Cristina Melis – Carmen*

Winner of the International Lyric Contest “Giacomo Lauri Volpi” and of the International Contest “Giuseppe Verdi” in Parma, Cristina Melis debuted as Azucena in Il Trovatore in Parma. In the past seasons she performed at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Arena in Verona, Teatro Regio in Turin and Parma, Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Opera di Firenze, Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège and at the Festival Anima Mundi in Pisa. Her fruitful collaboration with the Opernhaus in Kiel led her to be acclaimed in such productions as Il Trovatore, Madama Butterfly, Eugene Onegin, Nabucco, Rienzi, Carmen, Die Walküre and Das Rheingold.

Plans include : Madama Butterfly (Suzuki) at the Teatro di San Carlo Naples; Il Trovatore (Azucena) at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari; revivals of Das Rheingold, Die Walküre and Carmen in Kiel.

Simone Alberghini - Escamillo

Italian bass-baritone Simone Alberghini, 1994 Operalia Grand Prize winner, has appeared in opera houses at the highest level worldwide since the beginning of his career, singing at the Royal Opera House in London, Metropolitan Opera in New York, Washington National Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Teatro Regio in Turin, Glyndebourne Festival, Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca, Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Mr. Alberghini regularly collaborates with internationally renowned conductors such as Maurizio Benini, Bruno Campanella, Riccardo Chailly, Teodor Currentzis, Andrew Davis, Vladimir Jurowski, Nicola Luisotti, Michele Mariotti, Zubin Mehta, Gianandrea Noseda, Seiji Ozawa, Emmanuel Villaume, Alberto Zedda.

Plans include: Adelson e Salvini in London concert and recording for Opera Rara, Maurizio Benini conducting; Le Nozze di Figaro (Conte d’Almaviva) at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples; La fille du régiment (Sulpice) at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona; Don Giovanni with the Opera de Lyon on tour in Oman.

Massimiliano Catellani - Zuniga

Young Italian bass, Massimiliano Catellani recently performed: Lucrezia Borgia in Padua, Jérusalem in Fidenza, La Traviata in Reggio Emilia, Carmen and Tosca at the Teatro Municipal de Sao Paulo, Tosca at the Sferisterio Opera Festival in Macerata, and he starred in a lyric concert in Milan with the Orchestra Verdi Plans include: La Straniera at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Un Ballo in Maschera at the Opera in Toulon.

Massimiliano Catellani studied at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome then he specialized at the Cubec (Centro Universale del Belcanto) under the guidance of Mirella Freni.

Pietro Babina – director, set designer

After more than twenty years with the theatre group Teatrino Clandestino (1989 > 2010) during which he created and directed over thirty shows with important Italian and European theaters he founded, in 2010, the Mesmer Artistic Association. Productions include: Je suis le vent (as designer with director Lukas Hemleb, coproduction Maison de la Culture Amiens and Emilia Romagna Teatro, 2014), Histoire de F (Mesmer Artistic Association, 2014), La leggende del grande Inquisitore (Compagnia Orsini, 2013), ECO-Applications (coproduction Fondazione Roma Europa, Teatro Comunale di Casalecchio, Centrale FIES, Emilia Romagna Teatro, 2012), No Signal (coproduction Mesmer Artistic Association and Emilia Romagna Teatro, 2010) a production which is part of a project in collaboration with the companies Fanny & Alexander, Motus, Societas Raffaello Sanzio, Candide (coproduction with Sophiensaele, Santarcangelo Festival of the Arts, Centrale Fies, 2008).

In 2009 he founded the magazine Rivista. He created more than nine films and videos as a director and author pursuing also musical projects as a writer and performer. Mr. Babina received several awards and nominations for his work: Premio Speciale per la Commissione dei Linguaggi, Dal Sound al Video, Premio Lo Straniero, Premio Speciale - UBU and nomination Premio Ubu for Ossigeno, Premio Riccione Ttv, Premio Iceberg and others.