Organization

Singer

Tenor

Leonardo Caimi

Roberto

Soprano

Maria Teresa Leva

Anna

Baritone

Elia Fabbian

Guglielmo Wulf

Spoken

Tony Laudadio

Voce recitante

Conductor

Marco Angius

Stage director

Francesco Saponaro

Set designer

Costume designer

Chiara Aversano

Lighting designer

Pasquale Mari

Choreographer

Susanna Sastro

Chorus master

Lorenzo Fratini

Fondazione del Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Others

Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Orchestra

Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

italia

Le Villi -  (The Will-o-the-Wisps)

Florence

Italy

Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Le Villi by G.Puccini, from Opera di Firenze, performed at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, 2019. Directed by Francesco Saponaro, conductor Marco Angius, starring Maria Teresa Leva, Leonardo Caimi, Elia Fabbian, Tony Laudadio..Performed in Italian and Subtitles in Italian,English, German, French, and Korean

Anna and Roberto live happily together in their little village, nestled in the Black Forest. The young lovebirds have only just celebrated their nuptials when Roberto is called to Mainz to collect an inheritance, despite Anna's dreams which she fears foretell his demise. Seasons pass without any sign of Roberto, who has fallen under a siren's enchantment, and the grief-stricken Anna dies in despair—which spurs her father, Guglielmo, to seek the help of the Villi, forest fairies who force unfaithful lovers to dance themselves to death... Francesco Saponaro offers a refined and elegant production of Puccini's first staged work, which grants free rein to the singers' interpretive and emotive choices, and Maria Teresa Leva, Leonardo Caimi, and Elia Fabbian shine under the expert direction of Marco Angius.

Nowadays, Puccini is an uncontested opera legend, but when he began composing Le Villi in 1883, the young Giacomo still had everything to prove. This first step into the world of opera was not an immediate success, falling short at a competition organized by the publisher Sonzogno. The reasons for this early disappointment are still debated today, with possible explanations ranging from a late submission to a conspiracy spearheaded by a rival publisher. Whatever the case may be, the young composer refused to admit defeat and succeeded in financing the premiere of his opera the following year. Puccini's first hit—and the beginning chapter of his long career—were history!

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