Macau | Big night at the opera, international music festival kicks off

Macau (MNA) – Themed “Enjoy – The Moment in music”, the 32nd Macau International Music Festival opens tonight at the Macau Cultural Centre with the opera l’Elisir d’Amore by Gaetano Donizetti.

The festival is celebrating the 170th anniversary of the death of the famous composer (1797-1848), bringing his two-act comic opera in a production by the Zurich Opera House.

L’Elisir d’Amore is said to have been one of the most frequently performed works of its time, the first half of the 19th century, and has remained continually in the international opera repertory.

This year’s Festival is bringing to the Macau audience performances of opera buffa, Chinese music, Latin melodies, and Romantic concerts dedicated to Schumman.

One of the highlights of the month-long programme is Jazzmeia Horn, an American artist winner of the 2015 Thelonious Monk International Vocal Jazz Competition and the 2013 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition.

Another performance worth of mention is the Camerata Salzburg from Mozart’s hometown, which has been presented as ‘the definitive interpreter of Mozart’s works.’ In Macau, the Camerata Salzburg is teaming up with famous French violinist Renaud Capuçon, presenting two violin concertos by Mozart and two symphonies by Haydn.

World-renowned Brazilian cellist Antonio Meneses will present the public a number of classical pieces by Bach, Pereira, Piatti and Cassadó.

The Festival comes to a close with two concerts by the Staatskapelle Dresden, one of the world’s top ten orchestras boasting a history of over 400 years, under the baton of conductor Christian Thielemann, performing the complete cycle of Schumann’s symphonies, masterpieces of this Romantic German composer of the 19th century.

*Image credit: Cultural Affairs Bureau