More than 5,000 spectators were present at the Grand Gala of Italian Opera staged in the Roman Theatre of Carthage by the ‘Ente Luglio Musicale Trapanese’ to close the 55th edition of the International Festival of Carthage.
Four soloists of international renown guided the audience on a musical voyage through the masterpieces of Italian opera: soprano Francesca Sassu, mezzo soprano Valeria Tornatore, tenor Rosario La Spina and baritone Giuseppe Garra moved and thrilled the audience also thanks to the orchestra conducted by maestro Andrea Certa and the Choir directed by maestro Fabio Modica.
In an evening dedicated to the stories and sounds of opera pieces, the arias and chorus songs performed were drawn from Nabucco, Trovatore, Pagliacci Cavalleria Rusticana, Manon Lescaut, Rigoletto, Norma, Turandot, and La Traviata; all masterpieces that helped spread Italian musical culture across the world. The event is part of the cross-border cooperation project entitled «Medithéâtres Grande musique dans les anciens théâtres mediterranéens». Medithéâtres – the acronym of Med(iterranean), IT(Italy and Tunisia) and Théâtres – aims to create a point of excellence of the operatic and symphonic music scene in the whole Mediterranean region, starting from the sites of historical interest in Sicily and Tunisia.
The initiative’s institutional partners are the Italian Embassy and Cultural Institute in Tunis and the MiBAC, which are also the promoters of the “Week of Italian Opera in Tunisia” Festival that is linked to the Medithéâtres project.
“We have promoted Italian culture through Italian Opera, which is an emblematic expression of it, its quintessence – said Italian Ambassador, Lorenzo Fanara, at the end of the concert. “We have wanted to make the harmony of music prevail over the disharmony of fractures and fragmentations that still divide the Mediterranean.”
