On July 15, 2017 Riccardo Massi will star as Gustavo (Riccardo) in a gala performance of Un ballo in maschera conducted by Benjamin Reiners at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, with Sondra Radvanovsky as Amelia and Jorge Lagunes as Anckarström (Renato).

“Gustavo, or – as it is more commonly known – Riccardo (my own namesake), is one of my very favorite roles. He personifies all the noble sentiments that allowed Verdi to give birth to such an amazingly diverse and beautiful tenor character. There is a definite progression from a lyrical writing in Act I, particularly before the moment when Ulrica predicts his death, to a much more spinto tenor reaching his apex in the Act II love duet and especially in the death scene in the final act. For a tenor the major hurdle lies in trying to give vocal cohesion and a logical reading to the whole role.” When asked about this particular performance, the Italian tenor replies: “It is a pleasure to sing with Sondra Radvanovsky once again, and I am honored to have been chosen to perform this role in this gala in Mannheim.”

After this performance of Un ballo in maschera, Riccardo Massi will return to the role of Manrico in Il trovatore at the Budapest Summer Festival, will perform Don José in Carmen for his debut at the Los Angeles Opera, Radames in Aida at the Hong Kong Opera, Foresto in Attila (role debut) at the Lyon Opera and at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, Cavaradossi in Tosca at the Royal Opera House London, the Hamburg Staatsoper and the Palm Beach Opera.

Information about Un ballo in maschera at the Nationaltheater Mannheim:

Gustavo: Riccardo Massi; Amelia: Sondra Radvanovsky; Anckarström: Jorge Lagunes; Ulrica: Julia Faylenbogen; Oscar: Nikola Hillebrand; Cristiano: Ilya Lapich; Graf Ribbing (Samuel): Bartosz Urbanowicz; Graf Horn (Tom): Martin Busen; Richter: Pascal Herington; Diener: Jun-Ho Lee.

Conductor: Benjamin Reiners

http://www.nationaltheater-mannheim.de/de/oper/stueck_details.php?SID=81