The Teatro Comunale di Bologna on tour in Japan
Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi and The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini are the two productions the Teatro Comunale di Bologna is taking to Japan.
The direction of Rigoletto is by Alessio Pizzech, who was the director of a Rigoletto produced by the Teatro Comunale di Bologna in 2016. The opera is now re-proposed in a revised version, with completely renewed costumes.
In Pizzech’s opinion, Verdi’s Rigoletto is a figure of absolute modernity. «Just like the heroes of Greek tragedy, Rigoletto is a victim of his own intention and he can’t do anything to change his situation. The so long evoked and desired revenge strikes him, and transforms him into a modern, tragic hero».
Rigoletto will be staged in Nagoya, Otsu and -with two performances, in Tokyo, at the Bunkamura Orchard Hall.
Also The Barber of Seville will be in Tokyo, at the Bunkamura Orchard Hall, while the other steps of the opera are in Osaka, Yokohama, Fukuoka.
The Barber of Seville is a new production by the TCBO that premiered in Bologna last March. It is all Italian, as Italian is young director Federico Grazzini, co-operating with the Bolognese opera theatre for the first time.
«One of the fundamental aspects of our interpretation is the metatheatrical» Grazzini says. «There are too many metatheatrical elements in Rossini’s opera to be ignored, if we tried to represent the story only in a realistic key, some elements would appear incoherent from the dramaturgic point of view.
Another element we wanted to develop is madness, the unforeseeable alternation of situations and the variety of theatrical games».
The Teatro Comunale di Bologna’s tour in Japan is realized in collaboration with Concert Doors Co. Ltd. and with the support by Lamborghini Automobili.