Inauguration of the 2019-2020 Opera and Ballet Season 

The seductive and refined charm of Bizet's first masterpiece inaugurates the season
Ryan McAdams conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Regio
The new and highly anticipated production staged by Julien Lubek and Cécile Roussat

Teatro Regio, Thursday, October 3, 2019 at 8 pm

Teatro Regio's 2019-2020 Opera and Ballet Season opens with a prestigious title on Thursday, October 3rd at 8 pm: Les Pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers) by Georges Bizet, on stage for five performances until October 20th, in the new and highly anticipated production by Julien Lubek and Cécile Roussat. Conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Regio is the American Ryan McAdams; the four protagonists of the opera are: Hasmik Torosyan (Leïla), Kévin Amiel (Nadir), Pierre Doyen (Zurga), and Ugo Guagliardo (Nourabad). Due to an indisposition, the baritone Fabio Maria Capitanucci will not be able to sing in the performance scheduled on October 3. Teatro Regio thanks the baritone Pierre Doyen, who has made himself available to sing the role of Zurga. The chorus is directed by Maestro Andrea Secchi.

Intesa Sanpaolo – a Founding Member of the Theater – has once again confirmed its commitment to Teatro Regio for this season, ensuring its partnership for the inaugural production, the most awaited event of the season. Intesa Sanpaolo's support of Regio is part of a broader relationship of collaboration that sees the Bank alongside the Theater in the accomplishment of its large productions. «Intesa Sanpaolo is highly committed to supporting classical music, especially opera, with particular attention paid to young people. As part of a long and solid collaboration with Teatro Regio of Turin, it shares the assistance and promotion of excellence of the Turin production. This support confirms the presence of the Bank alongside a major cultural institution, a reference point for Turin and Italy», stated Fabrizio Paschina, Director of Communications and Image of Intesa Sanpaolo.

Les Pêcheurs de perles, a very refined opera, is the first masterpiece by Bizet, not yet twenty-five years old but already aware of his melodic abilities - the composition brings together some of the most beautiful arias of all time - and a master of an elegant and unique orchestration technique, which in this opera he projects the listener into an exotic and sensual setting. In a remote part of the island of Ceylon, the pearl fisherman Nadir renews his oath of friendship with the chief of the village, Zurga; their bond will be stronger than any feeling of love. But that promise fails when the priestess Leïla, who came to the island to consecrate herself to Brahma, recognizes Nadir as the beautiful young man she had seen during a procession in Kandy, and never forgotten: the two declare their love for each other, ready to face death if necessary. Zurga, feeling himself betrayed, condemns the lovers to be tortured, but in the end, it will be his loyalty to his friend that prevails, by allowing the two young lovers  to escape.

The charm of the exotic atmosphere is evoked with extreme vividness and richness of colors by a varied and well-chosen orchestral palette, and by the rhythms and particular harmonies of the composition; in Pescatori, the composer imbues every detail with seductive and unique expressiveness. It being so rare, there were few - including the great Hector Berlioz – who were able to grasp its genius at its debut; received coldly by the critics at the first performance at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris in 1863, the opera disappeared from the stage, despite a revision by Bizet himself, until after the composer's death; it is only in recent times that this "pearl" has been brought back onto the stage, its true value having been rediscovered.

Opéra lyrique in three acts, with a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré, Les Pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers) will be presented for the first time on Teatro Regio's stage in the original French language edition. Ryan McAdams, who has a degree in piano from Indiana University and one in conducting from the Juilliard School, already has a brilliant career and important roles to his credit: he was assistant to Alan Gilbert and James Levine, an apprentice director at the Chateauville Foundation for Lorin Maazel, and musical director of the New York Youth Symphony. He won the Glimmerglass – Aspen Prize for Conducting and the Solti Prize for Emerging Conductor. McAdams has already measured himself with the conduction of Pescatori by conducting the RAI National Symphony Orchestra in a performance in the form of a concert in 2015. 

The direction, scenery, costumes, choreography, and lighting of the new staging are by Julien Lubek and Cécile Roussat, whose evocative staging of Didone and Enea was admired by Regio's audiences in the 2015-2016 season. The partnership of the two French artists began in 2000, when they met at the mime school of the great Marcel Marceau: these important roots have strongly marked the duo's directorial activity, which since 2004 has already resulted in important productions, such as The Magic Flute, The Clemency of Titus, and Cinderella; the common thread is the synergy between movement, music, visual arts, projections, illusionism, dance, and circus arts, a stylistic approach that fully enhances the refinement of a rare opera such as I pescatori di perle.   

Hasmik Torosyan returns to Teatro Regio after her excellent performance in the role of Amina (La Sonnambula) in the last season: from a bel canto role to the acrobatic vocal part of the priestess Leïla, the young Armenian soprano continues to expand her already rich and varied repertoire of opera's prima donnas. The winner of numerous competitions, including the First Prize and the Gold Medal in the "G. Gasparyan ”(2008), the President's Award for young Armenian singers (2009), and First prize at the International Competition "Musica Sacra" in Rome (2011). She is considered a revelation in singing for the beauty of her sound, the elegance of her emission, and her composure on stage. Kévin Amiel, a Frenchman from Toulouse, is already a veteran of the stage at just thirty-three years of age, having mastered the main tenor roles of Italian and French operas: considered one of the most talented performers of the new generation, his awards include the Revelation Award at the 2011 ADAMI competition and at the 2013 AROP competition, and the New Voices award at the 2018 Victoires de la musique competition. In the role Nadir, with «Je crois entendre encore», he will be singing one of the arias considered to be a real challenge for tenors. Zurga will be played by Pierre Doyen, a graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Liège, the Belgian baritone went on to study at the Benjamin Britten International Opera School in London and took part in numerous masterclasses with Tom Krause, Sarah Walker, and Suzanne Eken. After his debut at the Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie and at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, he is now regularly invited to the most prestigious European theaters where he has had the opportunity to collaborate with directors of the caliber of David Mc Vicar and Olivier Py and conductors including Pinchas Steinberg and Asher Fisch.

The agreement between the Teatro Regio and Rai Radio3 has also been confirmed for the 2019-2020 season for the live broadcast of the scheduled operas. The live radio transmission of I Pescatori di perle, curated by Susanna Franchi, will be broadcast on Thursday, October 3 at 8pm.
The opera will be presented to the general public, free admission,  on Wednesday, October 2 at 5:30 pm at the Piccolo Regio Puccini hall in the conference entitled I pescatori di perle. Fascinazioni esotiche e suggestioni italiane nel giovane Bizet (The Pearl Fishers. Young Bizet's exotic fascination and Italian impressions) curated by Marco Targa and with the participation of the directors Julien Lubek and Cécile Roussat.

Tickets are on sale at the Regio Ticket Office, piazza Castello 215 - Tel. 011.8815.241/242, at Infopiemonte-Torinocultura, at Vivaticket sales points, on line on our website without commission costs and at  www.vivaticket.it, and by telephone at the number 011.8815.270. Ticket prices: performance on October 3: €160 - 125 - 105 - 80 - 55; performances on October 6, 8, 17 and 20: €100 - 90 - 80 - 70 - 30. There are tickets with a 20% reduction for the under 30 category and a 10% reduction for those over 65. With the 18app, it is possible to purchase tickets (in any sector) at a cost of €25 for the shows combined with “A” pass. One hour before the shows, any tickets still available are placed on sale with a 20% reduction on the full price. 
For further information: Tel. 011.8815.557 and www.teatroregio.torino.it. 

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thereby helping to make this new production unforgettable