The Operette Season 2026 of the Donizetti Theater Foundation continues on Sunday, March 29 (3:30 p.m.) with the second of three titles on the bill: La Bajadera, an operetta in two acts composed in 1921 by Emmerich Kalman. Bringing it to the stage in the city’s main theater will be the Compagnia Teatro Musica Novecento. Directed by Alessandro Brachetti. Performers: Paola Bess, Alessandro Brachetti, Silvia Felisetti, Antonio Colamorea, Fulvio Massa, Francesco Mei, Simone Mastria, Silvia Caprini. Novecento Corps de Ballet with choreography by Salvatore Loritto. Orchestra “Cantieri d’Arte” conducted by Stefano Giaroli. Sets and costumes Artemio Cabassi created by ArteScenica Reggio Emilia. Production Teatro Musica Novecento. Running time 2 hours 15 minutes including intermission. Tickets: Full from 15 to 45 euros; reduced from 12 to 36 euros.

La Bajadera is an operetta with an exotic-Indian flavor that literally blew Vienna away, which decreed it a huge success. The libretto is based on a sentimental plot, set in Paris: the story tells of an Indian prince, Radjami, who is forced to take a wife in order to ascend the throne. His search for a bride reaches the French capital, where he meets Odette Darimonde, an operetta diva. Will she be the woman for him?

The easy compositional vein animating the choruses, the romances, the dancing motifs, the comic duets, delightful, colorful, full of originality, vivacity and variety, but at the same time full of feeling, with elegant and graceful form, supported by rich instrumentation and with endings full of grandeur, could not but totally engage listeners. Moreover, fox trots, shimmies, new motifs that had largely replaced waltzes in operetta, appeared from the first performance destined for sure popularity. Popularity that La Bajadera has maintained to this day.

The Operette Season will conclude on Sunday, April 26 (3:30 p.m.) with Al cavallino bianco, proposed by the Elena D’Angelo Operette Company.