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Opera Festival at the Dead Sea
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Poul on 31/03/2011 12:44:00
 
Following the spectacular success of last year Verdi's Nabucco at the Masada
Opera Festival in which over 42,000 opera lovers came, has been expanded for
2011 to include concerts in Jerusalem as well.
The Opera Festival will be shown at Masada, a fortress built by King Herod,
which is situated atop an isolated rock cliff overlooking the Dead Sea.
Internationally renowned Israeli opera conductor Daniel Oren will return to the
majestic landscape, to lead a new production of Verdi's Aida (a co production
with the Orange Festival in France) that features internationally acclaimed
opera singers including Micaela Carosi, Marco Berti, Ildiko Komlosi, Paata
Burchuladze and others.
Verdi's Aida, the improbable love story of the enslaved Ethiopian princes Aida
and the Egyptian army officer Radames, will be performed in a giant amphitheater
specially-erected on the desert floor, with the majestic mountain-top fortress
of Masada as the backdrop to the stage. The production, conducted by Daniel
Oren, will feature 120 choristers, 40 dancers and 70 extras of the Israeli Opera
and the Israel Symphony Orchestra, Rishon LeZion. Opera-lovers will also be able
to enjoy Verdi's Requiem, performed by the orchestra of the Arena di Verona,
under the baton of Giuliano Carella, together with the Israeli Opera Chorus.
Massada, a fortress overlooking the Dead Sea
The Masada, Dead Sea and Jerusalem Opera Festival will also feature concerts by
the orchestra of the Arena di Verona, and the Israeli premiere of Verdi's
Jerusalem, performed at the open air Sultan's Pool in Jerusalem, overlooking the
majestic walls of the old city of Jerusalem. David Stern, the music director of
the Israeli Opera, will lead the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Israeli Opera
Chorus and international soloists including Carlo Colombara, Scott Piper and
Roberto Serville in the performance Verdi's Jerusalem.
Tourists in Jerusalem will also be able to enjoy a very special musical when
ten concerts in Jerusalem will take place in ten different churches in the old
and new city.