Italian operetta singers from Milan’s Laboratorio Lirico Europeo will be performing in the concert at the Festa Italiana being held on Saturday 1 December at 7.30pm at the Manoel Theatre.
Festa Italiana is a tribute to Italy’s romantic repertoire of immortal melodies, songs, selections from musicals and ever-green operettas so much loved by a strong section of the local public.
The following artists will be taking part: operetta comedian and ‘cantattore’ Walter Rubboli; soprano/soubrette Tiziana Scaciga della Silva; tenor Andrea Bragiotto; soprano Barbara Fasol and pianist/musical director Mro Debora Mori from Milan’s Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi. All performed at the Manoel Theatre in last year’s Serata all’Operetta’ concert.
The programme’s first part will be dedicated to traditional Italian and Neapolitan songs including Cesare Andrea Bixio’s La strada nel bosco (1943); ‘Violino Tzigano (1934); Torna (1930); Solo per te Lucia (1930); Ma cos’e’ questa crisi (1933), and also Ciriciribin (1898); I’ te vurria vasa’ (1900); and Ti voglio tanto bene (1938).
Tenor Andrea Bragiotto and soprano Barbara Fasol will perform as a duet Fiorin Fiorello (1930); soprano Tiziana Scaciga della Silva joins forces with Walter Rubboli in performing Roma non fa la stupida stasera from the musical Rugantino (1962) composed by Armando Trovajoli, lyrics by Garinei and Giovannini. Other greats to be performed include Giorgio Gaber’s Barbera e Champagne (1969), Il bacio (1840), E spingole francese (1868), Un’ora sola ti vorrei (1938), Ti voglio tanto bene (1938), and Ti parlero’ d’amor (1945).
The first part will come to an end with a lively medley of Neapolitan songs ranging from Maria Mari’ to Toto’s famous song Malafemmina, and from Funiculi’ Funicula’ to O surdato nnamurato.
Operetta selections will be performed in the second part of the Festa Italiana concert. Comedian Walter Rubboli’s curtain-raiser is dedicated to the comic interpretation of Gastone, first performed in 1924 by famous comedian Ettore Petrolini.
The operetta selections are Salome’, una rondine non fa primavera and Veder Napoli e poi morir from Mario Costa’s Scugnizza, Canzone della Margherita from the popular Cin ci La’, Sigismondo and Mi pare un sogno from Al Cavallino Bianco, Toujour l’amour from Ballo al Savoj, O rosa di Stambul from La Rosa di Stambul, and by general request the lively and highly entertaining duet Luna tu with related dialogues from Il paese dei campanelli.
The gran finale will include Hurra’, Hurra’ from Emmerich Kalman’s La principessa della Czarda, Oh Cin ci La’, and E’ scabroso le donne studiar from The Merry Widow and others.
Mro Debora Mori will perform a medley entitled Romantica including Summertime in Venice (1955), Domenico Modugno’s landmark Nel blu’ dipinto di blu’ (1958) and Al di la’ del bene piu’ prezioso performed in the 1961 San Remo Festival by Luciano Tajoli and Betty Curtis.
Presentations will be rendered by music critic Albert G Storace. Festa Italiana is presented by Fiesole Artistic Productions in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute.
Booking from the Manoel Theatre’s Booking Office on Old Theatre Street, Valletta; Tel. 21246389; www.teatrumanoel.com.mt; [email protected]