The Embassy of Italy in Manama, in collaboration with the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA), organized the concert “Tribute to Maestro Giacomo Puccini” on Tuesday 27th February 2024 at the National Theatre, on the occasion of “Spring of Culture festival” organized annually by BACA.
The concert registered a full house and was attended by the President of BACA, Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, as well as the highest representatives of Bahraini institutions, embassies, civil society and students of the “Grazia Deledda” Center for Italian Language and Culture.
The opera gala at the National Theater in Manama was performed by soprano Desirée Rancatore, tenor Davide Tuscano, pianist Jacopo Salvatori, and the Ensemble Massimo Youth Orchestra. Paying homage to one of the finest composers whose operas are among those most celebrated and well-loved in the world like La Bohème, Turandot, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut, and Gianni Schicchi, the programme included a succession of timeless arias that made the history of music such as “Nessun Dorma”, “Vissi d’arte”, “Si’, mi chiamano Mimi’”, “E lucevan le stelle”, evoking heart touching emotions.
Soprano Desirée Rancatore debuted at the Salzburg Festival as Barbarina in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in 1996 at the age of 19. During her brilliant career, she has performed in leading roles and as a soloist in some of the most important Italian opera houses, as well as in Zurich, London, Madrid, Wien, San Francisco, Tokyo, just to mention a few. She has been awarded many prestigious international prizes, she also holds a rich discography and performs worldwide with the most famous conductors.
Tenor Davide Tuscano, “Young Male Talent” winner of the International Competition “Premio Etta Limiti Opera 2013”, debuted in 2014 in the role of Ruiz in “Il Trovatore” by G. Verdi. He started a collaboration with the “Luciano Pavarotti Foundation” and performs in Italy, France, Spain, Belgium and Japan.
Pianist and composer Jacopo Salvatori’s recent engagements include two operas, premiered at Grachtenfestival in Amsterdam, Theater an der Wien and State Theatre in Braunschweig, a ballet premiered at the National State Theatre in Munich and several other theatrical pieces. In the past four years, Jacopo Salvatori has been awarded more than seven prizes and artistic grants, including the first prize at the International Composition Competition of the Leipzig Opera House.
The Massimo Youth Orchestra is the most recently formed young ensemble of the Fondazione Teatro Massimo of Palermo, established in 2020 with young musicians between 16 and 23 years of age. The concert “Tribute to Maestro Giacomo Puccini” was performed by a representation of its violinists in an unprecedented formation.
At the end of the concert, Ambassador Paola Amadei stated: “The Italian opera singing was added in 2023 to the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. I am most delighted that we could bring such a high level concert to pay homage to one of the most important artist of the world, Maestro Giacomo Puccini, whose art itself belongs to humanity. This was made possible by the strong collaboration with the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities to whom I am most thankful.”
