It is a pleasure to be conducting La Favorite, the work that inaugurated Donizetti Opera 2022, in Bilbao. The opera, which was well received by the audience and by the Italian and international press, was also awarded the prestigious Abbiati Prize by Italian music critics for “Best production of the year”. In November 2023, La Favorite was released by Dynamic on DVD and Blu-ray, to further acclaim.

The production is based on the critical edition by Rebecca Harris-Warrick, which restores the original French version of the opera as conceived by Donizetti for its first performance at the Théâtre de l’Académie Royale de Musique in Paris in 1840. After its premiere there, La Favorite became a highly celebrated Donizetti opera, but was unfortunately disfigured immediately by very poor rewriting, with omissions that became customary, and by a translation that lacked rhythmic and poetic sense, an insult to the original. Thanks to a new sensitivity, which has facilitated the rediscovery of Belcanto through critical editions, our Favorite is being presented in its unabridged version, including the wonderful, elaborate ballet, firstly in Bergamo and now in Bilbao. This production, by stage director Valentina Carrasco, has the virtue of being in line with its musical theatricality, while endowing it with additional contemporary sensitivity, with attention to its “female” dynamics; moving, coherent and never spurious. As artistic and music director of Donizetti Opera, I am proud to be presenting and conducting one of our most highly acclaimed productions in Spain.

📷 Gianfranco Rota