From Teatro Antico di Taormina to Teatru tal-Opra Aurora

Will be reviving his Teatro Antico di Taormina production of Madama Butterfly for Teatru tal-Opra Aurora on 1 April. Here he speaks about his love for music and theatre, his impressive career, his recent work in China and what opera lovers can expect from

What inspired you to follow an artistic career?

The love for music and theatre! As a youngster, I was listening to the Beethoven symphonies, Mozart, Rossini and Wagner’s music thanks to my family, and my father, the writer Luigi Castiglione. Frequently attending concerts at the Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome, I developed an interest in reviewing concerts. This enabled me to meet various conductors, including Lorin Maazel, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Sergiu Celibidache, Carlo Maria Giulini, Zubin Mehta and Leonard Bernstein. In 1989, I published the book A life for the Music: conversations with Leonard Bernstein, translated in various languages and still considered an artistic testament of the great American composer and conductor.

Love for theatre was spurned by Maria Callas’s Tosca, which I often heard played on the radio. Attending rehearsals of leading directors, I started plying this trade in musical theatre. Eventually, in 1997, I was engaged for my first productions, the opera gala Maria Callas Memorial televised live from Teatro Romano di Ostia Antica Roma and then in 1998 with my directions of Candide by Leonard Bernstein at the Greek Theatre in Lecce with Katia Ricciarelli.

How do you describe your relationship with Sonia Cammarata, your wife and collaborator?

I met the costume designer Sonia Cammarata in 2003 at the Teatro Argentina in Rome whilst directing Bernstein’s Candide, with a complete American cast from Broadway. Sonia is an exceptional costume designer, faithful to the relevant historical styles, whilst embodying the character’s psychology. Eventually, we got engaged and married in 2009. Since then, we are a couple in life and on stage, collaborating in all of my operatic productions ever since.

Taormina is a cultural hub attracting tourists to the majestic Greek Theatre. What has been your association with this landmark venue?

I always enjoyed producing shows in archaeological sites. The Greek Theatre and the Roman Theatre are the essence of the concept of theatre. Although I staged operas and concerts in various theatres of these eras, Taormina is a unique and extraordinary place full of charm. Sitting in the stands of Taormina you can admire the sea and Mount Etna, a wonderful experience.

When I was nominated for the first time as artistic director of Taormina Arte, in 1997, I accepted immediately. For me directing in a theatre like Taormina is the greatest joy, maybe even more than at La Scala or the Met!

Now, I have been artistically directing in Taormina for more than 10 years, establishing an opera season producing 17 opera productions, six of which were broadcast live in cinemas around the world. I am really proud that my name is associated with Taormina’s theatre.

Your productions are transmitted worldwide in various cinemas. Can you mention some essential ingredients required to capture the spectators’ attention?

Cinema has transformed the way we perceive and see a live show. Today, regardless of whether the production is filmed or not, a director should always bear in mind that audiences are accustomed to watching films in cinemas. From the early days of my artistic career, I strongly believed in the power of cinemas and television. Then, in 2011, RAI filmed my production of Verdi’s Nabucco at Taormina as part of the national celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Since then, I have successfully started using cinematographic techniques for recording and the live broadcast in my theatrical productions. Every year, an operatic title I direct is broadcast live in cinemas across Europe and on television. This year, it will be La Boheme, my seventh consecutive filmmaking in Taormina!

You recently started presenting your work in China. What challenges does this country present?

China is the future for opera, because of their curiosity and the desire to stage the western opera in parallel with Chinese opera. I debuted in China in 1998. Then I organized several concerts, but in recent years I have directed many successful opera productions and premiered operas like Bellini’s Norma and Bizet’s Carmen, in cities like Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Fuzhou and also in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong ... It was an enormous success and recently I got appointed as artistic director of the Grand Theatre in Hangzhou, a city of only ten million habitants! It is wonderful to see the theatre packed with young audiences paying non-exorbitant ticket prices. Their desire to experience European works is amazing. I find it quite ironic, hopefully this may induce Western societies to safeguard our identities and the opera we invented.

You are returning to Gaulitana for the fourth year. How do you describe this collaboration?

Well, I love Gozo and the theatre where we produce the opera bears the same name as my daughter, Aurora! Colin Attard invited me for the first time in 2014 for Tosca, followed by Rigoletto and Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Returning to Gozo means going back to find a great family. Gaulitana Festival is a truly commendable venture and should be supported.

Madama Butterfly, this year’s opera, what should we expect?

It will be a production that respects the music whilst combining modernity, imagination and tradition. My artistic ideas tend not to ‘desecrate’ opera because otherwise we run the risk of rendering them rather vulgar. Madame Butterfly is not just a luxury prostitute, but is a woman who falls in love and loves truly. But she remains a prisoner of herself. All of us know the story, but to see how we represent it, then come and join us on 1 April!