The Teatro Comunale in Bologna has commissioned Lorenzo Ferrero to write the opera Risorgimento! (on an idea by the composer and a libretto by Dario Oliveri) for the 150th anniversary of Italian Unity. The premiere of the opera will take place in Modena on 25th March (at the Teatro Comunale 'Luciano Pavarotti') and there will be two further performances in Bologna on 5th and 16th April.
The Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna will be conducted by Michele Mariotti while the stage direction is by Giorgio Gallione, the scenery by Tiziano Santi and the costumes by Claudia Pernigotti. Speaking about the choice of the subject for the opera, the composer explains that 'the historical given on which the work is based is the relationship between the Italian Risorgimento and opera. Just as the novel gave cultural unity to France in the 19th century, so in Italy the cultural protagonist was opera. The framework of this opera of mine provides for an interweaving of the history of a nation not yet formed and the "premiere" of Nabucco (considered by everyone as a kind of manifesto of the Risorgimento). The characters of the opera – says the composer – engage in a debate not just about the Risorgimento but also about the opera itself and its chances of success, almost as though Verdi's music and the Risorgimento were mirror images the one of the other.'

Teatro Comunale di Bologna