Ernesto in Zurich

My dear friends,

As I told you before, I’m already in Zurich. After the „Tokyo” journey and after just two days in Romania, with my parents and friends, I took the plane and flew to this very beautiful city, located in the heart of Europe and in central Switzerland. It's the first time I come to sing in Zurich and from Wednesday, when I arrived, I began to slowly discover the city.

I walk from home to the Opera and back. It takes no longer than half an hour and I try to change the route every time. Even for me it's a mystery how I didn't get lost until now :-))) But I still have all the time in the world for that :-)))

Anyway, beyond the fact that it keeps me in shape, walking helps me think of the role. We have already started rehearsals and all I can say is that I'm ready to become Ernesto again. I even tried the costumes...

I guess you already know the story of Don Pasquale: one fine day, the old bachelor has this ideea that he needs to marry. His good friend, Dr. Malatesta, opens his eyes to the beautiful widow Norina. But the avaricious Don Pasquale doesn't realise that Norina is Ernesto's fiancee, his nephew. So the two lovers are forced to put on a plan to get rid of the old man. Thus, after a bogus wedding, the apparently modest and naive Norina is transformed into a real virago. Heaving enough, Don Pasquale rushes to escape as soon as possible from the devil woman clutches that married. In the end, Don Pasquale is more than happy to leave Norina, complete with a pretty dowry, to his nephew, Ernesto.

...good old times, being Ernesto at home, at National Opera House in Bucharest, with Mihnea Lamatic as Don Pasquale, under maestro Tiberiu Soare...

But this new production in Zurich, signed by the great director Grisha Asagarof, is different, unique and extremely funny and the public will lough out loud from the begginning to the end. Especially when Ernesto and Norina will destroy Don Pasquale’s home, a scene like a general madness :-) We break the wallpaper on the walls, we brake the frills and trampled paintings and antiques. We even throw teddy bears... :-)))))

The first performance is scheduled for Thursday, 28.10.2011, and the other two performances are scheduled for 3rd and 5th of November. I’m sure the public will have unforgettable evenings in with us because I Know we will have a lot of fun on stage...

I discovered here in Zurich extraordinary artists and colleagues...I’m honored to sing with the beautiful Isabel Rey, the wonderful baritone Oliver Widmer – the husband of Cecilia Bartoli, the Queen of Rossini wich I’m so excited to meet, couse I found out that she will come to our performances – and, of course, the great bass-baritone Ruggero Raimondi.

 

On the other hand, I can’t tell you how happy I am to work again with director Grisha Asagarof - after our first collaboration at Dresden Semperoper, where he directed Rossini’s „Il Barbiere di Siviglia” – and with the legendary maestro Nello Santi, who conducted great voices of the international lyrical scenes such as Gabriela Tucci, Leontyne Price, Luciano Pavarotti, Montserrat Caballe, Placido Domingo, Sherill Milnes, Piero Cappuccilli, Leo Nucci, Carlo Bergonzi, Maria Chiara and the list is very very long.

I am so proud because I know I have a lot to learn from maestro Nello Santi and I can’t hardly wait to be Monday and go to rehearsal.


Till then...rest and relax... I’ll have a wonderful evening watching the 1972 “What’s, Up, doc?”, with Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal ... ;-)