Now in its 80th year, the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale season will take place in Spoleto and at the main theatres across Umbria. From 6 August to 28 September, the programme features four new productions and a lieder recital, including three world premieres.

The opera season will open with Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, with a libretto by Nahum Tate, conducted by Marco Angius, directed by Tommaso Amadio, with sets by Fabrizio Visconti, costumes by Clelia De Angelis and lighting by Eva Bruno. As the original manuscript of the opera has come down to us missing certain musical sections, the Sperimentale has commissioned the missing segments from the Terni-based composer Riccardo Panfili. The new insertions, presented in their world premiere, integrate into the original score in a dialogue between eras which, through temporal contrast, aims to highlight the enduring contemporary relevance of the subject.

The opera will be staged at the Teatro Caio Melisso in Spoleto on Friday 7 August at 8.30 pm, Saturday 8 August at 6.00 pm and Sunday 9 August at 5.00 pm (preview: Thursday 6 August at 8.30 pm); and at the Teatro Comunale in Todi on Sunday 27 September at 5.00 pm and Monday 28 September at 8.30 pm.

This will be followed by the usual event dedicated to contemporary music, featuring the staging of Una promessa infranta (A broken promise), a chamber opera by Federico Gardella with a libretto by Cecilia Ligorio, who is also directing the production. The set and lighting design is by Alberto Favretto and the costumes by Clelia De Angelis. The musical direction is in the hands of Mimma Campanale, who returns to Spoleto for this new production.

Commissioned by the Sperimentale, the opera will have its world premiere at the Teatro Caio Melisso in Spoleto on Friday 21 August at 8.30 pm, Saturday 22 August at 6.00 pm and Sunday 23 August at 5.00 pm (preview: Thursday 20 August at 8.30 pm).

The season will continue with La cantatrice calva (The bald singer), Luciano Chailly’s latest opera, set to a libretto by Eugène Ionesco, adapted from his famous ‘anti-comedy’, considered the manifesto of the Theatre of the Absurd. Following last year’s success with the Trittico Negri, winner of the Abbiati Prize awarded by Italian music critics, Marco Angius and Pier Luigi Pizzi return to collaborate in Spoleto, taking on the roles of musical director and director, set designer, costume designer and lighting designer respectively, renewing an artistic partnership of particular significance within the contemporary music scene.

Performances at the Teatro Caio Melisso on Friday 4 September at 8.30 pm, Saturday 5 September at 6.00 pm and Sunday 6 September at 5.00 pm (preview: Thursday 3 September at 8.30 pm).

On Tuesday 8 September at 8.30 pm, the Sala Pegasus in Spoleto will host Liederabend. This evening of lieder offers an intimate journey into the world of the Lied, a musical genre that places the voice and poetic words at its heart, exploring the feelings and anxieties of human existence.

Alongside the lieder repertoire, this year’s programme will feature a new addition: the world premiere of the winning composition from the Fondazione Monini Competition. A meeting of tradition and modernity, in the spirit of the ongoing expressive exploration of music for voice and piano.

The programme for the 80th Experimental Opera Season will conclude with a new production of L’Elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love), a melodramma giocoso in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti, with a libretto by Felice Romani, which was first performed on 12 May 1832 at the Teatro della Cannobiana in Milan. Carlo Palleschi, the conductor from Terni who has been working with the opera house for over forty years, returns to the podium, whilst Laura Cosso will direct. The sets are designed by Andrea Stanisci, the costumes by Clelia De Angelis and the lighting by Eva Bruno.

The opera will be performed at the Teatro Nuovo in Spoleto on Friday 18 September at 8.30 pm, Saturday 19 September at 6.00 pm and Sunday 20 September at 5.00 pm (school performances: Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 September at 9.30 am).

This latest production will be staged in the region’s main theatres: Monday 21 September at 8.30 pm, at the Teatro Lyrick in Assisi; Wednesday 23 September at 8.30 pm, at the Teatro Morlacchi in Perugia; Thursday 24 September at 8.30 pm, at the Teatro degli Illuminati in Città di Castello; Friday 25 September at 8.30 pm, at the Teatro Mancinelli in Orvieto.

The season’s performers will include the winners and shortlisted candidates from the 2025 and 2026 competitions, alongside artists selected by the Artistic Director from among those who took part in the auditions, as well as winners from previous editions. The Teatro Lirico Sperimentale Choir, conducted by Mauro Presazzi, will feature in the productions of Dido and Aeneas and L’elisir d’amore. All the works on the programme will feature the V. Calamani Umbrian Philharmonic Orchestra. The technical team will consist of specialist staff from the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale.

For more information visit the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale's website

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