He Monday 17 April at 19:30 hours, he Arriaga theater will host the award ceremony Tutto Verdi International Awards, and one Gala-recital with four voices, choir and piano, with a program specially designed to enjoy unprecedented aspects of the composer's work. The scheduled events have the collaboration of the Bilbao City Hall and the Chain BE at 90 anniversary of Radio Bilbao.
These awards promote the international projection of a unique project who was born in 2006 to vindicate the figure and the work of one of the great composers of all time: Giuseppe Verdi. A program that has been developed throughout 16 years and that has brought to Bilbao 30 operatic titles, 124 functions, thirteen premieres, new productions and co-productions, ten Verdi Weeks with the participation of 56 speakers from different disciplines, besides books, recordings, awards and honours.
There have been many artists, Institutions and personalities linked to the Verdian universe that have participated and provided international repercussions to this unprecedented experience. in your consideration, appreciation and distinction, ABAO Bilbao Opera create the All Verdi International Awards in a commemorative act that combines the delivery of awards to the people and institutions that have contributed in a particularly significant way to the emblematic Tutto Verdi project, with a Gala-recital with the performance of young international singers, emphasizing the latest trends, more reliable from the historical point of view, of the verdian interpretation.
The central idea of this act is to reward the most veteran artists, past, and show the path that young singers are beginning to travel, promising and highly talented, the future.
ABAO Bilbao Opera thus consolidates its contribution to society, claims the scope of its activity as a lyrical institution, and restores the role of culture and opera as an essential good.
TWO EXCEPTIONAL MASTERS OF CEREMONIES
Those in charge of conducting the ceremony and artistic participation are: Iñaki Gabilondo, member of the Tutto Verdi Honor Committee and one of the most popular information professionals with the most recognitions for his professional career; Y Udane Goikoetxea, long-time journalist, researcher and teacher at the University of the Basque Country and the George Washington. Both will be in charge of presenting the awards ceremony with the spirit of Verdi in the center of the show.
further, The script for the Gala has had the collaboration of two well-known and respected figures in the field of culture and poetry. The editor, author and music critic Luis Gago, and the professor and editor specializing in Verdi, Francesco Izzo, scientific director of the Parma Verdi Festival and one of the most internationally authoritative voices on the composer from Busseto.
ALL VERDI INTERNATIONAL AWARDS
the distinctions, distributed in eight categories, are born with a vocation of homage and gratitude to persons and institutions for their significant contribution to the development and achievement of the Tutto Verdi project of ABAO Bilbao Opera.
Award for the Best Institution
BBVA FOUNDATION. For its differential feature in the search for excellence with a boost to both scientific and cultural knowledge. For his support of music and opera with a category of its own at the Frontier of Knowledge Awards. For your constant and determined support as main sponsor, without interruption for seventeen years, to all the activities of ABAO Bilbao Opera and especially the Tutto Verdi Project.
Award for Professional Career as a Singer
LEO NUCCI. For his long career on the most important stages in the world and his always successful appearances in the seasons of ABAO Bilbao Opera, among which stands out his unforgettable Rigoletto in October 2013, within the Tutto Verdi project, in which the public asked to kiss the "Yes, vendetta” in all representations.
Award for Professional Career in Stage Direction
PIER LUIGI PIZZI. For his great contribution to opera through the beauty of his productions, for which he is recognized as one of the stage directors, most important stage and costume designer of our time. Some of his legendary creations, have been seen at ABAO Bilbao Opera inside and outside the Tutto Verdi project.
Award for Best Female Voice
DANIELA BARCELONA. For her unforgettable interpretation of the Princess of Éboli in the first Don Carlos seen at ABAO Bilbao Opera within the Tutto Verdi project.
Award for Best Male Voice
JUAN JESÚS RODRÍGUEZ. For the resounding success that he has had in each of his interventions within the Tutto Verdi project and for being one of the most important Verdian baritones in the world.
Award for Best Musical Direction
RICCARDO FRIZZA. For its versatility, study and knowledge of the Italian operatic repertoire and in particular, of the verdian scores, that have led him to be one of the most demanded conductors of the moment.
Award for Best Stage Direction
EMILIO SAGI. For his excellent creativity, its aesthetic sense and its ability to reflect society, finding a perfect balance between tradition and modernity, that he was able to capture in the production of Rigoletto premiered in Bilbao in 2006, and response in many international scenarios.
special prize
BILBAO OPERA CHOIR. For his commitment to ABAO Bilbao Opera over the last 30 years, without whose presence and artistic excellence it would not have been possible to carry out the Tutto Verdi project, in which they have participated in all the operas of the program. Y, especially, in his excellent performance at the Tutto Verdi Concert 2022 with the interpretation of “Va, thought” of the opera Nabucco.
GALA-RECITAL: LISTEN TO THE VOICES OF THE FUTURE
The voices of young singers come together in this Gala-recital as a tribute to “those people who have made us and continue to make us discover and love Verdi”, states Luis Gago, scriptwriter of the event with Francesco Izzo, Y “It is also an opportunity to arouse our curiosity and broaden our horizons., proposing to glimpse how ABAO Bilbao Opera, along with other operatic institutions from around the world, they can not only continue interpreting Verdi, but also to introduce new and exciting approaches to his music”.
Four young international artists who are in the first stages of their respective careers and who will contribute to the excellence of operatic performance in the coming years., will be in charge of giving voice to a selected program focused on Verdi's operas until 1853, and that it is conceived to celebrate the creativity and the verdian musical style, with passages that have sometimes been deleted or modified, or with tempos and dynamics, ornaments and cadenzas that have been prepared specifically for this recital.
The sopranos Fan Zhou Y Alessia Panza, the tenor Davide Tuscano and baritone gabriel alonso, accompanied on the piano by the teacher Francesco Izzo, will perform scenes from I masnadieri, The Lombards in the First Crusade, Ernani, Rigoletto, Stiffelio, La Traviata, The two foscari and Il Trovatore.
TICKETS FROM 5 EUROS
Tickets for the ceremony, between 5 Y 40 euros, are now available on the ABAO Bilbao Opera website and in all its sales channels. There are special prices and preferential sales period for ABAO members. More information through the web, at the offices or by calling 944 355 100.