The Puccini Festival in the Tuscan town of Torre del Lago has sacked Alberto Veronesi. The blindfolded conductor was protesting when he performed at Friday’s opening night of La Boheme.
Alberto Veronesi, conductor at the 69th Puccini Festival, decided to protest about the setting of the opera by conducting blindfolded on the opening night last Friday. Clearly unhappy at looking at what he considered unworthy, he lowered his blindfold in protest.
According to reports, the new production of “La Bohème” by Christophe Gayral decided to change the setting to Paris in 1968 in the context of the student protest in France.
However, the cavalier conductor’s actions were not considered appropriate by either the festival organisers or the audience.
Following the performance, audience members booed him and called a “buffone!” and “scemo!” Neither of which are flattering. According to audience witnesses, the conductor answered that he did not want to see the scene.
The festival said Manlio Benzi will conduct the performances scheduled for July 29 and August 10 and 25.
Veronesi, meanwhile, said he would turn up for work at the next scheduled show. He also threatened to take legal action if he is not allowed to perform.
Defacement of Colosseum – prosecutor seeks indictment
The Rome public prosecutor’s office is set to request the indictment of a 27-year-old tourist who carved his name and that of his girlfriend into Rome’s Colosseum using a set of keys last month, sources said on Monday.
Ivan Dimitrov, who is of Bulgarian origin but resident in England, faces charges of defacing cultural or landscape heritage. A guilty verdict could land him a possible a sentence of two to five years in prison.
Dimitrov was identified after the Colosseum Park Authority was alerted to the incident by a video, allegedly filmed by the pair and posted on social media. The authority notified police.
There have since been two further acts of vandalism against the 2,000-year-old monument.
Rome Carabinieri police on Saturday cited a 17-year-old German student caught carving into a wall of the Flavian amphitheatre. Previously, a 17-year-old Swiss girl was nicked after being filmed scratching her initials into a stone at the ancient arena.
It would seem some of the younger generation of tourists need educating as to exactly what they are visiting, and consideration of cultural objects and monuments.
Alahor in Granata autograph discovered in Palermo
An autograph manuscript of Gaetano Donizetti’s ‘Alahor in Granata’ has been found in the library of the Conservatoire in Palermo.
The opera in two acts by the 19th-century composer from Bergamo was written especially for what was then known as the Teatro Carolino (now Teatro Bellini). It made its debut in the Sicilian city on January 7th, 1826.
The discovery was made by Edoardo Cavalli of the Gaetano Donizetti study centre linked to the annual Donizetti Opera Festival in Bergamo. The Alahor autograph had reportedly been the object of study for years.However, “no one before now had confirmed its authenticity” said Conservatoire director Daniele Ficola.
Donizetti arrived in Palermo in April 1825 as maestro di cappella and musical director of the Teatro Carolino. He left after only 10 months in February 1826.
While in Sicily he composed ‘Alahor in Granata’. It received a lukewarm reception before being performed at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. Another performance in Palermo took place without the composer in 1830.
Until now, the score of this third rendition of the opera was the only one to have been identified.
