Italian opera staged in Apollonia Park

TIRANA, September 6 – Albanian, Italian and Greek soloists performed last week at the ancient amphitheatre of Apollonia, the Silvano opera by Italian composer Pietro Mascagni.
The opera commemorating the 65th death anniversary of the renowned Italian composer brought on stage Italian soprano Mara Monopoli, tenor Francesco Zingariello as well as Albanian soloists Solen Alla and Sofia Kole.
The opera was produced by Albania’s Agron Xoxa and directed by Milto Katali and Guia Farinelli Mascagni, the late Italian composer’s niece.
The Apollonia symphonic orchestra and Greece’s Thessaloniki chorus were conducted by Italian maestro Ettore Papadia.
The costumes were made available by the Albanian National Theatre of Opera and Ballet.
Silvano is an opera in two acts by Pietro Mascagni from a libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti based on a novel by Alphonse Karr.
It received its first performance on March 25, 1895 at La Scala, Milan.