Organization

Conductor

Andrea Battistoni

Stage director

Pier Francesco Maestrini

Set designer

Carlo Savi

Costume designer

Singer

Bass

Giovanni Battista Parodi

Attila

Baritone

Sebastian Catana

Ezio

Soprano

Susanna Branchini

Odabella

Tenor

Roberto De Biasio

Foresto

Ziyan Atfeh

Leone

Cristiano Cremonini

Uldino

Orchestra

Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Parma

Teatro Verdi di Busseto

Italian

Busseto

Italy

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) wrote a total of five operas for the renowned Teatro La Fenice in Venice. The successful collaboration documents Verdi's rise to become one of the most important opera composers of the 19th century - and actually of the entire history of music. It began in 1844 with "Ernani" and continued two years later with "Attila", followed by "Rigoletto" (1851), "La Traviata" (1853) and finally "Simone Boccanegra" (1st version 1857).

The opera is based on the play "Attila, King of the Huns" by the German dramatist Zacharias Werner (1768-1823), but Verdi and his librettists Solera and Piave were less interested in the stage play than in the political message: the liberation struggle of an oppressed people against the occupying power. Like "Nabucco" and "I Lombardi" before it, "Attila" was also intended to make an ideal contribution to the unification of Italy ("Risorgimento") and was enthusiastically received by the Italian patriots as the slogan of their fight for an Italian nation. In the prologue, for example, the Roman general Ezio offers the invading Hun king the whole world if he can keep Italy in return;

In the years that followed, however, "Attila" disappeared from the repertoires of opera houses; Verdi's worldwide successes such as "Rigoletto", "Il Trovatore" or "La Traviata" seemed to be more important for the international repertoire. The work has only been on stage for around 50 years - as an insider tip for connoisseurs who appreciate the impressive music for four top singers and a large choir: In the score of "Attila" you will find enchanting lyrical passages as well as rousing effective passages in which it really "rips" - just the best early Verdi.

Production booklet

Further reading