The National Theatre Brno is staging the opera La Gioconda under the direction of Tomáš Pilař and the conducted by Jaroslav Kyzlink. The title role will be taken by Csilla Boross or Iveta Jiříková, while Laura Adorno will be played by Jana Hrochová or Veronika Hajnová-Fialová and Luciano Mastro or Sung Kyu Park will play the part of Enzo Grimaldo.
La Gioconda is the most famous of the ten operas by Amilcare Ponchielli (1834-1886). After staging Polish Blood and Carmen the director and scenographer Tomáš Pilař will be returning to the Janáček Theatre with this work. The opera is set in Venice at carnival time at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. “In first place I am accenting the motif of psychological ‘masks’. Each of the characters both performs as themselves and at the same time as someone they have to be in that given society. The character of a carnival with physical masks is interwoven with the motif of these metaphorical masks,” says Tomáš Pilař of his directorial concept.
The typical Venetian architecture became a significant inspiration for the stylized and changeable scenes of Tomáš Pilař as well as the costumes of Sylva Zimula Hanáková.
La Gioconda is one of the musically highly demanding works – it is one of the few operas which has a major role for each of the six voice ranges (La Gioconda – soprano, Laura Adorno – mezzosoprano, La Cieca – alto, Enzo Grimaldo – tenor, Barnaba – baritone, Alvise Badoero – bass). The title role of Gioconda alternates between Iveta Jiříková and the Hungarian soprano Csilla Boross, holder of the Green Room Award 2014, DIVA award 2009 and Thálie award 2009. Another special guest in this production is the South Korean tenor Sung Kyu Park, who works with the foremost opera houses such as the Neapolitan San Carlo, Teatro Verdi in Trieste, the Soul Art Centre, the Puccini Opera Festival Torre del Lago and others. The musical production is the work of the conductor Jaroslav Kyzlink.
The premiere will take place on 4 February 2017 at 7 p.m. in the Janáček Theatre.
