Cinzia Forte - Musetta

Lyric coloratura soprano, Cinzia Forte is praised by international critics for the uncommon elegance of her phrasing and remarkable stage presence. Mrs. Forte is present on the billboards of the main Italian and European theaters such as the Teatro alla Scala, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Teatro Regio in Turin, Opera in Rome, Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, Zurich Opera House, Théâtre des Champs-Elysees in Paris, Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège, Deutsche Oper Berlin and Teatro Real in Madrid. Cinzia Forte lately added important roles to her repertoire: Contessa d’Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro (Liège), Anna Bolena (title role, in Trieste), Desdemona in Otello (Pisa and Cagliari), Madama Butterfly (title role, Sassari and Cosenza). Mrs. Forte recently starred as Bianca in Bianca and Falliero at the Rossini Festival in Bad Wildbad, in revivals of La Traviata at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, in Rossini’s Stabat Mater in Monte Carlo, Bratislava and Budapest and at Mysterium Festival (Taranto, Roma) under Gianluigi Gelmetti and in a new Liederabend with Maurizio Baglini at the piano in Tuscany and Treviso. Again with Maurizio Baglini she recently performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (Liszt’s version) at the Auditorium in Milan.

Plans include: Madama Butterfly on tour in Italy; Musetta in La Bohème at Teatro Regio in Parma; Otello in Liège and La Gazzetta on tour in Tel Aviv again with the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, and as returning guest at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples she will star as Contessa d’Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro.

Lavinia Bini - Musetta*

Young and up and coming soprano Lavinia Bini graduated with honors from the Luigi Cherubini conservatoire in Florence; she made her debut as Despina in Così fan tutte at the Eurofestival in Rome and participated in the production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Fermo, directed by Damiano Michieletto. Prestigious engagements followed at Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca, Pergolesi Spontini Festival in Jesi, at Teatro dell’Opera/Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Petruzzelli in Bari, Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, Teatro Regio in Turin, LandesTheater in Salzburg, Teatro Colòn in Buenos Aires, working with conductors as Sergio Alapont, Ottavio Dantone, Julian Kovatchev, Riccardo Muti and directors as Andrea Cigni, Juliette Deschamps, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Emilio Sagi.

Lavinia Bini , who recently won Renata Tebaldi International Contest, lately performed as Lisette in La Rondine on tour in Pisa, Modena, Ravenna and Lucca, as Amina in La Sonnambula and as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at Landes theater in Salzburg, as Musetta in La Bohème in Cagliari. Plans include: Don Carlo at the Teatro Regio in Parma Daniel Oren conducting; Così fan tutte (Despina) on tour in Italy.

*Company debut

Paolo Arrivabeni - conductor

Music Director at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège.

Regularly invited by the major theaters and opera festivals, Paolo Arrivabeni is especially in demand for Italian and French opera, but he is also particularly interested in the major Russian and German repertoire, regularly conducting works by Mahler, Strauss and Mussorgsky. M° Arrivabeni recent engagements include: La Favorite and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria (Orchestre National de France) at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris; Il Trovatore at the Sferisterio Opera Festival in Macerata; Macbeth and Nabucco at the Staatsoper and Maria Stuarda and I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Deustche Oper in Berlin; Macbeth in Copenaghen; Roberto Devereux at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; Lucrezia Borgia and Il Turco in Italia at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich; La Straniera at the Theater an der Wien; Don Giovanni in Monte Carlo; La Bohème at the Terme di Caracalla in Rome; La Forza del Destino in Geneva; I due Foscari with Leo Nucci in Marseille.

Concerning his past engagements at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège Mr. Arrivabeni recently led: Fidelio, Tosca, Aida, Cenerentola, Les Pêcheurs de perles, La Forza del Destino, Ernani, Die Zauberflöte, Mozart’s Requiem and a Wagner Gala. Mr. Arrivabeni returned to Dresden where at the Semperopern he conducted La Traviata, Macbeth, Simon Boccanegra, Tosca and Don Carlo.

Plans include: Nabucco and L'Arlesiana at Deutsche Oper in Berlin; La Bohème at the New National Theatre in Tokyo and at the Grand Théâtre in Geneva; La Rondine in Toulouse; Boris Godunov, La Favorite, Lohengrin, Simon Boccanegra, Rigoletto and a series of concerts in Marseille; Aida at the Chorégies d'Orange; Maria Stuarda in Vienna (Theater an der Wien) and at the Opera in Rome; revivals of Lucrezia Borgia at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich; series of concerts with Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse. In Liège M° Arrivabeni will conduct Turandot, Nabucco, Otello and a series of concerts.

Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera - director

Artistic Director at Opéra Royal de Wallonie

Mr. Mazzonis di Pralafera studied law and music in Rome and made his successful debut as director in 1983. After that he was invited as director/set designer in several Italian theaters as well as many festivals and opera houses in Belgium, France, Germany, Israel and Switzerland.

Previously to his appointment as artistic director at Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, he was superintendent at Teatro Comunale in Bologna and he served as artistic director in many festivals. At the Opéra Royal de Wallonie he directed: Tre Intermezzi, Il Matrimonio Segreto(Cimarosa), Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Traviata, Das Land des Lächelns, Rita, Il Campanello, Otello, L’Equivoco stravagante (with which he won in 2012 the French Critics Prize), Manon, La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein, La Gazzetta, Rigoletto, L'Elisir d'amore, Lucia di Lammermoor and two world premières: L'Inimico delle Donne (Galuppi) and Guillaume Tell (Grétry).