Eleonora Buratto - Liù* (March 21^st, 27^th, 29^th, 31^st )

Eleonora Buratto , born in Mantua , won in 2007  the " Adriano Belli "International Lyric Contest making her debut as Musetta in La Bohème at the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale in Spoleto. After that Ms Buratto began an international career that brought her to the most important theatres in the world, collaborating with prestigious conductors as: Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Bruno Campanella, Ivor Bolton, Stefano Montanari, Riccardo Chailly, Marc Piollet, Jesus Lopes- Cobos, Gianandrea Noseda, Daniel Harding. Particularly interesting it is her collaboration with Riccardo Muti, who chose her for Creusa in Jommelli’s Demofoonte (2009, Salzburg Festival, Opéra Garnier and Ravenna Festival), Susanna in Mercadante’s I Due Figaro (2011-Real in Madrid, Salzburg Festival, Colon in Buenos Aires), Amelia in Simon Boccanegra (2012- Opera in Rome and 2014 Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo), Norina in Don Pasquale (2013, Real in Madrid), Bach’s Mass in B minor (in Chicago with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra). Amongst her recent successes it is worth mentioning: Falstaff as Nannetta at the Salzburg Festival and as Alice at the Ravenna Festival and in Reggio Emilia (Cristina Mazzavillani Muti directing); Eurydice in Orphée et Eurydice in Montpellier; Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare by Haendel in Modena, with Accademia Bizantina; Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Salzburg Festival; Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore in Madrid; Musetta in La Bohème in Naples, Montpellier Festival, Turin and on tour in China; Despina in Così fan Tutte in Valencia; Lisa in La Sonnambula at the Liceu in Barcelona; Micaela in Carmen at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome; Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro for the As.Li.Co circuit in Italy; Corinna in Il Viaggio a Reims in a new production at the Dutch National Theater in Amsterdam (c. Montanari-d. Michieletto).

Plans include Alice in Falstaff in Ferrara, Ravenna, Oviedo and Chicago; La Contessa d’Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro in Rome; Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore at the La Scala in Milan and at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari; Norina in Don Pasquale in New York under the baton of Maurizio Benini; Le Nozze di Figaro (Contessa) in Amsterdam; Don Giovanni as Donna Elvira in Liège and as Donna Anna in Aix-en-Provence; Carmen as Micaela in Chicago and Madrid; La Bohème as Mimì in Zurich and as Musetta in Chicago.

*role debut

Riccardo Zanellato - Timur (March 21^st, 22^nd, 26^th, 28^th, 29^th )

Riccardo Zanellato’s career has led him to become one of the reference artists for the most important bass roles. Regularly invited by Riccardo Muti for many productions at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome (among others, Iphigénie en Aulide, Moïse et Pharaon, Macbeth, Nabucco,  Simon Boccanegra), he collaborates with such institutions as the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Teatro Regio in Turin, the Arena in Verona, the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, the Verdi Festival in Parma, the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Liceu in Barcelona, the Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam, the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, the Opernhaus in Zurich, the Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp, the Opéra de Lausanne and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Mr. Zanellato performed Verdi’s Requiem in Naples under the baton of Muti, in Vilnius with Violeta Urmana, in Moscow at the Rostropovich Festival on tour with the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, in Barcelona, in Cincinnati and in St. Louis. Mr. Zanellato lately starred in Luisa Miller in Bilbao, Aida at the Teatro alla Scala, Poliuto and La Bohème in Zurich and Macbeth in Lyon. Mr. Zanellato sang Banco in Macbeth for the opening production of the 2013/2014 season in Bologna (R. Abbado/Wilson), La Juive and a New Year’s Eve Concert in Vilnius, Nabucco in Florence, Stuttgart and Leipzig. Mr. Zanellato sang Schubert’s Mass in A flat for his debut at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Riccardo Muti and Verdi’s Requiem at the Ravenna Festival then on tour in Italy and Slovenia again with Muti and in Minnesota under Roberto Abbado. He starred as Ferrando in Il Trovatore at the Salzburg Festival besides Placido Domingo under Daniele Gatti. Lately he performed Verdi’s Requiem in Vienna, Muti conducting, Giorgio in Bellini’s I Puritani in Florence

Mr. Zanellato’s future plans include: Nabucco in Stuttgart; Simon Boccanegra in Dresden; Norma at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris; Il Trovatore  at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan; Macbeth at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna; Turandot in Rome (Terme in Caracalla). Mr. Zanellato will sing again Verdi’s Requiem with the Berliner Philharmoniker and a lyric concert in Guangzhou.