S: passionate and suggestive conclusion for the 2025 edition of the Lyric Festival of the Teatri di Pietra, which on September 20 at 9 pm at the Roman theater in Catania celebrates the double centocyqual -centerary of the death of Georges Bizet and the first representation of his most famous work, Carmenwhose wide selection will be proposed, enriched by dances and an international vocal cast. The Gran Gala will see an authentic star of the world opera panorama, the Georgian mezzanine Anita Rachvelishvili, perform for the first time in Sicily in Sicily, the greatest interpreter of the sensual Sigaraia is taking place.
The genesis of the score has its roots in an artistic gestation as tormented as fascinating. Composed of Bizet between 1873 and 1875, Carmen was born from the adaptation of a short story by Prosper Mérimée, but soon turns into something more than a simple transposition: a cry of freedom in music, a hymn to rebellious and indomitable femininity. At his first Parisian at the Opéra-Comique, the work was welcomed with coldness, considered scandalous for the era for sensuality and tragic realism. Bizet died a few months later, unaware that his “Carmen”, initially misunderstood, would become one of the most celebrated masterpieces in the history of melodrama.
The Festival, promoted by the Sicilian Opera Choir chaired by Alberto Munafò Siragusa and artistically directed by Francesco Costa, this year recorded an unprecedented influx in the cultural and musical history of the Sicilian archaeological sites. Repeated and continuous sold out and enthusiastic ovations have, in fact, marked the dense calendar of the event which, between classic and contaminations, lyrical and symphonic, has flooded with notes and amazement sites of Attic beauty for a real rediscovery and enhancement of a territory and an identity that is a living and present history. In fact, the impact of the festival is noteworthy, which is confirmed not only of the highest artistic profile, but at the same time engine of cultural and tourist enhancement. Most of the events have, in fact, recorded well in advance all sold out, confirming the wide response of residents and tourists.
The turnout also generated an important economic induced for the territory, with a positive return to accommodation facilities, catering and tourist services. All this translates into a cultural meaning. On a philological level, the unprecedented critical edition of Aida represented a unique event worldwide, with a repêchage of great importance. In terms of accessibility and inclusion, the simultaneous translation in the language of the Italian signs (LIS), thanks to the collaboration with the “Sicily, tourism for all” association, has also opened the doors of the work also to spectators with auditory disabilities, confirming the social vocation of the Festival. To highlight the search for a main scenic identity, in which dance, music, choreography and architecture merge, offering exciting, immersive and innovative shows.
The final Gala Gala will turn into an authentic event to be impressed in the musical history of Southern Italy as an authentic hymn to passion, feeling and myth.
The concert will also feature the Sicilian lyrical chorus, the orchestra in residence of the festival directed by Constantin Rouits, the tenor Eduardo Sandoval, the baritone Liu Haoran, the soprano Leonora Ilieva, the mezzosoprano Antonella Arena, the tenors Alberto Munafò Siragusa and Davide Benigno, “Bailadores” Madrileni Javier Moreno Martínez and Isabel Ponce Rodriguez.
Warm, enveloping and pasty mezzosopranium voice, acclaimed by critics worldwide, Anita Rachvelishvili performed in the most famous theaters of work with a large repertoire and consecrating itself as one of the best interpreters of Bizet’s Opera-Comique, both by virtue of its extraordinary vocality and for its interpretation. The artist made his debut Carmen in Toronto, and then brought him to the most prestigious theaters, including the Milan Scala, the Arena of Verona and the Metropolitan Opera of New York.
Also this year the lyrical festival of the theaters of stone is confirmed as the season of triumphs and international prestigious kermesses, ascent between the reference seasons on the island and the Mediterranean. And he promises, once again, to give unique emotions in suggestive places where, through the wise work of the artists, legend runs towards eternity.