Here is the 2023 programme

The 44th edition of the Rossini Opera Festival will be held in Pesaro from August 11th to 23rd 2023. The programme includes two new productions (Eduardo e Cristina and Adelaide di Borgogna), the revival of Aureliano in Palmira, Il viaggio a Reims by the Accademia Rossiniana, two Cantatas, five concerts and the Petite messe solennelle. Click here to read the programme.

The founding bodies of the ROF are the Municipality of Pesaro, Intesa Sanpaolo and the Scavolini Foundation. The Festival is implemented with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Municipality of Pesaro, the Marche Region, EBWorld, and the Fondazione Meuccia Severi.

The Festival will be inaugurated on August 11st at the Vitrifrigo Arena by the critical edition premiere of Eduardo e Cristina, the 39th opera in Rossini's operatic catalogue. Jader Bignamini will conduct the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai and the Teatro Ventidio Basso Chorus. The cast includes Enea Scala (Carlo), Anastasia Bartoli (Cristina), Daniela Barcellona (Eduardo), Grigory Shkarupa (Giacomo) and Matteo Roma (Atlei). The performance is entirely entrusted to Stefano Poda (direction, sets, costumes, lighting and choreography). The three replicas will be held on August 14th, 17th and 20th.

This will be followed on August 12th at the Vitrifrigo Arena by the premiere of Aureliano in Palmira, with George Petrou conducting the Orchestra Sinfonica G. Rossini and the Teatro della Fortuna Chorus in a performance conceived for the ROF 2014 by Mario Martone, with sets by Sergio Tramonti, costumes by Ursula Patzak and lighting by Pasquale Mari. The production won the Best Rediscovered Work Prize at the 2015 International Opera Awards. The vocal company includes Alexey Tatarintsev (Aureliano), Sara Blanch (Zenobia), Raffaella Lupinacci (Arsace), Marta Pluda (Publia), Sunnyboy Dladla (Oraspe), Davide Giangregorio (Licinio), Alessandro Abis (Gran Sacerdote), Elcin Adil (Un Pastore). Repeats on August 15th, 18th and 21st.

The Vitrifrigo Arena will host on August 13th Adelaide di Borgogna, another new production directed by Francesco Lanzillotta, on the podium of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai and the Ventidio Basso Theatre Choir, and staged by Arnaud Bernard, with sets by Alessandro Camera, costumes by Maria Carla Ricotti and lighting by Fiammetta Baldiserri. In the cast, Varduhi Abrahamyan (Ottone), Olga Peretyatko (Adelaide), Riccardo Fassi (Berengario), René Barbera (Adelberto), Paola Leoci (Eurice), Valery Makarov (Iroldo), Antonio Mandrillo (Ernesto). Repeats on August 16th, 19th and 22nd.

The 35th Accademia Rossiniana "Alberto Zedda", which kicked off on July 3rd, will close on July 17th at the Teatro Sperimentale with the usual Final Concert. The students will be the protagonists, on August 16th and 18th at the Teatro Rossini, of Il viaggio a Reims conceived by Emilio Sagi and taken over by Matteo Anselmi, with Andrea Foti on the podium of the Filarmonica Gioachino Rossini. The singers of the Accademia Rossiniana will also perform in the Salons Rossini, concerts held in the historic villages of the province.

The concert programme is packed, with seven appointments all scheduled at the Teatro Sperimentale. It will begin on  August 14th with a new proposal of the Rossinimania section: the Cantata in morte di M.F. Malibran, composed in memory of the famous singer by P.A. Coppola, G. Donizetti, S. Mercadante, G. Pacini and N. Vaccaj, with Diego Ceretta on the podium of the Filarmonica Gioachino Rossini and the Chorus of the Teatro della Fortuna. The cast includes Lyaila Alamanova, Giuliana Gianfaldoni, Shachar Lavi, Dave Monaco, Giorgi Manoshvili and Michael Mofidian.

The Cantata in onore del Sommo Pontefice Pio IX will follow on August 15th. Christopher Franklin will conduct the Filarmonica Gioachino Rossini and the Teatro Ventidio Basso Chorus. The cast includes Pietro Adaíni (L'Amor pubblico), Marina Monzó (La Speranza), Michael Mofidian (Il Genio cristiano), Antonio Garés (Corifeo).

There will be two opera-symphonic concerts: on August 17th Sesto Quatrini will conduct Rosa Feola and the orchestra Sinfonica G. Rossini; on August 20th Marco Mencoboni will conduct Maria Kataeva and the Filarmonica Gioachino Rossini. Also on the programme are three Belcanto Concerts: starring Teresa Iervolino (August 19th), Enea Scala (August 21st) and Anastasia Bartoli (August 22nd).

The ROF 2023 will close on  August 23rd at the Vitrifrigo Arena with the Petite messe solennelle. Michele Mariotti will conduct the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI and the Teatro Ventidio Basso Chorus, as well as a cast consisting of Rosa Feola, Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, Dmitry Korchak and Giorgi Manoshvili.