Virginia Tola - Lina

Winner of the Operalia Prize in Barcelona Mrs Tola began a career that brought her to important theaters such as: Colòn in Buenos Aires, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Teatro Real in Madrid, Washington National Opera, Opéra in Monte Carlo, Arena in Verona, La Monnaie in Brussels, Los Angeles Opéra, Teatro dell’ Opera in Rome, Regio in Turin and the opera houses in Klagenfurt, La Plata and Santa Fe. After her successes Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Contessa d’Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Violetta in Traviata, Desdemona in Otello, Luisa Miller (title role) and Mimì in La Bohème, she has recently added new roles to her repertoire singing Lina in Stiffelio, Abigaille in Nabucco, Nedda in Pagliacci, Amelia in Un ballo in Maschera. Mrs Tola lately sang Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera at the Teatro Regio in Parma and Desdemona in Otello in Modena and Piacenza. Future plans: Nabucco at the Macerata Opera Festival; Un Ballo in Maschera in Buenos Aires; Don Giovanni in Oviedo.

Nicola Alaimo - Stankar

Following recent critically-acclaimed performances at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan (Don Pasquale- title role), Teatro dell’Opera in Rome (Attila, Ezio, Riccardo Muti conducting) Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro (Matilde di Shabran, Aliprando), London (Belisario- title role, recorded by Opera Rara) Opéra de Paris (La Cenerentola, Dandini), Nederlandse Opera (Rossini’s Guillaume Tell, title role), Teatro Regio in Turin (Traviata, Gérmont) Nicola Alaimo adds another important role to his repertoire singing Stankar for the first time in Monte Carlo.

Future plans: Falstaff in Marseille and at the Fujiwara Opera in Tokyo; Il Trovatore at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; Don Pasquale at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome under Bruno Campanella and at the Teatro Real de Madrid, Riccardo Muti conducting; Luisa Miller in Liège; Simon Boccanegra (Paolo) at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona beside Placido Domingo in the title role; L'Elisir d'Amore (Dottor Dulcamara) in Berlin and Munich; La Cenerentola at the Salzburg Festival; Guillaume Tell at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, in Bologna and in Brussels; Don Quichotte in Chicago; Le Comte Ory (Raimbaud) at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Mr. Alaimo will also star in important future productions at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Maurizio Benini - conductor

Recently awarded by the most important critics of Spanish musical magazines and newspapers as best conductor of the season thanks his interpretation of Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur staged at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Maurizio Benini will conduct productions at the Royal Opera House in London (Faust, Rigoletto, Nabucco), at the Opéra National de Paris (Lucia di Lammermoor), at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona (Maria Stuarda), at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse (Don Carlo, Lucia di Lammermoor). M° Benini will conduct also Il Turco in Italia at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and new productions at the Metropolitan Opera in New York