From the Tang Dynasty to the Imperial Courts of Europe – A Soirée of Long Friendship Between East and West
Mirco Palazzi, Roberta Mameli, Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli, and Attis Y. Chen – some the leading names in the contemporary operatic world will be joined by conductor Alessandro Cadario on the piano for a delightful evening of songs over champagne at Asia Society Hong Kong Center. The repertoire chosen consists of songs composed at a time when Europe and China were ruled by Emperors – whilst trades have kept the two regions connected along the Silk Road that eventually touched Italy, in particular Venice, music has kept the cultural exchanges vibrant to date.
Registration 6:15pm;
Drinks Reception & Performance 6:30 – 7:30pm
Performance Program
‘Pur ti miro’ from Incoronazione di Poppea
‘Che soave zeffiretto’ from Le Nozze di Figaro
‘La calunnia’ from Il barbiere di Siviglia
‘Ah Ruggiero..Ombre pallide’ from Alcina
‘Endless pleasure’ from Semele
‘Piangerò la sorte mia’ from Giulio Cesare
‘Le Caid air de Tambour major’
The ensemble will be performing at two charity concerts of Mozart and Handel at St John’s Cathedral on June 16 & 23, 2016 in Hong Kong. Asia Society members are entitled to a special 10% discount on Category A tickets by quoting “ASORG” when making a purchase on http://www.ticketflap.com/solomusica.
Mirco Palazzi (Bass) was born in Rimini, Italy and graduated from the Music Conservatory in Pesaro in voice. He made his debut with Opera Wexford Festival in 2001 and garnered success in many singing competitions. He is a highly sought-after Bass soloist at major theatres of the world, including Teatro La Scala, Teatro Regio in Torino, La Fenice in Venice, the Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome, and Rome Opera. He has also performed at the Cologne Philharmonie, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the London Barbican, The Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, the Liceu in Barcelona, the Rossini Festival in Pesaro, and at the Washington and Dallas Opera companies. He has worked under the baton of many prestigious conductors including Claudio Abbado, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Riccardo Chailly, Myung-whun Chung, Diego Fasolis, Valery Gergiev, Christopher Hogwood, Antonio Pappano, Gianandrea Noseda and Alberto Zedda. Mirco Palazzi appears as a recording artist on CD labels including Decca, Bongiovanni, Operarara, Arthaus, Unitel, Opus Arte, Euroarts and Naxos. He has been described by critics as a bold interpreter of the Italian Bel Canto.
Roberta Mameli (Soprano) was born in Rome and graduated from the Nicolini Conservatory of Piacenza in voice and violin. She has worked under the baton of many distinguished conductors including Benedetti Michelangeli, Fabio Bonizzoni, Claudio Cavina, Paul Goodwin, Christopher Hogwood, Jordi Savall, Diego Fasolis, and Claudio Abbado, and at prestigious venues such as the Konzerthaus and the Musikverein in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Cité de la Musique in Paris. Highlights of her career include singing major roles in Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea, Mozart’s Requiem, the role of Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Handel’s Serse, Vivaldi’s L’incoronazione di Dario, Jommelli’s Isacco, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and Vivaldi’s La Senna festeggiante with the Orchestra Baroque Sevilla in Spain. She has toured Japan and to the Enescu Festival in Bucharest singing Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine. Roberta Mameli appears on recordings for the Naïve, Glossa, Nibiru, Ayros, Bongiovanni, and Dynamic CD labels. Her solo album entitled Round M: Monteverdi meets Jazz was one of the best-selling classical CDs of 2010.
Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli (Soprano) studied voice at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatoire in Milan and at the Rossini Academy of Music in Bologna. Her teachers included Mirella Freni, Luciano Pavarotti, Sonia Prina, and Fernando Cordeiro Opa. She has performed as soprano soloist in many concerts with orchestras and Baroque ensembles including Accademia Bizantina, the Ensemble Baroque de Limoges, La Venexiana and Complesso Barocco. She has appeared at the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Konzerthaus and the Musikverein in Vienna, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and at the National Opera of Seoul. She has also performed at the Rome Baroque Festival, the Spoletto Festival in Charleston, and the Festival of Sacred Music in Santa Cristina di Bologna. Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli is currently the principal singer of The Pera Ensemble with whom she has toured Europe. She has recorded extensively with Sony, Amadeus, and Berlin Classics.
Attis Y. Chen (Tenor) studied voice at the Xinghai Conservatory of Guangzhou in China and received his master of music degree at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. He also holds a post-graduate diploma from the University of Music and Arts in Vienna where he studied under Professor Frank Lukasovsky. In 2007 he made his operatic debut at the Shanghai Grand Theatre performing the role of Romendado in Carmen with Michel Plasson. He has appeared in many productions with Opera Hong Kong and Musica Viva. His roles include Tonio in Donizetti’s La Fille du Regiment, Don José in Bizet’s Carmen, Rinuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème, Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata, Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan tutte and Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. His concert performances include Handel’s Messiah with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Mozart’s Mass in C minor at the Oriental Arts Centre in Shanghai, Howard Blake’s The Bear with City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong and Verdi’s Requiem. Attis Y. Chen is currently a participant of Opera Hong Kong’s Young Artist Development Programme supported by the Hong Kong Jockey Club. He receives direction from the renowned singer Gong Dong-jian.
Alessandro Cadario (Conductor/ Pianist) has built an outstanding reputation as a result of his charismatic stage presence and powerful interpretations of concert and operatic repertoire. Since making his debut at the Lincoln Center in 2006, he has appeared with the Sofia Festival Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Teatro La Fenice, the Orchestra and Choir of Teatro Petruzzelli, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Monte Carl, the Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese, the Orchestra and Choir of Teatro Lirico of Cagliari, Concerto Budapest, the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and I Cameristi della Scala. He has also conducted numerous large scale events at the famous Arena di Verona and at the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Albania. In 2015, he conducted the Youth Orchestra of Caracas at La Scala in Milan. Alessandro Cadario is currently Principal Guest Conductor of I Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan. He graduated with honors in composition, choir conducting and violin from the Music Conservatory in Milan and did further studies at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana.
