On Saturday, May 14th, 2022, the Romanian Athenaeum will host a concert marking the end of the Italian presidency of the Council of Europe, organized in collaboration with the Italian Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute of Bucharest. Along with the Gioachino RossiniSymphony Orchestra, the soprano Emanuela Torresi and the tenor Francesco Anile will perform. Find out more details from the conductor of the evening, Daniele Agiman.

Mr. Daniele Agiman, will this be your first visit in Romania?

No, I was in Romania in 1991, when I conducted two concerts in Ploieşti and Satu Mare. Sometimes I tell my colleagues and students that the Romanian public is probably the best I've ever met: their attention and concentration during the concert were amazing. So, I am very excited to meet the Romanian publicagain, in Bucharest on Saturday, and I am nervous, as the whole orchestra is too.

Please tell us a few words about the musicians who will be on the stage: Gioachino Rossini Symphony Orchestra along with soprano Emanuela Torresi and tenor Francesco Anile.

They are some of the most distinguished Italian artists. Francesco Anile has a remarkable career; he has performed all the dramatic roles on stages from the Metropolitan Opera in New York to the Scala in Milan. I know he has been to Bucharest a few years ago, so this is a return for Francesco. On the other hand, Emanuela Torresi is in Romania for the first time. She is a young singer at the beginning of her career, very close to our orchestra and we are proud to present her to the Romanian public. The orchestra is one of the most interesting ensembles in Italy. It has been the orchestra of the Rossini Opera Festival for twenty years. We perform in the most important theatres in Italy: in Ancona, Iesi, Fano, Pesaro and so on. Prior to the Covid pandemic, we also toured internationally in China, South Korea and Japan. This is the first occasion after the pandemic when we can perform on an international stage and one as prestigious as the Romanian Athenaeum.

The programme of the evening will include famous pages of musical works. What criteria guided you in selecting them?

The criteria were suggested by the Italian ambassador in Bucharest, Mr. Alfredo Maria Durante Mangoni - a passionate musician who loves the Italian repertoire and who asked me not to play the most common pieces, so we introduced in the programme pages from the opera repertoire that are less performed: for example, moments from the opera The Pirate by Vincenzo Bellini or from Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti. Thus, you will listen to a programme that includes the greatest Italian opera composers.