Arias and Overtures

Vocal and instrumental brio abound in the opening concert of the new season. Mezzo-soprano Maria Warenberg, laureate of the Queen Elisabeth Competition for Singing in 2023, and the OBV Symphony Orchestra conducted by maestro Alessandro Palumbo, highlight the versatility of the Italian opera genius Gioachino Rossini. Virtuoso and lyrical arias from masterpieces such as Il barbiere di Siviglia and La Cenerentola, his brilliant adaptation of the fairy tale of Cinderella, share the bill with La regata veneziana, three canzonettas or songs for salon use. Ottorino Respighi also drew from Rossini's Parisian salon music, collected in Péchés de vieillesse, for his ballet music La Boutique fantasque. We hear several dances from this Rossini medley. The highly inventive and refined overtures to the operas La gazza ladra and Guillaume Tell complete the musical portrait.