The Puccini Foundation, Lucca Town Council and Giglio Theatre develop and consolidate the relationship between the institutions and Giacomo Puccini with the second edition of “Puccini Days“, the festival which has become a fixed event dedicated to the great maestro.
The festival starts 13 November and brings together a large variety of musical experiences: from chamber and sacred music to improvisation and jazz.
During the festival, besides the main musical performances there are also a series of events that give the town a special and exclusive atmosphere dedicated to Puccini: guided visits to Puccini sites, small concerts in suggestive and significant locations in the life of the Maestro, conferences and meetings, events in partnership with the town’s musical Associations.
20 November 2015, 8.30pm – Giglio Theatre
22 November 2015, 3.30pm – Giglio Theatre
Madame Butterfly
Opening Event
Maria Luigia Borsi, Grazia Lee – Cio Cio San
Lorenzo Decaro – Pinkerton
Lorena Scarlata, Moonjin Kim – Suzuki
Marcello Rosiello, Giuseppe Altomare – Sharpless
Tiziano Barontini – Goro
Marco Voleri – Yamadori and Yakusidé
John Paul Huckle – Uncle Bonze
Alessandra Meozzi – Kate Pinkerton
Riccardo Fassi – Imperial Commissioner
Conductor Valerio Galli
Director Sandro Pasqualetto
Madame Butterfly: it dates to 1904, this opera that Giacomo Puccini composed after having been struck by the performance of the theatre drama by David Belasco “Madame Butterfly” at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London in 1900. The tragedy of the young and splendid Japanese Cio Cio San, married and abandoned with a child from the American Pinkerton, returns to the stage of the Giglio Theatre with the reappearance of the set created in 2004 marking the centenary of the opera. The 2015 edition is greatly renewed: conduction and direction ensure a rigorous interpretation of great impact, while the cast bring a highly crafted expressive quality and theatrical intensity. Highlight, the Cio Cio San of Maria Luigia Borsi, interpretation with strong vocal dynamism and stage presence, having already played the role to much acclaim at the Cincinnati Opera and the Carlo Felice Theatre in Genova.
Details:
Complete programme of “The Puccini Days”
Friday 13 November
19.00 – Giglio Theatre foyer, meeting with the Madame Butterfly performers
Sunday 15 November
12pm – Puccini Museum, guided visit included in ticket price
3.30pm – Puccini Museum, “Everyone at Giacomo’s house!” (guided visit for children aged 6 to 12 –
advance booking required)
Friday 20 November
8.30pm – Giglio Theatre, Madame Butterfly – conductor Valerio Galli, director Sandro Pasqualetto,
Tuscany Orchestra and Choir
Saturday 21 November
12pm – Puccini Museum, guided visit included in ticket price
Sunday 22 November
3.30pm – Giglio Theatre, Madame Butterfly – conductor Valerio Galli, director Sandro Pasqualetto,
Tuscany Orchestra and Choir
Friday 27 November
9pm – Cinema Centrale, concert film “Jonas Kaufmann, An Evening with Puccini”
Saturday 28 November
11 – Cathedral, guided visit and organ concert – free entry (organised by Flam)
12 – Puccini Museum, guided visit included in ticket price.
21.15 – Auditorium Vincenzo da Massa Carrara, Porcari, selection from the opera Le Villi in a semi-staged concert (organised by Circolo Amici della Musica Alfredo Catalani, in partnership with Porcari Town Council) – free entry while seats last
Sunday 29 November
10.30 – Cathedral, Messa by Giacomo Puccini
12 – Puccini Museum, guided visit marking the 91th anniversary since the death of Giacomo Puccini
17 – Giglio Theatre, concert “Nobody sleeps”, conductor Marco Balderi, Orchestra and Choir – Lucca Puccini Days
Saturday 5 December
11 – Cathedral, guided visit and organ concert – free entry (by Flam)
12 – Puccini Museum, guided visit included in ticket price
Sunday 6 December
18 – Casermetta San Colombano, concert “An evening at the opera”, music by Donizetti, Verdi,
Puccini, singing class of Giovanni Dagnino (organised by the ISSM “L. Boccherini”)
Tuesday 8 December
21 – Giglio Theatre, recital Daniela Dessì, Archi all’opera quintet (first parts of the Orchestra of the Carlo Felice Theatre in Genova)
Saturday 12 December
9 – Oratorio San Giuseppe, presentation of the Arrosti family musical archive – free entry (organised by Flam)
11 – Cathedral, guided visit and organ concert – free entry (organised by Flam)
12 – Puccini Museum, guided visit included in ticket price
21 – Giglio Theatre, Mass in F major for solos, choir and orchestra by Michele Puccini, conductor
Luca Bacci, Choir of the Cappella Santa Cecilia in Lucca, Luigi Boccherini Symphony Orchestra (organised by Lucca Musical Sagra)
Sunday 13 December
11.45 – Palazzo Pretorio open gallery, concert musical Body “Giacomo Puccini” (in partnership with
Unicef)
18 – Casermetta San Colombano, concert Ottetto di fiati by the ISSM “L. Boccherini”, conductor Remo
Pieri, music by Mozart and Puccini (organised by the ISSM “L. Boccherini”)
Saturday 19 December
11 – Cathedral, guided visit and organ concert– free entry (organised by Flam)
12 – Puccini Museum, guided visit included in ticket price
17 – Auditorium del Suffragio, concert Quartet della Scala, music by Puccini, Ravel, Debussy (organised by the Lucca Musical association)
Sunday 20 December
11.45 – Palazzo Pretorio open gallery, Philharmonic concert “Giacomo Puccini” by Segromigno in Monte
(in partnership with Unicef)
12 – Puccini Museum, guided visit included in ticket price
15.30 Puccini Museum, “La bohème for small set designers” (creative workshop for children aged 7 to 11 – advance booking required)
Tuesday 22 December
10-13/15-17 – Puccini Museum, special opening with guided visit to mark the 157th birthday of the Maestro
(advance booking required)
21 – Giglio Theatre, Stefano Bollani, ensemble Bohème Jazz Club – music and improvisations by
Stefano Bollani: dedicated to Giacomo Puccini
Saturday 26 December
12 – Puccini Museum, guided visit included in ticket price
Friday 1 January
15.30 – Puccini Museum, “Hunting with Giacomo” (treasure hunt for children aged 6 to 12 –
advance booking required)
Saturday 2 January
12 – Puccini Museum, guided visit included in ticket price
Saturday 9 January
12 – Puccini Museum, guided visit included in ticket price
Sunday 10 January
17 – Giglio Theatre, recital by José Carreras, Lorenzo Bavaj (pianoforte), music by Tosti,
Leoncavallo, Puccini and repertoire of Neapolitan songs
MUSIC IN TOWN
Saturday 21 November
21 – Industrial Association Hall, Claude Hauri – violoncello, Gabriella Dolfi – pianoforte
Music by Beethoven, Rachmaninov (organised by the ISSM “L. Boccherini”)
Saturday 28 November
17 – Casermetta San Colombano, Concert for clarinet solo and family of clarinets by Tony Capula
– PREMIERE (by Cluster)
Thursday 3 December
21 – Auditorium del Suffragio, TIMELESS SAXOPHONE QUARTET music by Bach, Nyman, Monk,
Khacheh, Khalil “From Bach to Monk, passing the Sax…” (organised by the ISSM “L. Boccherini”)
Saturday 5 December
20.30 – Giglio Theatre, Il convitato di pietra by Giovanni Pacini – conductor Daniele Ferrari, director
Lorenzo Maria Mucci, Orchestra Arché, Choir Laboratorio Lirico San Nicola
Monday 7 December
21 – Giglio Theatre, Paolo Fresu & Dino Rubino; the concert is accompanied by the projection of
photographs by Pino Ninfa (curated by Photolux Festival)
Friday 11 December
21.15 – Casermetta San Colombano, concert by the Etymos Ensemble, flute, clarinet, electronics –
PREMIERE (by Cluster)
Friday 18 December
18 – Auditorium del Suffragio, Christmas Concert, Orchestra ISSM “L. Boccherini”, conductor
Gianpaolo Mazzoli (organised by the ISSM “L. Boccherini”)
Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 January
8.30pm – Giglio Theatre, Simon Boccanegra by Giuseppe Verdi – conductor Ivo Lipanovic, director Lorenzo
Maria Mucci, Tuscany Orchestra, Choir CLT
by car: park outside San Pietro Gate, enter the gate and take via S. Girolamo until Piazza del Giglio
shuttle Bus from the paid parking area in Viale Carducci
From the railway station go along Viale regina Margherita until San Pietro Gate, then take via S. Girolamo until Piazza del Giglio
Ticket sales Box Office Giglio Theatre :
tel. 0583 465320 – email: biglietteria@teatrodelgiglio.it
For information and advance booking of other events:
Association FLAM: tel. 347 9692694 email: maurus1958@virgilio.it
Lucca Musical Association: tel. 0583 469960 email: info@associazionemusicalelucchese.it
Cinema Centrale: tel. 0583 55405
Circolo Amici della lirica Alfredo Catalani: tel. 347 991581
Cluster: tel. 347 1856883
ISSM “L. Boccherini”: tel. 0583 464104
Photolux Festival: tel. 0583 55345, 348 3720618 email: info@photoluxfestival.it
Puccini Museum: tel. 0583 584028 email: info@puccinimuseum.it
Lucca Musical Sagra: tel. 0583 48421
Azienda Teatro del Giglio
The Theatre del Giglio has a prestigious historical background. Lucca, an autonomous city-state until the Napolionic period, has always been a very lively cultural centre. There were already two active theatre halls in the 17th century, but it still wasn’t enough to satisfy the needs of its inhabitants. The Teatro Pubblico was inaugurated in 1675, after a citizens board had studied the possibility of converting the old Gesuati convent for such a purpose. The building was destroyed by a fire in 1688 and was reconstructed four years later according to the original plans of Francesco Buonamici. When the Republic was brought down in 1799, the theatre went through a decadent period which lasted until 1817 when construction work was started on the new building under Giovanni Lazzarini’s plans. The new theatre was inaugurated in 1819; its name, “Teatro del Giglio”, was chosen by Maria Luisa di Borbone, the Sovreign of Lucca,.
Since then, the stage of the Teatro del Giglio has become one of the most important in Italy. In 1985 it was given the title “Teatro di Tradizione” which is an honour bestowed on very few great, historic, Italian theatres.