On March 20, 2013 the Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Centre hosted the presentation of the ‘Giacomo Puccini and his land’ Festival dedicated to Puccini and held in Torre del Lago (Italy). In his time, the composer fascinated by the beauty of the local landscapes, especially by the picturesque lake Massaciuccoli, had purchased here a villa, where he later wrote some of his greatest operas, including La Boheme, Tosca, and Madame Butterfly.
The Puccini Festival is ranked among the first-rate festivals in Europe. It was first held in 1930, and since 1971, it is held annually. Guests of the Opera Centre were welcomed by its Director Elena Oparkova, who emphasized the importance of preserving historical traditions of cultural exchange between Italy and Russia, and in particular, the vocal traditions, the uniqueness of the Italian vocal school. The presentation saw also speeches by Giuseppe Ferrazza, the President of the Puccini Festival, and Osvaldo Bertuccelli, the President of the ‘Lucca Promos’ Society.
The musical part of the evening featured arias and scenes from operas by Puccini and Verdi performed by festival participants, Italian singers Alida Berti and Angelo Fiore, and soloists of the Opera Centre – Maria Pakhar, the soloist of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre, Sergei Polyakov, the soloist of the Novaya Opera Theatre, and Alexander Alyev. The concert was accompanied by the pianist Svetlana Chernova.