The Rossini Opera Festival (ROF) is an international music festival held in August of each year in

Pesaro Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche, ...

, Italy, the birthplace of the

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

composer

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

. Its aim, in addition to studying the musical heritage of the composer, is to revive and perform his works in a unique setting that allows collaboration of scholars, artists, and audience. It is often simply referred to as the Pesaro Festival. Performances are given in the 850-seat theatre built in 1818, the Teatro Rossini and, since 1988, the modified sports arena (Palasport) which holds 1,500, as well as, since 2006,

Vitrifrigo Arena Vitrifrigo Arena, formerly known as Adriatic Arena and originally BPA Palas, is an indoor arena, indoor sports arena in Pesaro, Italy, home to the Victoria Libertas Pesaro professional basketball team of the Lega Basket Serie A. Its seating capaci ...

, with over 10,000. Since 2000 another venue, the Teatro Sperimentale (Experimental Theatre), has offered the opportunity to present smaller-scale or minor works by contemporaries of Rossini such as Mosca, Generali, and Coccia. The main square of Pesaro, the Piazza del Popolo, also hosts outdoor performances. It will be extensively used during the Festival's 2020 season, which was modified due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

.https://www.rossinioperafestival.it/festival/ Festival program 2020

Rossini's music in Pesaro

Prior to the establishment of the Festival, it was not uncommon to see productions of Rossini's music taking place to mark occasions in his life and death. Thus, in 1868 when the composer died in Paris, his Stabat Mater was performed along with ''

Semiramide ''Semiramide'' () is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy ''Semiramis'', which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Assyria. The opera was first performed at La Fenice ...

'' and ''

Otello ''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on 5 February 1887. Th ...

''. The first centennial of Rossini's birth in 1892 saw ''

L'occasione fa il ladro ''L’occasione fa il ladro, ossia Il cambio della valigia'' (English: ''Opportunity Makes a Thief, or The Exchanged Suitcase'') is an opera (''burletta per musica'' or ''farsa'') in one act by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Pri ...

'' and the twentieth-century seasons saw many Rossini operas including many quite obscure ones.

The Festival established in 1980

The Festival was established in 1980 with the aim of making the world more aware of Rossini's neglected operas and presenting all of them in collaboration with the

Casa Ricordi Casa Ricordi is a publisher of primarily classical music and opera. Its classical repertoire represents one of the important sources in the world through its publishing of the work of the major 19th-century Italian composers such as Gioachino Ro ...

music publishing house, which published their critical editions. Of the approximately three dozen operas written, only a handful are regularly presented. On 13 August 1993, the Italian parliament unanimously approved the Special Law N. 319 "Regulations in support of the Rossini Opera Festival", which recognizes the Pesaro Festival's achievements in the reviving of Rossini's operas as entitled to be included among the state-supervised works of restoration of the national artistic heritage. The ensuing grant (of which parliament has recently approved the continuation) is financed from the funds of the ''Beni Culturali''. The Rossini Festival has seen many of Rossini's lesser-known works revived, some of which have since entered the standard operatic repertoire. From the beginning, the Festival attracted some major singers including

Marilyn Horne Marilyn Horne (born January 16, 1934) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages. She is a recipient of the Natio ...

Montserrat Caballé Montserrat Caballé i Folch or Folc (full name: María de Montserrat Bibiana Concepción Caballé i Folch (, , ; (12 April 1933 – 6 October 2018), known simply as Montserrat Caballé, was a Catalan Spanish operatic soprano. She sang a wide va ...

Ruggero Raimondi Ruggero Raimondi (born 3 October 1941) is an Italian bass-baritone opera singer who has also appeared in motion pictures. Life and career Early training and career Ruggero Raimondi was born in Bologna, Italy, during World War II. His voice matu ...

Samuel Ramey Samuel Edward Ramey (born March 28, 1942) is an American operatic bass. At the height of his career, he was greatly admired for his range and versatility, having possessed a sufficiently accomplished bel canto technique to enable him to sing t ...

and

Juan Diego Flórez Juan Diego Flórez (born Juan Diego Flórez Salom, January 13, 1973) is a Peruvian operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in bel canto operas. On June 4, 2007, he received his country's highest decoration, the ''Knight Grand Cross in t ...

. Based on press reports, some productions have been extremely controversial.

References

Notes Sources *Hastings, Stephen,
Taking the Pulse of Pesaro
, ''

Opera News ''Opera News'' is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to engender the appreciation of opera and also support ...

'', June 2011 — Vol. 75, No. 12. *Zeitz, Karyl Lynn, ''Italian Opera Houses and Festivals'', Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2005.

External links

Pesaro's Rossini Opera Festival website
{{Authority control Opera festivals Pesaro Classical music festivals in Italy Tourist attractions in le Marche Culture in le Marche Gioachino Rossini

Rossini's music in Pesaro

The Festival established in 1980

See also

References

External links