A Letter from the Artistic Director
da
Corneto Opera proudly welcomes you to our
12th concert season!
Why
concert opera?
Founded and managed by opera singers,
da Corneto exists to provide opportunities for talented opera
singers. Our
concert format allows
us to focus on what we care about the most: BEAUTIFUL MUSIC AND BEAUTIFUL
SINGING. As Artistic Director, I cannot help but feel that in saying
this I am out of touch with the reality of today’s
operatic stage; as companies are increasingly concerned with
greater
visual spectacle, the
music has become
subordinate to the whims of the stage director. Why go against this
trend?
At da Corneto we believe that opera is at least 95% music and
voice. In recent years, I have not attended any performances where
this much importance was given to things musical. As a singer and
as an audience member, I feel dismayed when beautiful vocal lines
or powerful choral and orchestral passages are completely overshadowed
by “imaginative staging.” I believe that the music
of the great masters can convey both great drama and great comedy
without the help of over-elaborate and, often, obtrusive choreography.
Rossini, one of the greatest operatic composers of all time, said
that opera is three things: voice, voice and more voice. We at
da Corneto are in total agreement. To us, an opera singer is not
a “singing actor.” Opera singers are a completely different
species. We spend many years perfecting only one thing: our voice.
At da Corneto, we are, if anything, “acting singers” or “singers
who act with their voices,” but above all, singers.
We are more convinced than ever that our audience members appreciate beautiful music and singing. We plan to be here for many years to come, providing our audiences with great performances of very challenging repertoire. Why these particular works? Simply because we have the voices to do them justice. Please do not take my word for it- judge for yourself!
Thank you for joining us as we enter our second decade of high-quality opera programming. I promise — you will not be disappointed.
Álvaro Ramírez
Artistic Director
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