Michela Gerosa

The board of directors of the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti, chaired by Giorgio Berta and composed of Emilio Bellingardi, Enrico Fusi, Elisabetta Ricchiuti, Roberta Sestini, Giovanni Thiella, and Alessandro Valoti, met today in Bergamo. On the agenda was the appointment of the new artistic director of the Donizetti Opera festival following Francesco Micheli's unavailability for renewal. The board unanimously appointed conductor Riccardo Frizza – musical director of the same festival since 2017 – as the new head of the opera festival dedicated to the Bergamo composer for the next three years. «It is a thoughtful and shared choice – declares President Berta – based on the history and successes of the festival, two indispensable values that see in the appointment of the Brescia maestro an element of continuity and continuous investment in the “cultural heritage” built over these ten years. I therefore renew my thanks to the outgoing director Micheli and congratulate Frizza on behalf of the entire Foundation, confident that he will further enhance the legacy of the Donizetti Opera». «I am honored to take on the artistic direction of the Donizetti Opera – underlines Riccardo Frizza. The last eight years as musical director of the festival have been an extraordinary experience, made possible by the trust of the entire Foundation – from the stage, to the offices, to the scientific section – as well as by a fruitful collaboration with Francesco Micheli, to whom I extend my thanks for marking a significant period for the city and its festival. Today, in the dual role of artistic and musical director, I embrace this new challenge with enthusiasm, aiming to project the Donizetti Opera into an increasingly broad international dimension. To achieve this, I am certain I can count on the renewed support of all those who have accompanied my activity as musical director over these years». A press conference will be convened shortly to outline the new artistic and musical direction guidelines. Riccardo Frizza (Brescia, 1971), musical director of the Donizetti Opera in Bergamo since 2017, is among the most acclaimed conductors of his generation, a regular guest at national and international theaters and festivals such as the Opéra de Paris, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Metropolitan Opera of New York, Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Real, Rossini Opera Festival, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Festival Verdi di Parma, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, and Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden. Among the commitments of recent years stand out the 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 inaugurations of the Donizetti Opera festival with L’elisir d’amore, La favorite (Abbiati Award for Best Show of the Year), Il diluvio universale e Roberto Devereux, the Homage to Caruso with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, La clemenza di Tito at the Bilbao Opera, Le tre regine at the Teatro San Carlo, L’amico Fritz at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Lucia di Lammermoor at the Metropolitan Opera of New York, Il barbiere di Siviglia and Maria Stuarda at the Teatro San Carlo, Simon

Si avvia alla conclusione la decima edizione del festival Donizetti Opera, realizzato a Bergamo dalla Fondazione Teatro Donizetti presieduta da Giorgio Berta, con la direzione generale di Massimo Boffelli, la direzione artistica di Francesco Micheli e quella musicale di Riccardo Frizza: grande festa al Teatro Donizetti venerdì 29 novembre per il dies natalis di Donizetti con una speciale edizione di “Citofonare Gaetano Amarcord”, una serata di parole, musica e immagini per ricordare i momenti e i temi fondamentali che hanno sostenuto le dieci edizioni, guidata dal direttore artistico Micheli e con tanti ospiti come Corrado Rovaris, Valentina Carrasco, Javier Camarena, Carmela Remigio, Roberto de Candia, Raffaella Lupinacci e Omar Mancini, oltre alle testimonianze di tanti collaboratori della manifestazione, del dramaturg Alberto Mattioli e del direttore musicale Riccardo Frizza. La decima edizione del Donizetti Opera ottiene nuovi importanti risultati in termini di presenze, incassi di pubblico, stampa e qualità artistica. Crescono quindi gli spettatori che, nel 2024 – quando ancora non sono chiuse le vendite per gli spettacoli di sabato e domenica – superano le 14.000 presenze, staccando il successo del 2023 (13.120) e i precedenti 2022 (12.484), 2021 (10.788), 2019 (10.293) e 2018 (8.491) e confermando l’attrattività del festival e la qualità della proposta artistica. A questi spettatori paganti se ne possono aggiungere altri 3.000 che hanno frequentato in queste settimane gli eventi gratuiti del festival. Anche gli incassi registrano un aumento superiore al 40% rispetto al 2023. «Sono commosso – sottolinea Francesco Micheli che lascia la direzione artistica – nel constatare che questo decennale, folle, rivoluzionario e pieno d’amore per Gaetano Donizetti, si chiude con un’edizione memorabile. Tre titoli diversi che declinano i tanti talenti del compositore di borgo Canale con spettacoli artisti animati dalla disperata vitalità del nostro maestro. Saluto la mia città, col cuore colmo e la testa alta». «Con questo decennio concludiamo un primo percorso che resterà nella storia del Festival Donizetti fondato da Francesco Micheli – dichiara il presidente della Fondazione Teatro Donizetti Giorgio Berta –. Decennio nel quale abbiamo costruito la base finanziaria per un'iniziativa che oggi conta su più del doppio delle risorse di dieci anni fa, una struttura organizzativa solida e una storia artistica costellata di successi importanti e di riconoscimenti unanimi. La decima edizione è stata il coronamento di una visione che vogliamo portare avanti: rigore economico, eccellenza artistica, partecipazione, ricerca scientifica. Siamo grati a Francesco Micheli per questo percorso indimenticabile, per il suo spirito indomito e per la sua competenza e lo aspettiamo a casa sua in veste di regista nella prossima produzione 2025 di Caterina Cornaro. A fine festival, i miei ringraziamenti vanno anche a tutti gli artisti, i tecnici, i professionisti e i tanti fornitori che, a vario livello, hanno collaborato con noi e che, in queste settimane, hanno profuso il loro impegno per ottenere i risultati che vi presentiamo e per far apprezzare ancora una volta le opere di Donizetti nel mondo». Nel corso di poco più di tre weekend, dal 14 novembre all’1 dicembre 2024, si è snodato quindi un programma di circa

The Prose Season of the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti is about to start. From Saturday, December 7 to Sunday, December 15, The Sunshine Boys, the first of seven titles on the bill, will be staged, with eight performances each, until May 2025. The famous comedy by American Neil Simon will feature on stage, directed by Massimo Popolizio, two great masters of Italian theater, Umberto Orsini and Franco Branciaroli, alongside Flavio Francucci, Chiara Stoppa, Eros Pascale, and Emanuela Saccardi. Translation by Masolino D’Amico. Sets by Maurizio Balò. Costumes by Gianluca Sbicca. Lighting by Carlo Pediani. Sound by Alessandro Saviozzi. Produced by Teatro de Gli Incamminati, Compagnia Orsini, Teatro Biondo Palermo, in collaboration with CTB Centro Teatrale Bresciano and AMAT Associazione Marchigiana Attività Teatrali and Comune di Fabriano. Duration 2 hours including intermission. Showtimes: evening at 8:30 PM, except Monday 9; Sunday, December 8 and 15 at 3:30 PM. Inspired by the life of a famous vaudeville duo, Joe Smith and Charles Dale, The Sunshine Boys (original title The Sunshine Boys) debuted on Broadway in 1972 directed by Alan Arkin. Numerous and highly successful theatrical productions followed worldwide in the subsequent decades, and the 1975 film adaptation, with a screenplay by the same author, directed by Herbert Ross, starring Walter Matthau and George Burns, won multiple awards. In 1995, a television adaptation featured two major stars: Woody Allen and Peter Falk. The two main characters in Neil Simon’s comedy, rightly considered one of the greatest American writers of the last fifty years, are two elderly variety actors who worked together their entire lives, forming a duo known as “The Sunshine Boys.” After separating due to irreconcilable differences, they are called to reunite eleven years later for a television show that wants them together for one night to celebrate the history of American vaudeville. The two, with their different personalities, try to mend the rift that separated them for so many years in an attempt to revive a comedy act that made them famous. Old misunderstandings resurface more deeply rooted, and this difficult chemistry serves as a pretext for a game of brilliant comedy and profound melancholy. Certain exchanges and hilarious situations are not only sources of comedy but also offer a deeply tender look at the world of theater, which, when its creators are on the decline, shows all its human fragility. Umberto Orsini and Franco Branciaroli come together in The Sunshine Boys to bring this text, now a classic, back to life, attempting to capture everything that brings it closer to the theater of Beckett (Endgame) or even Chekhov (The Swan Song), rather than a work of pure entertainment. In this tribute to the world of actors, with their little delightful quirks and tragic miseries, they are joined by the direction of Massimo Popolizio, who finds in the two protagonists those companions with whom he has shared many of the most intense and significant experiences in Italian theater.

On Thursday, December 5, 2024, at the Teatro Sociale (8:30 PM), the 2024/2025 Theater Season of the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti will commence, running until May 2025 and featuring the Prose Season and Other Paths (from December 7), Operetta, and a series of musical events. The season kicks off with music and a concert that bridges different soundscapes: The Five Elements: Earth Air Water Fire Ether, a project by violinist Alessandro Quarta, accompanied on this occasion by pianist Giuseppe Magagnino and the strings of the Italian Philharmonic Orchestra. The Five Elements is music without spatial-temporal boundaries, without genre or style limits. From the first notes, one senses a cinematic, evocative score, rich with images that forcefully present themselves to the listener. It is music full of colors, in a continuous contrast of light and shadow, with strong suggestions that whirl around. The project was conceived by the imaginative violinist Alessandro Quarta as a succession of visions where notes replace words. Earth is imagined as a lady whose voice, represented by a melancholic waltz played by the solo violin, is that of an old lady carrying millions of years on her shoulders. Next is Water, born from an image tied to a place very dear to the Salento musician: "The most important Eastern Gate of the Mediterranean, Otranto is the easternmost city in Italy, the first to see the sunrise, and where at five in the morning you smell the sea and see a sky tinged with red, towards the East." Water begins with a Middle Eastern theme on cellos: "Everything starts in the African desert from a drop of water that, before becoming the sea, is a stream, then a river, finally a stormy sea, wonderful. Then, like a rewind, the tape rewinds to return to the origins." Air, an apparently invisible element, is breath, wind, hurricane. Three chords, three motifs: E minor, G major, B major. The "seventeenth-century" style of dense, complex writing is recognizable: a three-voice fugue, progressions in the manner of Vivaldi. Fire begins with a Cuban tango: it is the fire of eros that fuels life, sexuality, it is the most overwhelming moment of the entire work. Finally, Ether, considered by the Greeks as the fifth element, and in The Five Elements the concluding piece that evokes a cold land. It evokes peace, tranquility, but the calm lasts only a moment and the music takes off again until the end of the work. Violinist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer, Alessandro Quarta has musically grown with the greatest conductors in the world such as Maazel, Inbal, Dutoit, Rostropovich, Chung, Pretre, Metha, Morricone. At the same time, he has approached the crossover world collaborating with world-renowned artists, including Carlos Santana, Lucio Dalla, Mark Knopfler, Boy George, Dionne Warwick, Celine Dion, Liza Minnelli, Joe Cocker, Lenny Kravitz, Jovanotti. In 2017, he was awarded in Montecitorio as the "Best Italian Excellence in the World" for music. His piece "Dorian Gray," composed, arranged, and performed live in a world premiere with Roberto Bolle at

Culture in dictatorial regimes: between propaganda and free art is the title of the series of three meetings preceding the performance of King Lear Died in Moscow, the show by Argentine César Brie which on Thursday, December 19 at the Teatro Sociale will open the Altri Percorsi series of the Donizetti Theatre Foundation. «King Lear Died in Moscow is a precious show from a theatrical point of view and of great civil reflection. Eight young artists led by Argentine director César Brie, including Michelangelo Nervosi, one of the boys from our Progetto Young, narrate on stage the story of the Jewish theater Goset founded in Moscow in 1919 by director Aleksandr Granovsky and painter-scenographer Marc Chagall. A theater admired by Gordon Craig, which Stalin destroyed by assassinating the actor-directors who led it, Solomon Mikhoels and Veniamin Zuskin. In the show, historical truth intertwines with the imaginative ability to transform simple objects, rhythms, movements, dances, and choirs into a surprising fresco of humanity», says Maria Grazia Panigada, Artistic Director of the Prose Season and Altri Percorsi. «King Lear Died in Moscow shows how dictatorial regimes, in this case, Stalin's, fear freedom», continues Panigada, «In the meetings, curated by experts in the individual sectors, a reflection on artistic languages – cinema, music, and visual arts – during dictatorships will be proposed, with the aim of offering historical knowledge, but also providing tools for decoding and understanding the languages and messages they can convey». Organized in collaboration with ISREC - Bergamasque Institute for the History of the Resistance and Contemporary Age, the meetings will all take place at 6:00 PM in the “M. Tremaglia” Music Hall of the Donizetti Theatre with free admission by reservation at the EventBrite links provided on the theater's website. It starts on Wednesday, December 4 with “ Art at the service of the regime. The regime at the service of art. Continuity and discontinuity of cinema between fascist propaganda and the immediate post-war period”, a meeting curated by Isrec with the participation of Luciana Bramati (Isrec) and Giorgio Giovanetti (Ferruccio Parri National Institute). In this first meeting, it will be reconstructed - through period materials - how fascism bent cinematographic art into a powerful propaganda tool, but at the same time how cinema took its revenge by raising a generation of authors who gave shape to the neorealism revolution. Exemplary is the case of Roberto Rossellini, author between 1941 and 1943 of the so-called Trilogy of Fascist War and then of Rome, Open City in 1945, which will be presented and analyzed. Wednesday, December 11 will be dedicated to music, with On the notes of a song. The cases of the “Song of the Deported”, Frida Misul's “Sad Songs” and “The Wind Whistles” . Relatori: Elisabetta Ruffini e Angelo Bendotti di Isrec. Nel corso dell’incontro si considererà quanto la musica possa approfondire lo studio della vita all’interno dei lager nazisti, sia dalla prospettiva dei carcerieri che da quella delle vittime. Da una parte l’uso delle orchestre nei

On November 29 shows, guided tours, meetings, activities for children, in the name of the composer and the first ten editions of the DO At the Donizetti Theater “Ring Gaetano, Amarcord” with Francesco Micheli and many guests The Donizetti Opera, a festival dedicated to the Bergamasque composer, reaches its tenth edition in 2024: the culmination of the celebrations is scheduled for Friday, November 29 Dies natalis of Gaetano Donizetti. D as in Ten is the set of these initiatives, carried out with the support of Stucchi S.p.A., started in September and designed to retrace with the public and the city the fundamental stages of the Donizetti Opera, commenting on the most loved and important productions that have allowed the discovery of new aspects and treasures of the art of the Orobic composer. All initiatives D as in Ten (except guided tours and LU OpeRave) are free with reservations on the site gaetanodonizetti.org or at the ticket office (Tuesday-Saturday 4-8 PM). Friday, November 29 starts at 10 AM (until 12:40 PM, ticket 5 euros) with Donizetti Welcome, the guided tours of the Donizetti Theater which, as is known, has undergone a profound restoration. In the Gavazzeni foyer, you can see the exhibition of posters of shows set up over these ten years and illustrated by various authors, identified by Studio Temp of Bergamo which, in 2015, designed the image of the festival. From 10 AM to 8 PM, in the exhibition hall next to the ticket office, you can visit for free the photographic exhibition Ten Words for Ten Years curated by Clelia Epis and Floriana Tessitore with images by Photo Studio U.V., realized with the support of Assolari Luigi C.: «2015-2024, ten editions of the Donizetti Opera festival: to tell them – reads the presentation of the exhibition – ten keywords and many images taken from the iconographic heritage of the Foundation that documents the vision of artistic director Francesco Micheli and the spirit that animated it, feeding the city's memory. As the opening image L'ange de Nisida, a symbol opera of these ten years and what characterized them: first of all Gaetano Donizetti and his music, but also courage, vision, rediscoveries, study, research, continuous public involvement, overcoming traditional boundaries, recognition from national and international critics. The ten words/sections that guide the collection of images are: theater and city, boundaries, rediscoveries, masterpieces, women, Covid-19, awards, night, masters, youth. The morning activities continue in Città Alta where, in Piazza Vecchia at 10:30 am, the choral flash mob G like Giacomo and Gaetano is scheduled; November 29 is also the date of Giacomo Puccini's death exactly 100 years ago. For this reason, schools throughout Italy have been encouraged by Opera Education / AsLiCo in collaboration with AGIS to participate in a choral flash mob that, in Bergamo, will unite Donizetti with Puccini. The program includes two choirs from Turandot (“Là sui monti dell’est”, “O sole, vita, eternità”) and two from Don Pasquale (“Bella siccome un’angelo”, “Che interminabile andirivieni”). At 11:15 am, the

Fondazione Banco dell’energia and Fondazione Teatro Donizetti, in collaboration with A2A, organize a charity evening featuring jazz music and singer-songwriter songs: "IN CONCERT WITH ENZO" with Paolo Jannacci at the Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo on December 16 at 8:30 PM. A way to revive the songs of Enzo Jannacci with singing and music, including Paolo's repertoire and the songs most cherished by Enzo's audience. Paolo Jannacci will be accompanied by an extraordinary band, composed of Stefano Bagnoli on drums and percussion, Marco Ricci on double bass and electric bass, Daniele Moretto on trumpet/flugelhorn and backing vocals. It will be a show full of poetic and musical energy where the artist will perform playing the piano in a trio or quartet. “I will remember my father to those who knew him and try to introduce him to those who have never heard of him. During the show, there won't be many frills; only the reality of the music, which I hope will reach straight to the heart of those who listen,” said Paolo Jannacci. Tickets are on sale through the Vivaticket circuit or directly at the Teatro Donizetti box office. For info and reservations: 035.4160 601/602/603. The proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the Fondazione Banco dell’energia, the philanthropic entity promoted by A2A and its Foundations AEM, ASM, and LGH, which supports people in situations of economic and social vulnerability, with particular attention to energy poverty. To learn more, you can visit the website www.bancodellenergia.it. For the occasion, the facade of the Theater will be specially illuminated in coordination with the artistic installation FLOWING COLORS created for A2A by Stefano Mazzanti, an internationally renowned light designer, in collaboration with IDRA Teatro. This initiative highlights the connection between A2A and the world of Theater and Art. The installation will be visible from November 23, 2024, to January 6, 2025, as part of the Christmas Design widespread exhibition, promoted by the DUC - Urban Commerce District for Christmas in Bergamo. A2A, after making a significant contribution to Bergamo Brescia Capital of Culture 2023 through the Light is Life initiatives, intends to renew its commitment to the territories with which it has a historic bond. This year, the choice of the installation and its location was made to further enhance the historic partnership with the Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo.    

Introduction by Roberto Pesenti, president of gres art 671 Conversation with Francesco Micheli and Fabio Cleto moderated by Francesca Acquati Actress Matilde Facheris performs a monologue by Alberto Mattioli, soprano Eleonora Boaretto with pianist Giulio Zappa The first collaboration between the Donizetti Opera festival and gres art 671 Bergamo, gres art 671 Wednesday, November 27, 7:00 PM An "off-schedule" event for the Donizetti Opera 2024 festival that stems from an important new collaboration of the music event, organized by the Donizetti Theater Foundation, in collaboration with Fondazione Pesenti Ets, which-in the year of Bergamo Brescia Capital of Culture 2023-inaugurated gres art 671, the new cultural hub developed by Italmobiliare Group. At gres art 671, on Wednesday, Nov. 27, at 7 p.m., an event will be held that concretizes the interweaving of music, art, history and contemporaneity that animates the two Bergamasque institutions. Between Art and Life: Maria Callas and Marina Abramović Donizettian heroines on stage and off is the title of this meeting in which Francesco Micheli, artistic director of Donizetti Opera, will dialogue with Fabio Cleto, professor of English Literature and Cultural History at the University of Bergamo, moderator is Francesca Acquati, general manager gres art 671. The aim is to trace the ideal thread linking the past to the present and the heroines of Donizetti's operas (in the paradigmatic interpretation of Maria Callas) to a project by Marina Abramović, a woman-symbol of contemporary art, like Callas before her, to whom she has dedicated Seven Deaths, a performance in which visual art, opera and dialectical tension coexist between the evocation of Maria Callas and the immanence of Abramović herself, women in whom life and art converge. This initiative aims to provide a new opportunity for in-depth exploration related to the suggestions that come from Donizetti's works and the fascination that opera continues to exert on today's artists. The Bergamo actress Matilde Facheris will also perform an unpublished monologue written by Alberto Mattioli and dedicated to Maria Callas, while soprano Eleonora Boaretto, accompanied by pianist Giulio Zappa, will perform pieces by Donizetti. At the end of the talk, the audience will have access to the Marina Abramović, Between Breath and Fire exhibition in the spaces of gres art 671. The event is free with reservation until all available seats are filled at the link https://ticket.gresart671.org/acquisto/evento.aspx?ID=6343 This new opportunity for collaboration between two Bergamasque cultural entities underscores common intentions, and especially common desire to bring international artistic experiences to Bergamo, such as the Donizetti Opera festival and the multidisciplinary and inclusive programming of gres art 671.

The first weekend packed with debuts of all opera productions, Roberto Devereux, Don Pasquale and Granata's Zoraida, the return of LU OpeRave to the Balzer Globe On Friday, November 15, opening of the exhibition D for Ten. Ten words for you say anninellaExhibition Hall of the Donizetti Theater Sunday, Nov. 17, the Birth House concert with Massimo Spadano and Francesco Libetta and the first Opera Family activity with The Owl Detective The opening weekend of the 10th Donizetti Opera festival - already the 2019 winner of the "Oper! Award" as best European festival by German critics and with four nominations for the International Opera Award also as best festival of the year - opens at the Balzer Globe on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024 at 9:30 p.m. with the reprise of one of the most innovative and popular projects during these ten editions of the festival: LU OpeRave in which Donizetti's music meets electronics and new trends; from the title the reference to Lucia di Lammermoor, from which the authors of this experimental project were inspired, is clear. At the origin of LU OpeRave are Mixopera vol. 1 and vol. 2, electronic music EPs inspired by Donizetti's music and made by some of the most prominent European electronic musicians gathered around the Fluidostudio label, available on all streaming platforms (Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music, YouTube Music). EP artists involved in LU OpeRave include Stefano Libertini Protopapa(creative director of the project), ilromantic, H.E.R. authors of the music. The booklet is by the Love Maniacs. Directed and choreographed by Mattia Agatiello, who brings to the stage his award-winning and celebrated Fattoria Vittadini dance company based at Milan's Fabbrica del Vapore. Sets and costumes are by Andrea Cammarosano and Leonardo Persico. The performers are from diverse musical backgrounds and experiences - soprano Laura Ulloa (a Bottega alumna in 2021), renowned vocalist David Blank and performer M¥SS KETA as narrator - and represent a fusion designed to speak to audiences of all generations, confirming the innovative and revolutionary power of Donizetti's poetics. To celebrate the 10-year anniversary, coinciding with the festival, on Friday, November 15 from 6:30 p.m., the photo exhibition will open Ten Words for Ten Years curated by Clelia Epis and Floriana Tessitore with images by Photo Studio U.V., set up in the Donizetti Theater's Exhibit Hall, next to the box office entrance and realized with the support of Assolari Luigi & C., which is among the initiatives entitled D for Ten and will culminate on Friday, Nov. 29, which coincides with Donizetti's Dies natalis. These are the ten words/sections that guide the collection of images: theater and city, encroachments, rediscoveries, masterpieces, women, Covid-19, awards, night, masters, youth. The photo exhibition, with free admission, can be visited during the performances, from Nov. 14 to Dec. 1, from two hours before the start. Saturday and Sunday also 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 29 (Dies natalis) 10 a.m.-8 p.m. All making their debuts are the three operatic titles around which the festival's entire program

Between art and life Maria Callas and Marina Abramović Donizettian heroines on stage and off Introduction by Roberto Pesenti, President Gres Art 671 Conversation with Francesco Micheli and Fabio Cleto moderated by Francesca Acquati Actress Matilde Facheris performs a monologue by Alberto Mattioli, soprano Eleonora Boaretto with pianist Giulio Zappa The first collaboration between the Donizetti Opera festival and Gres Art 671 Bergamo, Gres Art 671 Wednesday, November 27, 2024, 7 p.m. An "off-schedule" event for the Donizetti Opera 2024 festival that stems from an important new collaboration of the music event, organized by the Donizetti Theater Foundation, in collaboration with Fondazione Pesenti Ets, which-in the year of Bergamo Brescia Capital of Culture 2023-inaugurated gres art 671, the new cultural hub developed by Italmobiliare Group. At gres art 671, on Wednesday, Nov. 27, at 7 p.m., an event will be held that concretizes the interweaving of music, art, history and contemporaneity that animates the two Bergamasque institutions. Between Art and Life: Maria Callas and Marina Abramović Donizettian heroines on stage and off is the title of this meeting in which Francesco Micheli, artistic director of Donizetti Opera, will dialogue with Fabio Cleto, professor of English Literature and Cultural History at the University of Bergamo, moderator is Francesca Acquati, general manager gres art 671. The aim is to trace the ideal thread linking the past to the present and the heroines of Donizetti's operas (in the paradigmatic interpretation of Maria Callas) to a project by Marina Abramović, a woman-symbol of contemporary art, like Callas before her, to whom she has dedicated Seven Deaths, a performance in which visual art, opera and dialectical tension coexist between the evocation of Maria Callas and the immanence of Abramović herself, women in whom life and art converge. This initiative is proposed as a new opportunity for in-depth study related to the suggestions that come from Donizetti's operas and the fascination that the work continues to exert on today's artists. Bergamo actress Matilde Facheris will also perform an unpublished monologue written by Alberto Mattioli and dedicated to Maria Callas, while soprano Eleonora Boaretto, accompanied by pianist Giulio Zappa, will perform pages by Donizetti. At the end of the talk, the audience will have access to the Marina Abramović, Between Breath and Fire exhibition in the spaces of gres art 671. The meeting is free admission with reservations subject to availability at https://ticket. gresart671 .org/buy/event.aspx?ID=6343 This new opportunity for collaboration between two Bergamasque cultural entities underscores common intentions, and especially common desire to bring international artistic experiences to Bergamo, such as the Donizetti Opera festival and the multidisciplinary and inclusive programming of gres art 671.