Gala celebration

The New Year’s Eve gala could not but be dedicated to Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924). This year, we have the pleasure of collaborating with the renowned Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, the city where he lived for more than thirty years and where he composed his masterpieces. In co-production with the CTO and with the valuable assistance of the Italian Cultural Institute of Athens, we welcome to the stage of Megaron the Athens Concert Hall three exceptional performers: Claudia Pavone (Valeria Sepe, the soprano who was initially to sing, couldn't participate due to health issue) the ideal Butterfly in the festive season of the 2024 Puccini Festival; Angelo Villari, a tenor born almost specifically for the great roles of the composer; and Valerio Galli, a great conductor of the younger generation and winner of the famous Puccini Prize. At the heart of the programme are the three great love scenes for soprano and tenor from the famous “atypical trilogy”: La Bohème, Tosca and Madama Butterfly. The duets of Mimi and Rodolfo, Tosca and Cavaradossi, Pinkerton and Cho-Cho-Cho-San are the epitome of Puccini’s lyrical style, with its source of melodic inspiration, orchestral mastery and unsurpassed vocal writing. However, there is also a lesser-known side of the composer, which we will discover in the orchestral excerpts from the – rather unknown – first two operas Le Villi and Edgar, as well as youthful works for orchestra, such as the Symphonic Prelude or the Symphonic Caprice (where the Bohemians already make their appearance, a full thirteen years before the opera was composed). A unique opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with the “maestro” from Lucca and to bow, once again, to his genius.