If anyone asked what a Three Tenors concert would be like, the hundreds of performers who belted out opera hits at the Verona Arena on Friday night could provide a good answer.
Under the stars, a vast overture was played, including crowd-pleasers like the William Tell Overture, heart-rending arias, and a large orchestra and choir supporting A-list soloists in what was billed as a A unique show. The concert, a public recognition of opera’s cultural impact around the world, is broadcast around the world from the ancient Roman amphitheater and attracts tens of thousands of opera lovers every summer.
The Opera House’s “great masterpieces are our heritage and we Italians give them to the world,” conductor Cado Muti said on Italy’s main national television channel minutes before the event began.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni sat on a raised platform facing the stage, flanked by senior officials in an audience packed with fashion celebrities, opera fans and dozens of An ambassador “from a country that loves opera”.
While most of the campaign for recognition was under the previous center-left government, the inclusion of the U.N. agency UNESCO on the list is a coup for Italy’s conservative government, whose Culture Minister Gennaro Gennaro Sangiuliano has put it on the list.
One of his projects is the Italian Heritage Museum to highlight “Italy’s contribution to humanity”, and his directorial appointments at the most important museums have tended to favor local selections, while the previous government sought international talent. In April, he picked a leader for Milan’s famed opera house La Scala and issued a statement declaring that new boss Fortunato Altombina was Italian and “among the three… After the foreign chief director”.
However, at Friday’s concert, while 12 Italian opera houses and a number of conservatoires provided orchestras and choirs, many of the soloists were not Italian – a factor that has given opera its global appeal. A sign of strength.
Cecilia Gasdia, general manager of the Verona Arena Foundation, said: “There are Russians, Americans, French, everything here, and they all speak Italian. Singing, this fact shows the universality of this heritage.
“Opera is our national theater, just as Shakespeare is to the British people,” said Roberto Abbondanza, a baritone and president of Assolirica, an association of opera professionals that is responsible for this event. Recognize the core of the activity.
Stefano Trespidi, deputy artistic director of the Verona Arena Foundation, said that Italian opera houses and conservatoires had never joined forces to organize such an event before.
“All Italian opera is here,” he said. “This is the opera world celebrating itself and also celebrating Italian opera.”
Opera emerged in Italy around 1600. Spread quickly to Italy, Europe and other parts of the world.
Although the plays were performed in theaters catering to the wealthy, the music slowly made its way to the streets. Music critic Roberta Pedrotti said traveling musicians would play arias after Mass in remote village squares or on church organs, and there were even reports of gondoliers singing the latest hits for their clients, ” to show that they understand the situation.” Wrote several books on opera. The Italian language, she says, is full of phrases derived from opera.
Opera composer Marco Tutino said he realized the importance of Italian to opera when he began to be commissioned to write operas in other languages. “That’s the litmus test,” he said.
Mr Tutino said opera is “an art, a culture based on vocal technique and the Italian language, which is why we must protect this symbol of origin”.
Soprano Rosanna Savoia, who helped spearhead the recognition campaign, said the grand concert “demonstrated the government’s clear political will to protect and promote opera”.
Mr. Abundanza said this marked a change from a failed attempt about a decade ago for Italian opera to win United Nations honors. The government then focused instead on pursuing the listing of “The Art of Neapolitan Pizza Maker”. He added that before Italy got serious about promoting its own opera tradition, China had successfully registered four opera traditions.
Master Muti told the audience that UNESCO’s “recognition is not the end, but the starting point” and received warm applause.
As the night falls, the sound of Bravos rises and falls. The ballet was replaced by short scenes from beloved operas such as Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” or Puccini’s “La Bohème”, which delighted the audience. An extravagant performance of an aria from “Tosca” included incense, exploding cannons, dozens of children acting as altar boys, and a group of priests in gold robes. The crowd cheered. People in the rafters began clapping to the triumphal march from Verdi’s “Aida.” Opera snobs tell them to shut up.
“If you approach opera, you touch the depths of your soul. You are carried away by emotions.” Laura Costa applauded loudly and generously at halftime. Ms. Costa is no stranger to opera — she is a wedding singer — but she said the night was even better than she could have imagined. “It was explosive.” The evening ended with a rousing duet from “La Traviata” and encouragement to drink. Champagne bottles popped. One speaker noted that Italy’s next step is to include Italian cuisine on the UNESCO list.
Ms. Pedrotti noted that in 1990, as part of Italy’s celebration of its right to host the Football World Cup, the first film starring Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras A Three Tenors concert broadcast live to millions around the world has been met with scorn by some opera lovers. But it gave the genre a huge boost in popularity.
Undersecretary Mazzi said he hoped Friday’s concert would also be repeated internationally and become “a representative of Italian opera on tour around the world.”
He said there are international film festivals and sports events. “Opera should be treated the same way.”
