Antonio di Matteo in long-awaited premiere of Mercadante's Francesca da Rimini

Antonio Di Matteo

Bass-barihunk Antonio Di Matteo will sing in the first modern staging of Saverio Mercadante's Francesca da Rimini at the 42nd Festival della Valle d'Itria under the guidance of music director Fabio  Luisi. The modern world premiere, directed by Pier Luigi Pizzi,  will be on July 30, 2016 with performances running through August 4. The opera was scheduled to be premiered at the Wexford Festival in 2012, but it was scrapped due to the difficulty of musically reconstructing the piece.

The opera's libretto was written by Felice Romani and was intended to be premiered in Madrid in 1831, but the theater burned down and it's unclear if it was ever performed or if the score was even published.

Antonio di Matteo sings Vecchia Zimarra from Puccini's La bohème:

Other composers have tackled the story of Francesca di Rimini, who was a historical contemporary of Dante Alighieri, who portrayed her as a character in the Divine Comedy. Riccardo Zandonai composed a four act opera that has proven to be a diva vehicle for such great sopranos as Magda Olivero, Renata Scotto and  Eva-Maria Westbroek. Rachmaninov also wrote a shorter version with a libretto by Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky written with a prologue, two tableaux and an epilogue.

In November, Di Matteo can be seen as Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. He then heads to the Bavarian State Opera to sing Alcindoro in Puccini's La bohème with fellow barihunk Michael Nagy as Marcello.

Barihunk duo in Palermo's Attila

Erwin Schrott as Attila (on stage and in rehearsal)

The bass-barihunk duo of Erwin Schrott and Antonio Di Matteo have been wowing audiences in director Daniele Abbado's riveting production of Verdi's Attila at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo. The February 19th opening day performance marked the debut of Schrott in the title role of Verdi's early opera. 

Schrott recently told the Italian press that the character was a "complex, restless, insecure and even emotional man who eventually succumbs to love." He recorded that aria "Mentre gonfiarsi l'anima" on his 2012 album of arias.

Erwin Schrott sings "Mentre gonfiarsi l'anima" from Attila:

Joining him in the cast as Pope Leo is fellow bass-barihunk Antonio Di Matteo, who is new to this site. He is a former member of the Opera Studio of Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and former member of the chorus at the Teatro San Carlo di Napoli. 

Antonio Di Matteo as Pope Leo in Attila

He has previously peformed Sarastro in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Araldo in Verdi's Macbeth and the Commedatore in Mozart's Don Giovanni. Di Matteo can next be seen as Cesare Angelotti in Puccini's Tosca at the Teatro Petruzzelli di Bari and Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna 

Schrott can next be seen in the title role of Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and then the title role in Boito's Mefistofele in Baden-Baden, Germany. 

Antonio Di Matteo sings Pope Leo in Palermo's Attila:

Tickets are available online for the remaining performances on February 24 and 26.