20^th MACAO INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL 6 October to 5 November 2006

Verismo Opera opens tonight at the Macao Cultural Centre

Jealousy takes the 20^th Macao International Music Festival stage tonight in a double bill of illicit affairs and crimes of passion. In Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci the weakness of the human heart is depicted with honest realism. These two outstanding examples of the Verismo style of opera will thrill Cultural Centre audiences who have come to expect a high standard of operatic performance as a hallmark of the Festival. The romance continues with two more shows Saturday and Sunday night.

Composer Pietro Mascagni set jealousy to music in Cavalleria Rusticana, a one-act opera that begins a night of passion at the Macao Cultural Centre. The prime example of Verismo, a genre at its peak in Italy at the end of the 19^th century, Cavalleria Rusticana revolves around the illicit love between Turiddu and Lola, who is now married to Alfio. Turiddu courts Santuzza to make Lola jealous, and Santuzza, feeling used, informs Alfio of his wife's indiscretion. Turiddu challenges Alfio to a duel and is killed.

Inspired by Mascagni's opera, Ruggero Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci follows, adding to the intensity that fills the Grand Auditorium. Passion, jealousy and violence overshadow this story that takes place in a "play within a play" among the actors of a commedia dell'arte troupe.

This year Warren Mok, Artistic Director of the Macao International Music Festival, adds a personal touch to the Festival, returning to the opera stage to sing the roles of Canio and Turiddu on Saturday night.

Since opera first arrived in Macao with the staging of Il Barbiere di Siviglia in 1992, grand moments like Turandot, given its Chinese premiere in Macao, and La Bohème in 2002 have followed, making opera a cornerstone of the MIMF on the local and international level. But it was under the guidance of Warren Mok that opera began to receive stronger promotion in Macao, with night after night of Western drama filling the Cultural Centre to capacity each season.

Opera continues to set the tone of the MIMF this year, with the 20^th anniversary edition providing twice the usual dose of this historic art form beginning Friday night at the Macao Cultural Centre.

CULTURAL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Cavalleria Rusticana
Opera in 1 Act by Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945)

I Pagliacci
Opera in 2 Acts by Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857-1919)
October 13 to 15, Friday through Sunday, 8pm
Macao Cultural Centre – Grand Auditorium

A production of the Cultural Affairs Bureau and the Baltimore Opera Company, USA

Conductor: Stephen Mould
Stage Director: Henry Akina
Piano, Assistant Coach: John Haddock
The Shanghai Opera House Chorus
Macao Kao Yip Middle School Children Chorus
The Macao Orchestra

Cast:
Cavalleria Rusticana
Santuzza             Katja Lytting and Federica Proietti (14/10), Mezzo-sopranos
Turiddu                Oleg Kulko and Warren Mok (14/10), Tenors
Alfio                     Robert Hyman, Baritone
Lola                     Maria Carola and Robin Follman (14/10), Sopranos
Mamma Lucia      Anne Pareuil, Contralto

I Pagliacci
Canio                   Oleg Kulko and Warren Mok (14/10), Tenors
Nedda                   Robin Follman and Maria Carola (14/10), Sopranos
Tonio                    Albert Schagidullin, Baritone
Beppe                   Alfred Boe, Tenor
Silvio                     Piero Terranova, Baritone