UN MAGGIO MUSICALE a lyric program taken to Hong Kong by the Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and by Opera Firenze at the City University of Hong Kong on the 27 May 2017.
The auditorium was packed and the performance was flawless.
Flawless was also the organization by Solomusica Hong Kong, run by his director and founder, Andrea Bettinelli dal Cin.
The sponsors were the Italian Consulate of Italy in Hong Kong and Macau; The Office of the European Union; ICE; Bellissima Italia and City University, Hong Kong.
Opera di Firenze
Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
UN MAGGIO MUSICALE
in Guangzhou, Macao, Hong Kong , Shanghai, Beijing
‘Di piacer mi balza il cor’ — La Gazza Ladra — G. Rossini
soprano Eleonora BELLOCCI
‘Sì, ritrovarla io giuro’ — La Cenerentola — G. Rossini tenor Manuel AMATI
‘Largo al factotum’ — Il Barbiere di Siviglia — G. Rossini
baritone Qianming DOU
‘All’idea di quel metallo’ — Il Barbiere di Siviglia — G. Rossini
tenor Manuel AMATI, baritone Qianming DOU
‘Ah! Qual colpo inaspettato’ — Il Barbiere di Siviglia — G. Rossini
soprano Eleonora BELLOCCI, tenor Manuel AMATI, baritone Qianming DOU
‘Quel guardo il cavaliere… So anch’io la virtù magica’ — Don Pasquale — G. Donizetti
soprano Eleonora BELLOCCI
‘Tornami a dir che m’ami’ — Don Pasquale — G. Donizetti
soprano Eleonora BELLOCCI, tenor Manuel AMATI
—— intermission 15’ ——
‘Cruda, funesta smania’ — Lucia di Lamermoor — G. Donizetti
baritone Qianming DOU
‘Vissi d’arte’ — Tosca — G. Puccini
soprano Eunhee KIM
‘Per me giunto… io morrò’ — Don Carlo — G. Verdi
baritone Benjamin CHO
‘Ecco l’orrido campo’ — Un ballo in maschera — G. Verdi
soprano Eunhee KIM
‘Udiste? Come albeggi la scure al figlio’— Il trovatore — G. Verdi
soprano Eunhee KIM, baritone Benjamin CHO
ACCADEMIA DEL MAGGIO MUSICALE FIORENTINO
OPERA DI FIRENZE
The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Academy, the international center of advanced training of the
‘Opera di Firenze’ was founded with the objective of ensuring the most thorough and prestigious professional training for young talents wishing to embrace the arts and crafts of opera theatre.
Focusing on the younger generations, the Academy aims to promote the rich tradition of Italian opera, which has its origins in Florence, the birthplace of the Italian language which is universally recognised as the language of opera.
‘Opera di Firenze’ finds its origins in 1861, since the ‘Teatro Comunale’ was opened in Florence.
The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Academy is an institution of Italian excellence capable of providing top-level training to young musicians beginning the theatrical profession. The
Academy ofers highly qualified specialization courses and a concrete work experience that promotes the students vocational integration and improvement.
Qianming Dou, baritone – China
Born in Shanghai in 1991, he graduated from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Ukraine.
After moving to Italy, he enrolled in the Music Conservatory of Verona. In 2015 he joined the Academy of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. In 2016 he won the ‘International
Opera Competition Ferruccio Tagliavini’. In February 2017 he is Figaro in ‘Il Barbiere di Siviglia’ by G. Rossini at the Royal Opera House Muscat (Oman),
Eleonora Bellocci, soprano – Italy
Born in 1992, she began her vocal studies in 2011 with Donatella Debolini at the
Conservatory ‘Luigi Cherubini’ of Florence. She made her debut in 2012 in Noye’s Fludde by Benjamin Britten, as part of the international sacred music festival
Anima Mundi, and as a soloist in the New Year’s concert at the Opera di Firenze.
In 2016 she was a student at the Accademia Rossini directed by Maestro Alberto
Zedda. In March, 2017 she will perform the role of La Regina della Notte in La
Piramide di Luce from the opera Il flauto magico by W. A. Mozart at the Opera di Firenze.
Manuel Amati – tenor, Italy
Born in 1996 at Martina Franca, at the age of 13 he began his vocal studies with,
Riccardo Frizza, Roberto Frontali and Roberto Scandiuzzi. also specializing with
Maestro Domenico Colaianni. In 2015 he won a scholarship at the Accademia Lirica di Bari. In March, 2017 he will interpret Tamino in La Piramide di Luce from the opera Il flauto magico by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for the Opera di Firenze.
Eunhee Kim, soprano – South Korea
Born in Seoul in 1986, she studied music and earned her bachelor and master degrees
at the National University of Seoul. She then moved to Italy where she graduated
with honours at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi di Milano. She won several
competitions including the ‘Riccardo Zandonai Prize’ and the ‘Grand Prix of Bucharest’.
In 2015 she debuted in Ireland at the Wexford Opera Festival with Le portrait de
Manon by Jules Massenet. The same year she joined Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
Benjamin Cho, baritone – South Korea
Born in1989 in Seoul, South Korea and he graduated at the Korea National University of Art.
He moved to Italy to study the Italian lyric repertory and in 2015 he was admitted to the
Academy of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. In 2016 he was one of the winners of the
‘Concorso lirico Andrea Chénier’. In October 2016 he was Schaunard in ‘La Bohème’
by Giacomo Puccini at the Teatro Regio d Torino, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda.
Yin Bojie – pianist – China
Born in Hunan, China, she began studying piano at the age of four. In 2013 she graduated in
Piano Accompaniment and Choir Direction from the Shanghai Music Conservatory.
In 2012 she worked as a piano accompanist at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing.
In 2015 she attended the course for collaborator at the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale “Adriano Belli”
of Spoleto and was admitted to the “Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy” where she worked as
a rehearsal pianist for the preparation of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Falstaf under the guidance of
Riccardo Muti. Since November 2015 she has been enrolled at the Accademia del
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. In April 2016 she collaborated on the preparation of Falstaf with
the Chicago Symphony Orchestra directed by Richard Muti in Chicago.
Richard Barker, pianist – Italy/UK
Richard Barker, started his music studies at the King’s School Worcester and specialised
in Piano with Ilonka Deckers and Composition with Aurelio Maggioni at the “Giuseppe Verdi”
Music Conservatory in Milan. From 1997 to 2014 he was a teacher at the Accademia di Perfezionamento
of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Mr Barker is often a guest performer at Teatro Comunale in Bologna;
Teatro La Fenice in Venice; Teatro Lirico in Cagliari; Teatro Regio in Parma; Teatro San Carlo in Naples;
Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa; Opéra Bastille de Paris; Opéra de Montecarlo; Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux;
Japan Opera Foundation; and Teatro São Carlos in Lisbon. He has been invited to the Rossini
Opera Festival in Pesaro every year since 1994, and has also participated in the festivals of Glyndebourne,
Wexford, Edinburgh, Schwetzingen, Jerusalem, Sofia and Houston (Texas). He has accompanied prestigious
singers in recitals, such as Renato Bruson, Leo Nucci, Katia Ricciarelli, Carmen Oprisanu,
Desirée Rancatore, Margarita Zimmermann, Roberto Scandiuzzi and Michele Pertusi, to name only a few.
He has also accompanied international singing competitions such as the “Butterfly” in Tokyo and
the “Bicentennial Mozart Competition” at the Wiener Staatsoper. He also coached and played
continuo for Don Giovanni with Lorin Maazel at the Palau de las Artes in Valencia and accompanied
performances of La Bohème at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, substituting for the orchestra on strike.
Since 2015 he is the principal coach at Accademia del Maggio Fiorentino.