Francesco Cilluffo - conductor

Conductor and composer, he graduated from the Turin Conservatoire, the Guildhall School of Music and King’s College in London. Among his most notable appearances as conductor: concerts with the Orchestra del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari and the ORT-Orchestra della Toscana; a new production of Il Trovatore for the AsLiCo on tour in Northern Italy’s historical theaters; Zemlinsky’s Der König Kandaules at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo; Mozart’s Requiem and Duruflé’s Requiem op. 9 with the Orchestra Filarmonica di Torino; Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde at the Festival della Valle d’Itria; concerts with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Santiago de Chile; The Servant by Tutino at the Teatro Rossini in Lugo; Le Nozze di Figaro at the Byblos Festival; a gala concert at the Scottish Opera in Glasgow. Future engagements include: a Verdi Gala at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow with the soloists and the orchestra of the Theater of the Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Centre; Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana at the Teatro Nuovo in Sassari; a new production of Rossini’s Tancredi for the Circuito Lirico Lombardo (touring in Pavia, Cremona, Como and Brescia), featuring the Orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali; Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 14 with the Turin Philharmonic Orchestra (in the framework his 3-year long collaboration with the orchestra).

Annunziata Vestri - Rosa Mamai

Winner of “Lauri Volpi”, “Maria Caniglia” and Rosertum Lyric Contests, Mrs Vestri made her debut in 2003 as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly. An eclectic artist with bold acting qualities, she can boast a huge repertoire that spans from Bel Canto to Verdi and Puccini’s masterpieces. Annunziata Vestri regularly collaborated with theaters such as: Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, Teatro Regio in Turin , Maggio Musicale in Florence, Teatro Comunale in Bologna, San Carlo in Naples, Opéra de Montecarlo, Teatro Regio in Parma, Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, Sferisterio Opera Festival in Macerata, Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto. Annunziata Vestri recently performed L’Arlesiana at the Wexford Festival Opera; La Clemenza di Tito in Trieste; Rigoletto in Naples, Savona and Genoa, where she also starred in Dvorak’s Stabat Mater; Il Trovatore in Schenkenberg. Annunziata Vestri will perform in Suor Angelica and Il Tabarro at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa; La Traviata and Il Trittico at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari; Falstaff (Meg) in Marseille; Carmen (title role) in Livorno, Lucca, Pisa and Fano; Aida (Amneris) at the Opernfestspiele St. Margarethen.

Mariangela Sicilia - Vivetta

One of the most up-and-coming Italian sopranos of her generation, she won the Tito Schipa lyric contest in Lecce, making her debut as Adina in L’Elisir d’amore. Mariangela Sicilia was already appreciated as Vivetta at the Wexford Festival Opera in the same production by Rosetta Cucchi. After that she performed Gilda in Rigoletto at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari; L’Italiana in Algeri and La Donna del Lago at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro; Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater in Ravenna and Tel Aviv (broadcast by the Italian National Television). Future plans include: L’Elisir d'Amore in Monte Carlo and Madrid; La Wally and La Bohème (Musetta) at the Opéra National de Paris; Battistelli’s Il Medico dei Pazzi in Nancy; Petite Messe Solennelle in Saint-Etienne under Alberto Zedda.

Stefano Antonucci - Baldassarre

Stefano Antonucci distinguishes himself thanks to his lovely, elegant tone and his deep portrayal of the characters he sings. He recently performed: La Traviata in Santiago de Chile, Montpellier, Genoa, Bologna, and at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago; Rigoletto in Dijon, Zurich and at the Caracalla Bath in Rome; Adriana Lecouvreur and La Bohème in Florence. Mr. Antonucci collaborated with such conductors as Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti, Georg Solti, Vladimir Delman, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Donato Renzetti.Mr. Antonucci recorded Cilea’s L’Arlesiana both for Universal and for Bongiovanni; Mercadante’s Virginia for Opera Rara and Donizetti’s Adelia for BMG-Ricordi. Stefano Antonucci recently enjoyed great success as Simon Boccanegra at the Göteborg Opera, as Rigoletto at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari and as Rodrigo in Don Carlo in Toulouse.

Valeriu Caradja - Metifio

Young and promising baritone, Valeriu Caradja won important international contests such as Hans Gabor Belvedere (second prize) in Vienna, Francesc Viñas International Contest in Barcelona (Third Prize and Special Prize “Best performer in Verdi’s repertoire), Marcello Giordani (Fano), Riccardo Zandonai (Riva del Garda), Monserrat Caballé (Zaragoza), Ottavio Ziino (Rome) , Iris Adami Corradetti (Padova), Maria Caniglia (Sulmona), just to name a few. Mr. Caradja recently performed as Lord Enrico Ashton in Lucia di Lammermoor in Moldova, Marcovaldo in La Battaglia di Legnano at the Verdi Festival in Parma, Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro in Piacenza and Modena, Ford in Falstaff at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera and at the Teatro della Fortuna in Fano. His repertoire spans from Mozart to Verdi, from Donizetti to Rossini, Tchaikovsky and Puccini. Future plans include: L’Elisir d’amore (Belcore) with the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari on tour in Sardinia; Beethoven’s 9th Symphnony in Rouen; La Clemenza di Tito in Modena and Reggio Emilia; Battistelli’s Il Medico dei Pazzi in Nancy.