Roberto Catalano Assistant Director
Andrea Cigni Director
Lucia Cirillo Mezzo-soprano
Il Cappello di paglia di Firenze
Il Cappello di paglia di Firenze
Cristina, regina di Svezia
Roberto Catalano was born in Palermo and began working in the theatre in his early teens as a dancer and mime artist. When he was seventeen he took his first steps in direction and writing at his mother’s dance school, and wrote and directed many shows in Palermo, Syracuse and Catania. He gained a degree in philosophy and ethics in 2008 and continued his work in theatre, and as an assistant director at theatres in Palermo and Bari.
Andrea Cigni graduated from the University of Bologna and worked in drama, mime and dance. As an assistant director he worked on productions in several opera houses, and in 2006 he made his debut at the Teatro Ponchielli in Cremona with a music and dance performance entitled Buenos Aires Madrigals, which was followed by his directing Vivaldi’s opera Andromeda Liberata. His subsequent productions throughout Italy include L’Orfeo, Paride and Elena, La Medium, Gianni Schicchi, La Figlia del Reggimento, La Traviata and Roméo et Juliette. In 2011, Rota’s centenary year, he directed Il Cappello di paglia di Firenze in Florence and Norma in Sassari. Recent productions include Ernani and Madama Butterfly in Palermo and Don Pasquale for a French tour.
Lucia Cirillo sings the Baroque, classical and bel canto operatic repertoire, including Mozart, Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti and twentieth century German repertoire. She is an accomplished lieder singer. She sings for leading European baroque orchestras and has recorded DVDs of L’Incoronazione di Poppea, La Cenerentola and L’Amour des trois oranges.
In 2011 he became assistant to the director Andrea Cigni and has worked in several productions including Tosca and Madama Butterfly (2011 Palermo), Norma (2011 Sassari) and Ernani (2012 Cremona). In March 2012 he directed Pollicino by Hans Werner Henze (Palermo). In 2013 he was assistant director of Nabucco (directed by Saverio Marconi) and Il Barbiere di Siviglia (directed by Francesco Micheli), both at Teatro Massimo in Palermo.
Andrea Cigni teaches Stage Arts, Poetic Literature, Drama, and Law and Legislation for Performing Arts at the Claudio Monteverdi Music Institute for Academic Studies in Cremona.
Lucia studied in Italy and Switzerland, gaining the highest honours in her conservatory diplomas and winning several prestigious competitions. Her operatic debut was at the Circuito Lirico Toscano in Il Cappello di paglia di Firenze as the Baronessa di Champigny followed by the title role in La Belle Hélène. She has performed in operas throughout Europe, including Bologna, Venice, Paris, Montpellier, Madrid, Treviso, La Scala Milan, Glyndebourne, Antwerp, Berlin, Warsaw, Valencia, and at Wexford where she sang in Gianni di Parigi in 2011. Sponsored by anonymous donors
Artist Biographies
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