The Italian city was one of the places in the world most harshly punished by Covid-19. The famous Italian maestro will conduct Donizetti’s funeral mass in an event that will be broadcast by RAI1 which will be attended by the President of the Republic of Italy, Sergio Mattarella.
Riccardo Frizza, musical director of the Festival Donizetti Opera in Bergamo (Italy), will conduct Gaetano Donizetti’s Messa da Requiem on the 28th June at the gates of the city’s Monumental Cemetery, in memory of and in homage to the victims of Covid-19. The pandemic hit the city and the whole of the north Italian region very hard. The event will be attended by the highest authorities in the country, headed by the president of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella. The participating singers, the soprano Eleonora Buratto, the mezzosoprano Annalisa Stroppa, the tenor Piero Pretti and the bass Alex Esposito, are all very attached to the region, alongside the Donizetti Opera Choir and Orchestra.
Riccardo Frizza confirmed that “the evocative power of music will help to celebrate this community ceremony” which will mean the re-start of the city’s cultural activity. “Before organising any artistic initiative, something that is deeply rooted in our culture, we consider it necessary to give homage to the victims and to the communal suffering that we have all felt, having lost so many loved ones. For an event of these characteristics, Donizetti’s Requiem is the most fitting choice. It will be performed by musicians related to the Donizetti Festival with the blessing of the cities of Bergamo and Brescia, who we would like to thank by accepting a token fee”, the Italian conductor explains.
The Messa da Requiem was composed by Donizetti in 1835 after the death of Vincenzo Bellini, for whom the composer professed to have a deep admiration, and it was performed for the first time at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome on the 28th April 1870, twenty-two years after the death of Donizetti himself.
In July, Riccardo Frizza will be conducting in the super-concert Il cuore italiano della Musica alongside three other conductors and 25 singers. The event is being organised by the Verona Arena.
Info:
Web Riccardo Frizza: www.riccardofrizza.com
Web Donizetti Opera Festival: https://bit.ly/30STmCN