CATERINA CORNARO EXPERIENCE.
A QUEEN TO REMEMBER

A project by the Donizetti Theatre Foundation as part of the Donizetti Opera Festival 2025 in collaboration with Accademia Carrara, Angelo Mai Civic Library, Lisio Silk Art Foundation, and Museum of the History of Bergamo

From October 15 to November 30, 2025 in Bergamo

Opening at the Donizetti Studio of the Donizetti Theatre in Bergamo Caterina Cornaro Experience. A Queen to Remember , a multi-venue exhibition open to the public until November 30, 2025, promoted by the Donizetti Theatre Foundation as part of the Donizetti Opera 2025, in collaboration with Accademia Carrara, Angelo Mai Civic Library, Lisio Silk Art Foundation and Museum of the History of Bergamo.

The experience dedicated to Caterina Cornaro, curated by Tania Cefis, Clelia Epis, Luca Loglio, Alessio Francesco Marinoni Palmieri, revolves around the opera of the same name by Gaetano Donizetti, which returns to the Bergamo theater stage after thirty years as the opening title of the Donizetti Opera 2025 festival. This return also marks the beginning of a widespread cultural project, capable of interweaving artistic and musical languages and city institutions under the banner of a fascinating female figure, suspended between history, myth, and theater.

The exhibition hosted at the Donizetti Studio offers a historical-theatrical journey that guides visitors from the figure of Caterina Cornaro – Queen of Cyprus, who lived between Venice, Asolo, and the eastern Mediterranean – through the opera that Donizetti dedicated to her in 1844, up to the first modern performance according to the composer’s wishes that we will see on stage this year. On display are sketches and historical images from the Iconographic Archive of the Donizetti Theatre Foundation, along with evocative costumes that document the visual and theatrical imagery linked to one of the most iconic figures in the Donizetti repertoire.

Of particular significance is the section curated by the Lisio Silk Art Foundation of Florence, which has created a faithful reconstruction of Caterina Cornaro’s stage costumes worn in the first Neapolitan performance of 1844, alongside the sumptuous dress that the queen wears in the famous painting by Francesco Hayez housed at the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo. This is a unique opportunity, as for the first time the costumes from a Donizetti premiere have been fully reconstructed, giving back to the public the aesthetic, symbolic, and narrative power of costume as a fundamental element of 19th-century theatrical language. Also on display is the stage costume, provided by Casa d’Arte Fiore, worn by soprano Denia Mazzola, who starred in the 1995 Bergamo production directed by Gianandrea Gavazzeni.

The exhibition at the Donizetti Studio will be open from October 15 to November 30, 2025, every Friday and Saturday from 4:30 PM to 8:00 PM (closed on Saturday, November 1), with special openings during the Donizetti Opera: Tuesday 11, Wednesday 12, and Thursday 13 November from 4:00 PM to 7:30 PM, Thursday November 27 from 5:00 PM to 8:30 PM and Sundays November 16, 23, and 30 from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM. Admission is free.

It will also be possible to explore the exhibition content online, in the section dedicated to the Donizetti Studies Center of the Donizetti Theatre Foundation, by visiting the link: https://areascientifica.teatrodonizetti.it/mostre/

The exhibition will be enriched by an event from the Opera Stories series, titled Caterina Corner. Cyprus between Byzantium and Venice , scheduled for Saturday, November 22, 2025, at 6:00 PM in the Riccardi Hall of the Donizetti Theatre. A conversation between law and opera, with Valerio Massimo Minale, Legal Historian from the University of Naples Federico II, and Paolo Fabbri, Scientific Director of the Donizetti Studies Center, will reflect on the new constitutional order imposed on Cyprus by Venice, reading between the lines – and between the musical staves – in the pages of Sacchero, librettist of Caterina Cornaro, and Donizetti. The event is free admission until seats are filled.

The experience continues outside the theater, transforming Bergamo into a true distributed museum: at the Accademia Carrara, the Queen’s echo will resound through the museum halls thanks to the guided tour Caterina and the Others, scheduled for Saturday, November 15, 2025, at 10:00 AM, curated by the Educational Services. A journey that starts from the mythical figure of Caterina Cornaro to rediscover, through the masterpieces of the collection, the faces and stories of other women who have marked the history of art and the representation of female power in the Renaissance. The museum will be open Monday through Friday (except Tuesday) from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM, and Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Admission to the Accademia Carrara until November 30 is reduced to 13 euros for visitors of all stages of the experience, while the guided tour on November 15 costs 7 euros; reservation is required at prenotazioni@lacarrara.it.

At the Gaetano Donizetti Music Library (via Arena 9), which houses the precious musical and documentary collection of the composer, the Caterina Cornaro in the Library path offers a selection of original testimonies related to the opera, including scores, librettos, and letters, viewable Monday through Friday during opening hours (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 9:00 AM-12:30 PM and 2:30 PM-5:00 PM; Tuesday and Thursday 9:00 AM-12:30 PM). Friday, November 28, 2025, at 4:00 PM, Fabrizio Capitanio, curator of the Donizetti Music Library, and Paolo Fabbri will lead a special tour to discover the exhibited materials, guiding the public on a journey through autograph sources and the history of the opera’s reception. Admission is free.

The Museum of the History of Bergamo participates in the Caterina Cornaro experience with two venues. In the nearby Donizetti Museum, also in via Arena 9, the public can participate in the Donizetti, Portrait Standing tours, scheduled for Friday, November 14 and Friday, November 28 at 5:00 PM, curated by Paolo Fabbri, to explore the Maestro’s figure through autograph scores, musical instruments, paintings, statues, and personal objects. A journey that reveals the man and the artist in his most intimate and human dimension. The museum is open Thursday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with reduced admission of 3 euros until November 30 for participants in the experience and mandatory reservation on Ticketlandia.

At Walls of Bergamo: the Museum, housed in Porta Sant’Agostino, the public can participate, Sunday, October 26 at 11:00 AM, in the guided tour Bergamo in the Time of Caterina, curated by the Educational Services. A journey that interweaves Renaissance testimonies and cutting-edge technological solutions to tell the face of Bergamo in the sixteenth century, in the European context of Caterina Cornaro. The museum is open Friday through Sunday from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM, with reduced admission of 5 euros until November 30, also for participants in the experience; the guided tour costs 5 euros with mandatory reservation through Ticketlandia. Info: info@museodellestorie.bergamo.it

The distributed experience is enhanced and promoted by the Pass Caterina Cornaro experience: by presenting at the ticket offices of the participating museums a ticket for the Donizetti Opera Festival 2025 or the “Caterina Cornaro” pin (available at the Donizetti Theatre Box Office for just 2 euros), you will be entitled to reduced admission where applicable.

Furthermore, those who visit all the exhibition venues and correctly answer the four questions posed by the Donizetti Theatre Box Office can purchase a ticket for an opera of their choice from the 2025 Festival with a 45% discount off the full price.

With Caterina Cornaro experience Bergamo celebrates the return of a queen and, simultaneously, the vitality of a city that continues to build culture through collaboration among its most representative institutions. A distributed exhibition that weaves together history and modernity, research and performance, art and music through city locations networked by the Donizetti Theatre Foundation, which together construct a unified narrative where the figure of Caterina Cornaro becomes a journey through the map of Donizetti’s city, extending from theater to museum, from library to the history of the walls.