OPERA
Supported by the Antenna Group. In collaboration with the Athens Concert Hall
& the Thessaloniki Concert Hall
A production of the Antenna Group
Live broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York
– Francesco Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur
In Italian with Greek subtitles
Director Sir David McVicar
Set designer Charles Edwards
Costume designer Brigitte Reiffenstuel
Lighting designer Adam Silverman
Choreographer Andrew George
Adriana Anna Netrebko
Princess de Bouillon Anita Rachvelishvili
Maurizio Piotr Beczala
Abbé Carlo Bosi
Michonnet Ambrogio Maestri
Prince de Bouillon Maurizio Muraro
Conductor Gianandrea Noseda
The opera is based on the life of early-18th-century Comédie-Française actress Adrienne Lecouvreur. Act I, backstage at the theatre: in love with Maurizio, Adriana offers him a bouquet of violets to put in his buttonhole. Act IV, in Adriana’s room: the faded violets are returned to Adriana with a note; she kisses them and throws them into the fire; Maurizio enters and reveals that he had not sent the violets; Adriana dies as the violets had been poisoned by her rival, the Princess.
Francesco Cilea’s opera, a typical example of verismo, was premiered in 1902 at the Teatro Lirico in Milan, with Enrico Caruso in the role of Maurizio. In the New York Metropolitan Opera production, celebrated soprano Anna Netrebko appears in the role of Adriana.