Thursday, May 23, 2024 at 6 pm .
The Italian Cultural Institute of Washington presents a lecture at the piano with Speranza Scappucci, internationally renowned conductor and musician, who will share with us her insights and knowledge of Giacomo Puccini and his opera “Turandot“.
The event will be an opportunity to learn more about this Italian composer’s work on the centennial anniversary of his death, about his unfinished masterpiece, and about how this extraordinary conductor who has risen to high international recognition interprets his work.
To join us for the evening, a registration is required.
LOCATION:
📍Embassy of Italy
3000 Whitehaven Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008
ABOUT THE OPERA.
Giacomo Puccini’s “Turandot” is an opera in three acts that was left unfinished by the Italian musician at the time of his death in 1924. The opera is set in China and follows Prince Calaf who has fallen in love with the cold Princess Turandot. In order to win her hand Prince Calaf is asked to solve three riddles. While the Prince passes the test, Princess Turandot refuses to marry him. The Prince then offers her a way out of marriage: if she is able to guess his name by dawn, he will accept death.
ABOUT THE CONDUCTOR.
Speranza Scappucci was born in Rome. She graduated from the Juilliard School in New York and the Santa Cecilia Conservatory of Music in Rome.
Recognized by Italian and international press as one of the most interesting conductors of her generation, she was the first Italian woman ever to stand on the podium at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, where she debuted with a new production of “I Capuleti e Montecchi”. New important debuts followed: at Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, at State Opera in Berlin and at Opera national de Paris, which consolidated her position as one of the most interesting conductors of her generation on the international scene. From the 25/26 season, she will be Principal Guest Conductor at the Royal Opera House in London.
Speranza Scappucci conducted many operas, among which “Macbeth” at the Toronto Opera and “Dialogues de Carmelites” at the Opéra Royale de Wallonie Liège, “La Traviata” at the Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona, “Lucia di Lammeroor” at the Opernhaus in Zurich and at the New National Theater in Tokyo, and “Tosca” at the Washington National Opera. From 2017 to 2022, she held the position of Music Director at Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège.
Within the realm of symphonic repertoire, she conducted concerts with the Orchester de chambre de Paris, The Julliard Orchestra in New York, the Orchestra Nazionale di Lyon, the Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Stockholm, the Dutch Radio Philharmonic Orchestra at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Danish Philharmonic Orchestra, and many more.
Since 2022 Speranza Scappucci is co-presenter of the TV program “La gioia della musica” on RAI, the Italian national broadcasting company, a program inspired by “The Joy of Music” of Mo. Bernstein, where Speranza Scappucci explains major operas and symphonic works of classic music literature.
Her discography includes the CD “Mozart Arias” with soprano Marina Rebeka and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (Warner Classic) and “Il mio canto” with tenor Saimir Pirgu with the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Opus Arte). In 2019 she released a CD for Deutsche Grammophon with the Hungarian double bassist Ödön Rácz and the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra.
For more information about Conductor Speranza Scappucci’s biography please visit her website here: https://www.speranzascappucci.com/biografie.html