Joseph Rescigno to Conduct Rare Staging of Rossini's LA GAZZETTA at Boston's Paramount Theater, 4/6-9

Joseph Rescigno will conduct a rare staging of Rossini's opera buffa, La gazzetta, ossia Il matrimonio per concorso ("The Newspaper, or The Wedding Contest"), presented by the New England Conservatory at Boston's Paramount Theater, April 6-9, 2013. The fully staged production with all-student cast and orchestra will be directed by NEC's Chair of Opera Studies, Joshua Major.

This will be the American premiere of a new critical edition of the opera (2002), by Philip Gossett and Fabrizio Scipioni, who in 2011 discovered previously unpublished music from the opera at the Library of the Conservatory of Palermo - nine pages of recitative and a quintet - which will receive its world premiere at these performances.

Maestro Rescigno believes that the scarcity of performances of La gazzetta in American opera houses has two primary reasons: "It is very long and needs cutting, and the Neapolitan dialect for the character of Don Pomponio is quite hard to learn. For that matter, even La Cenerentola and L'Italiana in Algeri have only become fairly common in the last 40 years, though my uncle, Nicola Rescigno, opened the Dallas Opera with L'Italiana in 1957. But especially before the 1950s, Rossini operas beyond IL Barbiere di Siviglia were hardly ever heard on this side of the Atlantic."

Joseph Rescigno, who grew up speaking the Neapolitan language with his great-grandmother, will be coaching the singers portraying Don Pomponio in pronunciation as well as interpretation. Describing the differences between Italian and Neapolitan, he says, "It is more than an accent. There are quite a few different words; and they are much more numerous and more different than, for example, the differences in usage between British English and American English. Probably the best comparison I can make is to imagine a German opera in which one character sings in Yiddish."

He adds, "I am very much looking forward to working again with Philip Gossett. We have been friends since we collaborated on a production of La Cenerentola in St. Louis in the 1980s, in which he worked with the singers on ornamentation."

Mr. Gossett, an internationally renowned expert on 19th-Century Italian opera, will be a consultant to this production, writing out recitatives for the singers and advising on appropriate 19th-century ornamentation. He will also participate in a panel discussion, The Musical Work in Transit: Revision, Reception, and Edition, on Wednesday, March 13 at 4:30 p.m. in Pierce Hall at New England Conservatory; and deliver a lecture, Rossini's Comic Opera, "La Gazzetta," Complete for the First Time Ever, on Wednesday, April 3 at 5:00 p.m. in the Keller Room at NEC. Both the panel discussion and lecture will be open to the public, free of charge. In recognition of the service Mr. Gossett has done for opera, he will be the recipient of an honorary doctorate from the Conservatory and will give the Commencement address at the annual Commencement Exercises, Sunday, May 18.

ROSSINI
La Gazzetta, ossia Il matrimonio per concorso
("The Newspaper, or The Wedding Contest")
Saturday, April 6, 2013 at 8:00 p.m. • Sunday, April 7, 2013 at 3:00 p.m.
Monday, April 8, 2013 at 8:00 p.m. • Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at 8:00 p.m.

The Paramount Theater • 559 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111
American Premiere of Critical Edition by Philip Gossett and Fabrizio Scipioni;
World Premiere of the Rediscovered Act I Quintet

New England Conservatory Opera
Joseph Rescigno, Conductor
Joshua Major, Director

Tickets: $20, $16 for students/seniors; 2-for-1 with WGBH Member ID, online at
http://necmusic.edu/opera or by phone at 617/585-1122.

FREE EVENTS, OPEN TO THE PUBLIC:

The Musical Work in Transit: Revision, Reception, and Edition
Panel Discussion with Philip Gossett and Other Scholars and Performers
Wednesday, March 13 at 4:30 p.m.
Pierce Hall, St. Botolph Building, New England Conservatory
241 St. Botolph Street, Boston, MA 02115

Rossini's Comic Opera, "La Gazzetta," Complete for the First Time Ever
Lecture by Philip Gossett
Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 5:00 p.m.
The Keller Room, Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory
30 Gainsborough Street, Boston, MA 02115

Photo Credit: Richard Brodzeller