Cankarjev dom (cultural and congress centre), Prešernova cesta 10
PIER FRANCESCO MAESTRINI, director
GIANLUCA MARTINENGHI, conductor
LUIGI ILLICA, GIUSEPPE GIACOSA, librettists
SNG Maribor Symphony Orchestra
SNG Maribor Opera Choir
Zsuzsa Budavari Novak, chorus master
SNG Maribor Ballet Ensemble
Cast: Floria Tosca: Rebeka Lokar Mario Cavaradossi, painter: Jonathan Tetelman Barone Scarpia, chief of police: Željko Lučić Cesare Angelotti: Valentin Pivovarov Sacristan: Sebastijan Čelofiga Spoletta, police agent: Dušan Topolovec Sciarrone: Tomaž Planinc Jailer: Mihael Roškar Little Shepherd: Rene Vujinić Cvilak
In 1899 Giacomo Puccini composed his fifth opera based on a French literary source, in this case the play La Tosca by Victorien Sardou, a historical piece set in the time of the Napoleonic wars. Puccini’s grandiose orchestral language saw him reach a new pinnacle of artistic expression. This staging of Tosca is directed by Pier Francesco Maestrini, who has staged more than 100 works for the Japan Opera Foundation in Tokyo. The orchestra will be conducted by Gianluca Martinenghi, whose past engagements include operas at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo and the SNG Maribor Opera. The cast of this production by the SNG Maribor Opera includes the tenor Dušan Topolovec, the baritone Sebastijan Čelofiga and the bass Valentin Pivovarov. The main roles will be sung by the soprano Rebeka Lokar, who after studying in her native Maribor perfected her singing technique with the Italian baritone Mauro Augustini and then debuted as Clotilde in Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma with the SNG Maribor Opera in 2005; the American tenor Jonathan Tetelman, who will come to the Ljubljana performance from New York and is renowned for his dark-coloured timbre, who stunned the audience at last year’s festival in a concert with the baritone Ludovic Tézier; and the Serbian baritone Željko Lučić, who trained with the world-famous mezzo-soprano Biserka Cvejić and has appeared in leading roles in numerous operas by Giuseppe Verdi.