Unicaja is once again collaborating with the Santander International Festival (FIS), which takes place from 3 to 31 August. An appointment with the music that this year celebrates its 73rd edition and has great soloists and prestigious groups, one of its hallmarks.
Next Monday, 5 August, at 20.00 hours, the Sala Argenta of the Palacio de Festivales of the city will host the Puccini Gala, production sponsored by Unicaja in this edition. A set of scores staged by two international opera stars, soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, and tenor Jonathan Tetelman, with the music of the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, conducted by maestro Riccardo Frizza.
They will play a selection of Giacomo Puccini's repertoire, especially arias from Tosca and Turandot, which will make up the bulk of this lyrical gala, which will be completed with excerpts from works by Verdi, Mascagni and Giordano.
The collaboration with this event is part of Unicaja's sustainability strategy, supporting important cultural initiatives such as those developed by the Santander International Festival. The bank also maintains a firm commitment to Cantabria, as one of its regions of origin and one of the main areas where it operates.
The Santander International Festival, originally created with the idea of providing a cultural offer to foreign students attending the Menéndez Pelayo International University, is now a cultural reference in Cantabria and one of the leading festivals in the summer program in Spain.
Puccini Gala Program
The 'Gala Puccini', sponsored by Unicaja, will be held on 5 August, at 20.00 hours, in the Sala Argenta of the Palacio de Festivales de Santander, with the following program:
Giuseppe Verdi:
- Obertura, La forza del destino
- ‘Pace, pace, pace mio Dio’, La forza del destino
- ‘Ah, la paterna mano’, Macbeth
Giacomo Puccini:
- Intermezzo de Manon Lescaut
- ‘Recondita armonia’, aria of Cavaradossi, Tosca
- ‘Vissi d’arte’, aria of Tosca, Tosca
- ‘Mario, Mario, son qui!’, Tosca and Cavaradossi duet, Tosca
Pause
Giacomo Puccini:
- ‘In questa reggia’, Turandot
- ‘Nessun dorma’, Turandot
Umberto Giordano:
- ‘La mamma morta’, Andrea Chénier
- ‘Come un bel dì di Maggio’, Andrea Chénier
Pietro Mascagni:
- Intermezzo de Cavalleria rusticana
Umberto Giordano:
- ‘Vicino a te’, Andrea Chénier
Great international opera performers
Soprano Sondra Radvanovsky is a world-renowned artist, both for the depth and exquisite color of her voice and for her dramatic acting skills, from leading roles in Rusalka and Lucrezia Borgia, to Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac and the leading role in Manon Lescaut. She is widely considered one of Verdi's finest sopranos and is among the leading interpreters of bel canto.
For his part, Jonathan Tetelman has quickly risen to become a major star of his generation. Born in Chile and raised in New Jersey, he continues to thrill on the biggest stages. Among the countless highlights of his season is the Opus Klassik award for Young Artist of the Year 2023.
The Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa (BOS) is based in the city of Bilbao, in the Palacio Euskalduna. Its artistic director and principal conductor is Erik Nielsen, and it is a member of the Spanish Association of Symphony Orchestras (AEOS). It gave its first concert in 1922 at the Teatro Arriaga, under the baton of Armand Marsick and it was in 2003, with its performance at the Mariinski Theater in St. Petersburg, when it began its international projection, which, in addition to its tours in Spain, added its presence in festivals in other countries.
Riccardo Frizza is one of the leading Italian conductors of his generation. Principal conductor of the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Budapest and music director of the Donizetti Festival in Bergamo, Frizza is a regular guest at major international opera houses such as the Paris National Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the San Francisco Opera, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Liceu in Barcelona and the Teatro Real in Madrid. In Italy he conducts regularly at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Teatro Regio in Turin, La Fenice in Venice, the Opera di Roma and the Teatro San Carlo.
