.jpg "The Tehran Opera Ensemble in an undated photo")
TEHRAN -- The Tehran Opera Ensemble plans to perform “Gianni Schicchi”, a comic opera by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924) in Tehran during the second week of March.
The ensemble composed of a number of Iranian vocalists working in Iran and abroad will perform the opera at the Vahdat Hall from March 9 to 13.
“The ensemble was established to bring back this beautiful and amazing art to the heart of the society of the cultured and arty people of Iran,” the leader of the ensemble, Hadi Qozzat, said in July 2012 when he announced the establishment of the group.
“Unfortunately, this art has sunk into oblivion in Iran today and we witness the misuse of the notion of opera in Iran,” he added.
The ensemble made its debut performance with “Gianni Schicchi” during the 27th Fajr International Music Festival in Tehran in February 2012.
Puccini composed “Gianni Schicchi” in one act in 1917–18 to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, an Italian playwright and director. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante’s “Divine Comedy”.
Puccini’s operas are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire. He was considered as the greatest composer of Italian opera after Verdi.
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