Tuscan Talent - agosto 2014
MUSIC AND WINE ON THE LUCCA WALLS
A leisurely stroll along the Lucca walls on a warm, sunny Friday afternoon along with
several joggers, cyclists and those simply enjoying the passeggiata; this is one of the
many delights of this beautiful medieval city. However, last Friday’s walk was more
purposeful than usual, that of arriving at the Casametta San Colombano in time for a
delicious aperitivo of Wine and Arias.
The event was organized by LuccaOPERAfestival, a dynamic young Opera company
intent on producing exciting opera performances in some of Tuscany's most attractive
venues. The talented baritone, Mattia Campetti, who is also artistic director of the
Concerti degli Angeli Custodi is one of the founding fathers and the aim of this cultural
association, which was formed in January 2013 is to promote and popularize musical
culture with a particular focus on the world of opera.
The large and eager audience somehow managed to squeeze into the casametta, which is
normally used by students as a study and resource centre and Mattia gave an engaging
introduction to the concert.
The programme was well thought out and began with a soprano solo, O Mio Babbino
Caro. This is one of Puccini’s most loved arias and is taken from his One act comic opera,
Gianni Schicchi, written in 1918 as the third and most popular part of Il Trittico. This was a
daunting task for a young artist, given its memorable interpretations by great artists like
Callas and Kiri Te Kanowa, but Michelle Buscemi entranced the audience with her
performance and set the scene for what was to follow.
The Brazilian tenor, Max Jota who now fortunately for us lives in Italy gave a compelling
performance of Cavaradossi’s famous aria, Recondita Armonia from Act 1 of Puccini’s
Tosca. He was later joined by Michelle Buscemi to sing the duet, O Soave Fanciulla from
Puccini’s La Bohème. This is the moment at the end of Act 1 when the poet Rodolfo, one
of four poor, struggling artists living together in a garret in Paris and a neighbour, Mimì
forget their poverty for a moment and acknowledging their love for each other sing this
sublime duet. Despite the inevitable lack of orchestral colour in the accompaniment the
young performers gave a warm and expressive performance.
Max, this time playing the part of Pinkerton from Madama Butterfly and baritone Mattia
Campetti gave a delightful performance of another duet, Addio fiorito asil and there were
impressive performances from the young baritone, Ernesto Petti from Salerno and local
boy, the bass, Roberto Lorenzi.
The highlights of the concert were provided by Italian baritone, Claudio Sgura who gave
an outstanding performance of Jack Rance’s aria, Minnie dalla mia Casa son Partito from
Puccini’s Fanciulla del West. He has an enormous stage presence and this together with a
beautiful, powerful voice, excellent technique and a natural ability to understand and
completely get inside the music and the character he is portraying makes him a world class performer. Here he is able to move from exquisite lyricism to powerful strength.