'Margherita d’Anjou' is Giacomo Meyerbeer’s fourth opera in Italian and his first true success. After an absence from the stage of one and a half centuries, it returned at the 43rd Valle d’Itria Festival in an exemplary production: the ironical setting of the director Talevi (the War of the Roses takes place at the London Fashion Week) is perfectly matched by the elegant direction of Luisi, at the head of the Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia. The opera, which belongs to the semi-serious genre, moves from the warlike tones of Act One to the idyllic ones of Act Two, where both female protagonist appear: the queen, a soprano, and the wife, a contralto; both seeking the love of a heroic tenor equally daring in battle and in music.
Margherita - Giulia De Blasis
Edoardo - Arcangelo Carbotti
The Duke of Lavarenne - Anton Rositskiy
Isaura - Gaia Petrone
Riccardo - Bastian Thomas Kohl
Carlo Belmonte - Laurence Meikle
Michele Gamautte - Marco Filippo Romano
Gertrude - Elena Tereshchenko Bellapunta - Lorenzo Izzo
Orner - Dielli Hoxha
An Officer - Massimiliano Guerrieri
Coro del Teatro Municipale di Piacenza
Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia
Fabio Luisi, conductor
Recorded at the 43rd Festival della Valle d’Itria,
Martina Franca, Palazzo Ducale, July - August 2017
