Daniel Oren Conducts Aida at Masada, Israeli Premiere of Verdi's Jerusalem in the City, Arena Di Verona Orchestra, Concerts in Jerusalem Churches
Following the spectacular success of the first Masada Opera Festival in which over 42,000 opera lovers from Israel and around the world came to the lowest place on earth to enjoy the Israeli Opera’s presentation of Verdi's Nabucco in June 2010, the festival has been expanded for 2011 to include concerts in Jerusalem as well (1-11 June 2011).
Internationally renowned Israeli opera conductor Daniel Oren will return to the majestic landscape of the Judean desert at the Dead Sea, to lead a new production of Verdi's Aida (a co production with the Orange Festival in France) that features internationally acclaimed opera singers including Micaela Carosi, Marco Berti, Ildiko Komlosi, Paata Burchuladze and others.
The Masada, Dead Sea and Jerusalem Opera Festival will also feature concerts by the orchestra of the Arena di Verona, concerts in Jerusalem churches, and the Israeli premiere of Verdi's Jerusalem, performed at the open air Sultan's Pool in Jerusalem, overlooking the majestic walls of the old city of Jerusalem.
Verdi’s Aida, the improbable love story of the enslaved Ethiopian princes Aida and the Egyptian army officer Radames, will be performed on 4, 5 and 9 June in a giant amphitheater specially-erected on the desert floor, with the majestic mountain-top fortress of Masada as the backdrop to the stage. The new 3½ hour production, conducted by internationally renowned Israeli maestro Daniel Oren, will feature 120 choristers, 40 dancers and 70 extras of the Israeli Opera, in addition to the Israeli Opera's orchestra - the Israel Symphony Orchestra, Rishon LeZion.
The first-rate list of performers includes Micaela Carosi, Kirstin Lewis and Dimitra Theodossiou (Aida), Marco Berti (Radames), Ildiko Komlosi and Marianne Cornetti (Amneris), Ambrogio Maestri and Alberto Gazale (Amonasro) and Paata Burchuladze as Ramfis.
In addition to the five performances of Verdi's Aida in Masada, opera-lovers at the lowest point on earth will also be able to enjoy Verdi's Requiem, performed by the orchestra of the Arena di Verona, under the baton of Giuliano Carella, together with the Israeli Opera Chorus (3 June).
JERUSALEM
Jerusalem is also included in this year’s festival, with the first ever concert performance in Israel of Verdi's rarely performed opera Jerusalem, in the magnificent setting of Sultan's Pool, under the Old City walls. David Stern, the music director of the Israeli Opera, will lead the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, IBA, the Israeli Opera Chorus and international soloists including Carlo Colombara, Scott Piper and Roberto Serville in this performance.
In addition, there will be a gala opera evening (Verdi, Puccini and Rossini arias and duets) with the soloists and orchestra of the Arena di Verona, Italy's leading summer opera festival as they make their debut concerts in Israel (2 June) and at Masada (Verdi’s Requiem on 3 June. Both concerts will be conducted by Italian conductor Giuliano Carella with soprano Svetla Vasileva, mezzo soprano Mariana Pentchava, tenor Stefano Secco and bass Louis-Ottavio Faria.
Tourists in Jerusalem will also be able to enjoy a very special musical Friday on June 3, when 10 different concerts will take place in ten different churches in the old and new city in Jerusalem. Programs will include choral, vocal and chamber music works performed throughout the day by Israeli musicians.
Tickets for the performances in Masada and Jerusalem, reserved for tourists holding foreign passports, can be purchased only as a package which includes hotel accommodation and transfers. These special packages may be ordered directly through the website (www.aidaatmasada.com ) or via travel agents.
Masada, with the excavated remains of a fortress built by King Herod, is situated atop an isolated rock cliff at the western end of the Judean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. On the east the rock falls in a sheer drop of about 450 meters to the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth and one of Israel’s most popular tourist sites, is one of the 28 finalists in the New 7 Wonders of Nature online competition (voting at www.votedeadsea.com)