helped to put solidly in the black, making the Teatro Regio an anomaly among Italy's major opera companies.
Noseda is also credited with almost single-handedly boosting attendance and international touring, expanding the company's presence in the CD and DVD market, and pulling in private sponsorship, a relatively new phenomenon in a nation whose arts groups receive the bulk of their funding from government sources.
Noseda remains steadfast in his insistence that artistic excellence must come first at the Teatro Regio before funding can be secured to support that excellence. "Once you have developed a clear artistic vision and strategy, it's easier to involve the private sponsorship of companies, institutions and individuals," he said. "But if you don't have anything to offer, how can you convince people to support you?"
When the Milan-born Noseda arrived in Turin in 2007, he found a once-important opera house -- Arturo Toscanini conducted the world premiere of Puccini's "La Boheme" there in 1896 -- reduced to backwater status.
Immediately he set to work building a stronger orchestra and chorus, enlarging the repertory, attracting more name-brand international artists and moving the company to a more American style of financing, with donations from the private sector taking up the slack from public funding.
Such was his entrepreneurial zeal that Italian companies Fiat, Maserati, Eataly, Lavazza and the Bannockburn-based Barilla America all signed on as sponsors of the present, $1.5 million tour, with the jewelry house Buccellati helping to underwrite the Chicago appearance.
As Noseda sees it, the expansion of activities at the Teatro Regio has raised the overall artistic level significantly. "Now when I go to people and try to explain what I want to do with the theater, I have something to show them," he said. "Five or six years ago I didn't have anything behind me. Now it's slightly easier, because we've achieved some results and have been successful."
One of the grandest of grand operas, "William Tell" ("Guillaume Tell" in the original French version) is infrequently performed today because of the severe demands it makes on the performers. Chicago last heard it in 1986 when it was presented, in Lithuanian, by the Lithuanian Opera. Leading roles in the Turin production will be sung by soprano Angela Meade as Matilde, tenor John Osborn as Arnoldo and baritone Luca Salsi as the titular sharpshooter.
"It's the best Rossini opera from the orchestral standpoint, so well-written, and the choral writing is wonderful," Noseda observed. "To bring off this massive opera well requires the combined strengths of everybody on stage."
The maestro regards Rossini's late masterpiece as a well-nigh-ideal litmus test of how far up the artistic ladder the Teatro Regio has climbed.
"This is the first time an Italian opera company will tour an opera in concert form in North America," he said. "It's a project very dear to my heart, something essential for the theater. I see this as a duty to perform for my country, at a difficult time in its history. It is vital to establish Italy as being still important culturally. These performances can show how good we can be if we put our efforts and our talents together."
The Teatro Regio di Torino's concert version of Rossini's "Guglielmo Tell" will take place at 7 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph Drive; $55-$95; 312-334-7777, harristheaterchicago.org.
Free Web streaming for 'Macbeth'
For the coming six weeks, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is making its acclaimed 2013 concert performance of Verdi's "Macbeth" available for free, on-demand online listening.
To access the Riccardo Muti-led performance, listeners should go to cso.org/radio/macb, the radio channel of the orchestra's multimedia magazine, CSO Sounds Stories.
Muti's cast is headed by Luca Salsi in the title role, Tatiana Serjan as Lady Macbeth, Dmitry Belosselskiy as Banco and Francesco Meli as Macduff, with the Chicago Symphony Chorus.
No word as yet from the CSO whether the Muti "Macbeth" also will be released as a commercial CD recording.
Music ed program in Hyde Park
The Chicago-based International Beethoven Project will partner with the Chicago Academy of Music and the Chicago Metamorphosis Orchestra Project to develop a music-education program in Hyde Park to benefit South Side residents. There will be an emphasis on reaching underserved communities from the Bronzeville, Woodlawn, Back of the Yards, Englewood and South Shore neighborhoods.
University Church in Hyde Park will be the site for an orchestral program and private music lessons and also will serve as artistic planning headquarters for the Beethoven Project.
The music program will be free to children in need. Programming will include free concerts for students, their families and the community. Funding will come from donors, local businesses and tuition-paying families admitted to the program, and will be managed by the music academy.
Specifics of the program, which is set to begin early next year, will be announced Dec. 17 as part of a free daylong slate of Beethoven Project events to celebrate the composer's birthday. Performances will be open to the public from noon to 8 p.m., with a presentation by the program directors at 6 p.m., at University Church, 5655 S. University Ave.
Further information is available online at internationalbeethovenproject.com, chicagoacademyofmusic.com and chimop.org.
jvonrhein@tribpub.com
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