Sesto Quatrini, Roman, forty -year -old, directed works and concerts in various cities in the world, but had not yet risen to the podium in the theater of his city. The opportunity finally arrives on June 5 when Quatrini, with a stroke of wand, will make the notes of the symphony of The Italian in Algiersplayful drama in two acts by Gioachino Rossini, on the booklet by Angelo Pilare, staged for the first time on 22 May 1813 at the San Benedetto Theater in Venice, when the Pesaro composer was just 21 years old.
“I am very happy with this debut”, I trust Quatrini, “because I finally direct in the work theater of my city, where my grandmother has been subscribed for forty years, often bringing me with her to see the shows. Here many friends, musicians who played with me, family people like my cousin Fabrizio Sansoni, photographer of the theater of the Opera di Roma, and his wife Susanna Salvi, arrival of the Ball of the Ball, work. Roman debut after directing in important theaters such as Bolshoi and Covent Garden, and it is nice that it takes place at forty years, when I have gained awareness and experience “.
With this show, the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma pays homage to one of the greatest Italian artists of the twentieth century, Emanuele Luzzati, who passed away in 2007. The title returns to the same scenic, fabulous and overwhelming version, created by Luzzati in 2000 for the Teatro Massimo of Palermo, still capable of enchanting with the strength of color, irony and imagination today. The original direction of Maurizio Scaparro (disappeared in 2023 at ninety years) is taken up by Orlando Forumoso, which houses its spirit and theatrical balance.
The scenes of Luzzati, together with the costumes of the historic collaborator Santuzza Calì, return a world that transforms the Rossinian algiers into a place suspended between fairy tale and comedy, between visual art and music. A recognizable and unique universe, which continues to speak to the public with a rare visual force, making this production a real tribute to the Luzzatian imagination.
“It is not the first time that I revive an existing show,” explains Sesto Quatrini. “I was led by a scientific approach and a great love towards Rossini. We will make the full edition and we have also recovered a percussion tool with an exotic sound, the synit, chosen by Rossini for the symphony, which will thus resonate for the first time at the work of Rome”.
Two vocal casts that alternate in the main roles: Chiara Amarù (5, 10, 12 June) and Laura Verrecchia (6, 8 and 11 June) in that of Isabella, Paolo Bordogna (5, 10, 12 June) and Adolfo Corrado (6, 8 and 11 June) in that of Mustafà, Dave Monaco (5, 10, 12 June) and Giorgio Misseri (6, 8 and 11 June) in Lindo. Misha Kiria (5, 10, 12 June) with Vincenzo Taormina (6, 8 and 11 June) in that of Taddeo. The cast is completed by the talents of ‘Fabbrica’, the Young Arte Program of the Rome Opera Theater: Jessica Ricci (Elvira), Maria Elena Pepi (Zulma), Alejo Alvarez Castillo (Haly). The chorus of the Capitoline Foundation is directed by Ciro Visco, the lights are by Vinicio Cheli.
After the Roman debut Sesto Quatrini will return to the podium to Martina Franca, for the Valle d’Itria Festival. “I am happy with this return to the place where I started my opera career, where I met my wife Maddalena and where we got married. I inaugurate the festival directing Tancredi of Rossini. Then, between September and October, I will be in Zurich for the Manon of Massenet with Lisette Oropesa and Benjamin Barheim. Symphonic concerts await me in Belgrade, Bucharest and Lithuania, then in the spring of 2026 I will direct one to Lyon Manon Lescaut of Puccini with the direction of Emma Dante ”.
