George Gagnidze makes his debut at the Teatro Regio Torino as Gianciotto in Francesca da Rimini, in a new staging of Zandonai’s masterpiece that opens the 2025/26 season of the storied theater. Directed by Andrea Bernard and conducted by Andrea Battistoni, the production features a distinguished cast including Barno Ismatullaeva in the title role, Roberto Alagna alternating with Marcelo Puente as Paolo, Matteo Mezzaro as Malatestino, Valentina Boi as Samaritana, Devid Cecconi as Ostasio, and Silvia Beltrami as Smaragdi in the principal roles. The premiere is on October 10 with other performances on October 12, 19, and 21.
This marks the Georgian baritone’s second portrayal of the fratricide and uxoricide Gianciotto, a role he first undertook at the Opéra Bastille in 2011. Later this season, Gagnidze returns to Italy in two of Verdi’s most iconic creations, Macbeth at the Opera Carlo Felice in Genoa and Nabucco at one of the country’s foremost summer festivals.

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About the Production:

The episode of Paolo and Francesca in Canto V of the Inferno is one of those pages of Italian literature that continue, even today, to captivate generations of readers. It was this story that inspired Riccardo Zandonai to compose Francesca da Rimini, an opera that premiered at the Teatro Regio in 1914. The subject was adapted from Gabriele D’Annunzio’s tragedy of the same name, which provided both the dramatic framework and many of the verses that were incorporated into Tito Ricordi’s libretto.

Zandonai set the story of the two lovers to music with an advanced harmonic language, where the boundaries between spoken and sung word become blurred—so deeply are poetry and music intertwined. The archaisms typical of D’Annunzio’s verse find their musical counterpart in Zandonai’s work through the inclusion, within his modern idiom, of refined “historical” inflections and instruments with an ancient flavor. Whether you approach it as a cultural artifact, out of love for D’Annunzio or for Dante—or simply because you are in love—it makes no difference: Francesca da Rimini is an opera waiting to be discovered.

On the podium will be Andrea Battistoni, who, in his role as Music Director of the Regio, aims to revive lesser-performed works of the Italian repertoire. An international superstar such as tenor Roberto Alagna takes on the role of Paolo Malatesta, while the demanding and passionate role of Francesca will be sung by Uzbek soprano Barno Ismatullaeva. The creation of the new production is entrusted to the visual artistry of Andrea Bernard, director and architect.

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