Carmen by Georges Bizet, Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti and La traviata by Giuseppe Verdi are the three operatic titles chosen by the superintendent Flavio Cavalli and the artistic director Paolo Pinamonti for the 2023 festival. For five weekends, from 20 July to 19 August, the Sferisterio will once again host these masterpieces together with a series of symphonic and dance events.

The myth of seduction: from the fragility of Lucia di Lammermoor to the stubbornness of Carmen and Violetta 

A rarity for the Sferisterio such as  Lucia di Lammermoor , the most famous production of its repertoire,  La traviata,  and the most performed title in the world, that is  Carmen , constitute the operatic proposal for next summer.

Seduction and its many facets are the theme underlying the artistic proposal of the Macerata Opera Festival 2023, presented by the  superintendent Flavio Cavalli  and the  artistic director Paolo Pinamonti , which will take place at the Sferisterio from 20 July to 19 August: five weekends in which opera, literature, cinema and music. From the fragility of Lucia di Lammermoor – married against her will and therefore forced to an extreme gesture – to the eternal myth of Carmen killed for her choices, to the obstinate will to live of Violetta Valèry, who renounces love for love and who for almost two centuries it has been clashing against all respectability.

In the Arena in Macerata - built in the first half of the 19th century for the game of ball and bracelet and then for a hundred years to become one of the opera spaces not to be missed for the summers of music lovers - a new production of  Carmen  by Georges Bizet ( 20, 23 and 28 July, 6 August ) signed by Daniele Menghini and with the musical director of the festival Donato Renzetti on the podium,  La traviata  by Giuseppe Verdi ( 22 and 30 July, 5 and 13 August ) in the historic setting by Josef Svoboda directed by Henning Brockhaus and conducted by Domenico Longo, a new production of  Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti ( 12, 14, 17 and 19 August) entrusted to Jean-Louis Grinda with Francesco Ivan Ciampa on the podium.

«Carmen, Violetta and Lucia – says the  artistic director Paolo Pinamonti – are the protagonists of the summer at the Sferisterio: the first two well known by the public, the third less frequent on the Macerata stage (absent since 2003) but ready to conquer hearts with her poignant song». Starting with the very last title in chronological order,  Lucia di Lammermoor  by Donizetti (12, 14, 17 and 19 August), this is an important co-production with the Chorégies d'Orange, a French town famous for its imposing Roman where a festival very similar to the Macerata one takes place every summer (especially for the monumental place where the shows are held). In the cast, internationally renowned bel canto singers such as Ruth Iniesta (Lucia), Dmitry Korchak (Edgardo) and Davide Luciano (Enrico), led by Francesco Ivan Ciampa (whom the audience will remember for reading Macbeth  in 2019), with a performance by Jean-Louis Grinda evocative of the quintessentially romantic Scottish setting of this melodrama.

As is known, the most performed opera in the world is  Carmen  by Georges Bizet, which returns to the stage in Macerata (20, 23 and 28 July, 6 August) in a new staging designed by Daniele Menghini, with sets by Davide Signorini and the costumes by Nika Campisi (acclaimed authors of The  Barber of Seville last summer): this new creative team is imagining a setting that appeals to clear symbols of Spanish culture and that will transform the Sferisterio into a large bullring, a single large space, exploiting the famous wall in a peculiar way. The protagonist will be the intense mezzo-soprano Ketevan Kemoklidze, with Ragaa Eldin as Don Josè, also a very interesting emerging tenor, and again Roberta Mantegna (Micaëla) and Fabrizio Beggi (Escamillo).

Violetta will be back on stage with the most representative and iconic show of the Sferisterio productions of the last thirty years – already at the top of the requests of international groups –  La traviata “of the mirrors” conceived in 1992 by the set designer Josef Svoboda with the direction of Henning Brockhaus and the costumes by Giancarlo Colis (22 and 30 July, 5 and 13 August). In the role of the protagonist one of today's most popular performers, the soprano Nino Machaidze, with Anthony Ciaramitaro (Alfredo), a young emerging tenor who is conquering theater audiences around the world, and Roberto de Candia (Giorgio Germont). On the podium Domenico Longo.

As per tradition, the  FORM-Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana  will be involved in all three opera titles and this year; flanked by the  Coro Lirico Marche "Vincenzo Bellini" led by Martino Faggiani (also involved in the ballet  Carmen ), the Banda Salvadei and the  Pueri Cantores “D. Zamberletti ” directed by Gianluca Paolucci in  Carmen.