LA SERVA PADRONA
Opera buffa by G.B. Pergolesi
Ensemble MusicaVenezia
Serpina: Liesl Odenweller, Soprano
Uberto: Andrea, Zaupa Baritono
Vespone: Alessio Nardin, Actor
Direttore: Raymond Hughes
Regista: Adriano Iurissevich
Direttore Artistico: Roberta Reeder
Thursday July 17.2008 - at 9 p.m.
Ca' Rezzonico - Museo del Settecento Veneziano, Venezia
As part of the Festival of Redentore in Venezia, MusicaVenezia is presenting "La serva padrona," an opera buffa by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. The Festival of Redentore is a festival of joy, commemorating the end of the terrible plague in Venice in the 16th century. The annual festival usually begins with concerts and staged productions several days before the official religious celebration, which is on the third Sunday of July. In keeping with this tradition, MusicaVenezia will present the very beautiful comic opera La serva padrona.
The opera buffa will be conducted by Raymond Hughes, Chorus Master of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, who recently conducted a Gala Opera Evening at the Teatro La Fenice in December, 2007. The director is Adriano Iurissevich, Artistic Director of the Venetian theater group VeneziaInscena, which performs Commedia dell'Arte. The role of Serpina will be sung by Liesl Odenweller, an American soprano who lives in Venice and often sings in operas at La Fenice as well as in many concerts in Italy and abroad. She has recently appeared in a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York. The role of Uberto will be performed by Andrea Zaupo, baritone, who has been the protagonist in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Wolf-Ferrari's Il segreto di Susanna, and has often sung the role of Uberto in La serva padrona. Alessio Nardin will play the role of the third protagonist, Vespone, the mute servant. A master of mime, he is a member of VeneziaInscena and often appears in productions of traditional Commedia dell'Arte. The performance will be introduced by Roberta Reeder, Artistic Director of MusicaVenezia.