The Plácido Domingo Centre for Advanced Studies presents its third graduating class with a new production of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro.

•The young Andrea Battistoni musically directs the singers and choir of the Center de Perfectionament

Valencia (25-11-2011).- The Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo presents its third promotion of artists on December 5 with the premiere of a new production of Le nozze di Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the Teatre Martín i Soler.

This production of Mozart's classic is the result of a collaborative effort between Ruggero Raimondi and the members of the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo, which he directs. Raimondi's aim is to enhance the interpretive, vocal, and stage capabilities of the Centre's artists. To this end, he has conceived a starkly designed dramatic space, relying solely on essential stage elements, lighting, and costumes.

The renowned singer Ruggero Raimondi has created this new production of the Mozartian classic, featuring costumes by Begoña del Valle Iturriaga and lighting by Antonio Castro. Raimondi, one of the world's finest bass-baritones and the most recorded of all, makes his debut as director of performance and stage direction at the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo with this production.

The musical direction is in the hands of Andrea Battistoni (Verona, 1987), one of the most influential conductors on the current scene. The Veronese maestro makes his debut leading the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana with this production, whose cast includes artists from the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo. Furthermore, this season Battistoni will conduct the OCV in a concert featuring works by Puccini and Verdi, as well as Dvořák's Eighth Symphony.

After the first two forays into bel canto with La scala di seta and L'italiana in Algeri by Gioachino Rossini under the direction of Alberto Zedda and the double program tribute to Gian Carlo Menotti with The Telephone and Amelia al ballo directed by Plácido Domingo himself, the Centre presents its first Mozart.

Le nozze di Figaro is a comic opera in four acts with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais's play, Le mariage de Figaro . The work is a staple of the operatic repertoire and consistently ranks among the most frequently performed operas worldwide.

This composition is part of the so-called Mozart-Da Ponte trilogy, a collaboration between the Salzburg composer and the successful Treviso librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, which also includes Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte . All three works have already been performed at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, which will revive its own production of Don Giovanni , conceived by Jonathan Miller and conducted by Zubin Mehta, next January.

Veterans and youth

The Palau de les Arts has brought together veteran and youthful talent in this new production of Le nozze di Figaro . Ruggero Raimondi (Bologna, 1941), with over thirty years of a successful career, is already among the pantheon of great voices in the history of opera. Joseph Losey chose him to star in his excellent film version of Mozart's Don Giovanni , and he also appeared in Francesco Rosi's film version of Carmen . Raimondi has also distinguished himself as an actor and stage director, a role he presents for the first time at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía. Raimondi recently received a special distinction for his entire career at the Teatro Campoamor Lyric Awards. The bass-baritone becomes the third artistic figure associated with the Palau de les Arts, after Helga Schmidt and Zubin Mehta, to receive these awards, a prestigious event on the national operatic scene.

In the pit sits one of today's most promising young conductors, Andrea Battistoni. The Italian maestro, principal guest conductor of the Teatro Regio di Parma, is enjoying a meteoric rise, performing at Italy's most prestigious opera houses, including La Fenice in Venice, San Carlo in Naples, the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, and the Teatro Massimo in Palermo. He has also participated in renowned events such as the Rossini Opera Festival, the Verdi Festival in Parma, VeronaContemporanea, and the Verona Arena.

His schedule includes upcoming engagements in Berlin, Florence, Tokyo, St. Petersburg, and Oman, among others. Following his debut in Valencia with Le nozze di Figaro , the Veronese conductor will make his La Scala debut in Milan with the same Mozart opera in the legendary production by director Giorgio Strehler.

The cast of Le nozze di Figaro is made up of Andrea Mastroni (Figaro), Helen Kearns (Susanna), Isaac Galán (Il Conte di Almaviva), Diana Mian (La Contessa di Almaviva), Hagar Sharvit and Alessia Nadin (Cherubino), Adriana Di Paola (Marcellina), Leonard Bernayd (Bartolo), Mario Cerdá (Don Basilio), Jesús Álvarez (Don Curzio), Brigitta Simon (Barbarina), Daniele Piscopo (Antonio), Quiteria Muñoz and Ana María Sánchez (Una donna), Adriana García and Ramona Mirabela Castillo (Una donna).

The Centre de Perfeccionament has scheduled a second performance of Le nozze di Figaro on December 10. The Palau de les Arts has set a single price of 35 euros for tickets to this production.