Molino conducts Mozart at the Sydney Opera
Revival of Opera Australia's Le nozze di Figaro
 
 
It is a kind of debut for Molino: for he has conducted operas of the 20th century like King Roger, Wozzeck, The Nose, Bluebeard's Castle, and 19th century – Puccini, Rossini, Verdi, Bizet –, many of them at Opera Australia. But now, for the first time, a score from the 18th century is on the podium of Sydney Opera, and that of Le nozze di Figaro, a work that Molino particularly appreciates.
 
The work is not only close to his heart musically but also politically. Mozart wrote his opera at the time when the desire to alleviate the suffering of the poor and the lowest strata of society was born in Europe. Molino, as a composer, has also repeatedly dealt with current social and political topics in his works.

"Even with a time gap of over 200 years, the criticism of the ruling class is still clearly tangible in Mozart's work," says Molino in an extensive interview. "Figaro is messing with his boss" – and social conditions are negotiated on a private level, but are integrated into the political one. Molino has further discussed his relationship with the work in a conversation with Limelight Magazine.

The premiere is the revival of a historically accurate production by David McVicar that sets the play in the 17th century – even in Mozart's time, according to the director, the work was not necessarily presented in a contemporary setting.

On stage is an exquisite cast of singers including Mario Cassi (Count), Ekaterina Morozova (Countess), Tommaso Barea (Figaro) Stacey Alleaume (Susanna) and Agnes Sarkis (Cherubino), and the Opera Australia Chorus. They are accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra conducted by Andrea Molino.

venue: Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House, January 27, 29, February 1, 3, 5, 10, 14, 16, 18 at 7pm, February 12 at 12pm
 
 

World Premiere of Maderna's Requiem conducted by Molino
Reviews on the release of the Stradivarius-CD
 
 
The World Premiere of Bruno Maderna's long lost Requiem (1946) in La Fenice's season 2009/10 was conducted by Andrea Molino; the live recording has been published by the Italian label Stradivarius.
 
"I was at the concert and it was one of the most astounding and relevant I have ever attended," writes Marco Mazzoleni in his review on the cd. "The premiere performance … was one of the most important cultural operations in the recent history of music. So is this recording. It is an historical document that makes this masterpiece of the twentieth century available to everyone."
 
Paolo Carrador, in Il Giornale della Musica, joins Mazzoleni in this opinion: "Andrea Molino's conducting succeeds in the difficult task of guaranteeing, in the face of a complex score, coherence and constant emotional tension. The orchestra, soloists and chorus are always convincing and involved; together they sign a true masterpiece. Strong and moving moments followone another … the tensions between soloists and choir in the splendid Dies Irae; the enthralling ostinato of the beginning of Domine Jesu where the rhythmic colours of the pianos can be perceived; the poetic setting, the poignant melody of the Agnus Dei; the abstract interweaving, the chasing after each other of the chorus, the soloists and the instrumental parts in a final, epic and stunning Libera me, that fades into a suspended and disquieting silence."
 
more information

 

World Premiere of Chants de fragilité with Christian Tetzlaff
Molino's new work in the frame of the OSI Tracce–> project
 
 
Andrea Molino's latest interdisciplinar piece is conceived for the project Tracce–>, initiated by the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano for the next two seasons. Molino is the Creative Chair of the project for the next two seasons.
 
"The fragility of the title … is that of memory and at the same time that of sound: it is the fascinating and wonderfully complex threshold around which the instrument begins to vibrate," writes Molino in his commentary on the work.
 
As Tracce–> is conceived as a Tchaikovsky cycle it was obvious to Molino to encompass the music of Tchaikovsky with his own composition, but: "…it was immediately clear to me, that the only legitimate way, at least for me, was to avoid trying to appropriate his sound and expressive world …". Instead, Molino uses "fragments, hints, intuitions, memories" and puts them in different contexts, as for example another main concept of the Tracce–> project, the "narrative exploration and highlighting of the places linked to Tchaikovsky's presence in Switzerland."
 
The piece features a video shot and edited by students of the Locarno International Conservatory of Audiovisual Sciences showing the celebrated violinist Christian Tetzlaff and Robert Kowalski, the OSI's concertmaster, playing in Montreux, Clarens and at the Chillon Castle, the very places where Tchaikovsky wrote his Violino Concerto. An unfamiliar but exciting environment for Tetzlaff: "I was never in such a situation before ... the Castle is an incredible place; it's a wonderful idea, which brings me back to this piece which I play for 30 years now and didn't perform for a while, among other things because of the pandemic." The shooting in Chillon was accompanied by the Swiss national television RSI Rete Uno.

Chants de fragilité – Quatre études sur la persistance de la mémoire, for Solo Violin, 16 Violins in Echo, Live Video and Orchestra will open the OSI concert including the Violin Concerto itself and Tchaikovsky's Sympyhony N. 1, performed by Christian Tetzlaff, Robert Kowalski, 16 violinists of the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana and the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana conducted by his principal conductor Markus Poschner.
 
venue: Lugano, LAC – Lugano Arte e Cultura, December 9, 2021, 8.30pm
 
 

Andrea Molino: The Garden of Forking Paths
Reports from the World Premiere at Palazzo Madama in Turin
 
 
On November 9, four saxophonists of the SaXemble and four young actors moved through the streets of Turin's historic centre in the spaces of Piazza Castello, gathered in front of Palazzo Madama, entered the palace, arrived in the Gran Salone where an ensemble was playing in front of a live audience, all following a score by Andrea Molino: The Garden of Forking Paths, a project realized in the context of the 5G-Tours European program, a collaboration between the Municipality of Turin, the Fondazione Musei, RAI, TIM, Ericsson Italia and Live-U.
 
The itinerant musicians and performers were audiovisually synchronized with each other and with the Ensemble Fiarì conducted by Marilena Solavagione in the Gran Salone, playing together live in real time thanks to the multimedia system SWARMS that Molino is developing at RAI's Centro di Ricerca in Turin.
 
RAI TG1 national news was among the numerous media featuring the project. La Stampa's critic is clear: "The result is a spectacular artistic exhibition, where technology meets art and culture, propelling the museum into the future." (La Stampa, (09/11/2021)

more information
report RAI TG1
report TGR Leonardo (minute 10:02)
report RAI TG3

Andrea Molino: The Garden of Forking Paths
World Premiere at Palazzo Madama, Turin, November, 9
 
 
"The place of an event is an integral part of the content of the event itself; the context is part of the text", says Molino. This is the starting point for his new project The Garden of Forking Paths which will have its World Premiere on 9 November, in the context of the 5G-TOURS project, funded by the European Union, with musicians in and around the historic sites of Palazzo Madama and Piazza Castello in Turin.
 
It will use, for the first time, a multimedia system that Molino is developing at RAI's Centro di Ricerca in Turin: SWARMS, as explains Molino, "is a web platform designed to allow a centralised control panel to receive and develop in real time a potentially unlimited number of audiovisual streams, coming live from different locations around the world."
 
"The title of the project is taken from a famous short story by Jorge Luis Borges. It intends to represent both the route map that the musicians will make physically during its execution and the network of ideal and real connections and interactions that led to its realization. Technology is not only “at the service” of the artistic idea, but actively and integrally contributes to the definition of a real new artistic language, making possible a new way of conceiving a live event."
 
Performers are the SaXemble (Zurich), four Speakers (Kyara Russo, Daniel Santantonio, Lucia Corna, Enrica Rebaudo), the Fiarì Ensemble (Torino) conducted by Marilena Solavagione, supported by the Centro di Produzione RAI in Turin under the direction of Maria Baratta.

The Garden of Forking Paths is a collaboration between the City of Turin, the RAI Research Centre, Ericsson, Fondazione Torino Musei, LiveU and TIM.

venue: Turin, November 9, 2021, 3PM, at the Grand Hall of Receptions of Palazzo Madama.
 
more information
 
 

Marc Sinan: Hasretim – Journey to Anatolia
World Premiere of Andrea Molino's new version at Spreehalle Berlin
  
  
The Spreehalle Berlin and Marc Sinan Company have presented a new version of Hasretim – Journey to Anatolia, Marc Sinan's arguably most appreciated multimedia work. Andrea Molino had created the original orchestral arrangement and conducted the World Premiere in 2010 at Hellerau – Europäisches Zentrum der Künste in Dresden (DVD for ECM Records) and then in 2013 at the Philharmonie Berlin for MaerzMusik with the Dresdner Sinfoniker.
 
He has now reshaped the piece for an exciting new Ensemble featuring Oguz Buyukberber, Daniel Eichholz, Gunnhildur Einarsdóttir, Anil Eraslan, Miako Klein, Meinrad Kneer and Derya Yildirim.
 
venue: Spreehalle Berlin, October 9 and 10, .2021
 

Molino conducts Bartók at the Sydney Opera House
ABC Classic broadcast still available 
 
 
ABC Classic has broadcast once more the live recording of Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle (ABC Classic, Sunday 24 October, 2021, 7PM AEST), conducted by Andrea Molino at the Sydney Opera House for Opera Australia last March, directed by Andy Morton and Priscilla Jackman and featuring Daniel Sumegi as Bluebeard and Carmen Topciu as Judith.
 
The recording is still available on ABC Classic's website.
 
 
 
 
 

Andrea Molino is appointed the Creative Chair for Tracce –>
An interdisciplinary project for the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana
 
 
Andrea Molino is designated Creative Chair for the project Tracce –>, initiated by the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano for the next two seasons.
 
Tracce –> (Traces –>) is a long-term collaboration between the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana (OSI) and different local organizations and institutions, including the Conservatorio Internazionale di Scienze Audiovisive in Locarno. The project is conceived around the Tchaikovsky cycle conducted by the orchestra's Principal Conductor Markus Poschner and intends to create a multi-layered narrative programme which springs from the necessity of rethinking and innovating the very role of an organization like a symphony orchestra as a social entity; that is, in the context of the environment and the community in which it exists.
 
The aim is to bring into play an interdisciplinary, intermedial and innovative dramaturgy. One aspect, as Molino states, "is the focus on the theme of "travel", inspired for example by Tchaikovsky's many stays in Switzerland, and consequently the involvement of different places as narrative elements: The place where "an event takes place thus becomes part of the content of the event itself; as I like to say, the context is part of the text."
 
Two other key elements are interdisciplinary and intermediality on the one hand and the artistic use of digital technology on the other. Demands which were already part of the conception of the successful 2019 Ludwig van Festival, also curated by Andrea Molino for the OSI.
 
Press conference: Lugano, September 30 (before the concert)
Installation: open from September, 28
 
more information (page 9)

 

Achava Festival Thüringen presents World Premiere by Marc Sinan
Andrea Molino conducts Buchenwald part of GLEISSENDES LICHT
Simultaneous concerts in Jena, Buchenwald, Jerusalem, and Berlin
 
 
With Marc Sinan's GLEISSENDES LICHT, Andrea Molino once more conducts a World Premiere by the Turkish-German composer.
 
The project is part of the 2021 edition of the ACHAVA Festival Thüringen in cooperation with the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Weimar and the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation, supported by the 321-2021: 1700 Jahre Jüdisches Leben in Deutschland e. V. with funds from the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community.
 
Musically, the project connects four places; near the former concentration camp Buchenwald, a boys' choir, rehearsed by Berit Walther, accompanied by the Staatskapelle Weimar conducted by Andrea Molino, sends an impulse to Jena, which the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra, together with the soloist ensemble AuditvVokal Dresden and four singers (Andreas Fischer, Katia Guedes, Johanna Krödel, Johanna Vargas), conducted by Simon Gaudenz, heighten into an oratorio. Other bridges to Jena will be built by the young Israeli actress Hadar Dimand, who will recite texts by Batstehva Dagan in Jerusalem, and the pianist Michael Wendeberg, who will play parts of Sinan's multi-location composition and other works by Mozart, Berg and Schumann on Berlin's Bebelplatz, where the book burnings once took place.
 
From the simultaneous concerts, a multi-layered overall composition emerges through an audiovisual interweaving via livestreaming – a musical ritual of remembering.
 
venue: Volkshaus Jena, 29 September, 20 p.m.; programme segments from Buchenwald/Weimar, Berlin and Jerusalem will be livestreamed
 
 

World Premiere of Molino's Voci di Chiostro
Molino conducts his work at Montepulciano's Cantiere
 
 
The 2021/22 season has already started for Andrea Molino. On July 25, his new work Voci di Chiostro will receive its World Premiere at of the 46° Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte at Montepulciano.
 
The composition for instrumental ensemble – commissioned by the festival – will be played by the Ensemble degli Intrigati, conducted by Andrea Molino
 
The text, spoken and performed by the cellist of the ensemble, is taken from the "Libro di Ricordi" (1447-1833) and relates to the Church of Sant'Agnese, where the concert takes place. Molino has selected fragments in which accounts are given of construction works on the monastery's historic cloister.
 
The concert programme, entitled SERENATE POLIZIANE, also includes works by Bruno Maderna, Kaija Saariaho and Magnus Lindberg and World Premieres by Alessandra Ravera and Matteo Belli.
 
venue: Montepulciano, Chiostro di Sant’Agnese, July 25 at 9.30 PM
 
 
 

Molino conducts Bartók at the Sydney Opera House
ABC Classic broadcast on April 11
Reviews of the Premiere of Duke Bluebeard's Castle on March 1, 2021
 
 
On March 1, Andrea Molino conducted the Opera Australia Orchestra for the Opera Australia production of Bartók's Duke Bluebeard's Castle, at the Joan Sutherland Theatre in Sydney, with Daniel Sumegi (Duke Bluebeard) and Carmen Topciu (Judith).
 
The live audience was delighted by the performance and the critics were equally enthusiastic. Helen Musa wrote "The opening night audience at Sydney Opera House greeted the cast of Bluebeard’s Castle with more rounds of applause than any within my living memory." (Canberra City News, 4.3.2021). Deborah Jones had much the same impression: "It’s a tremendously absorbing score that earned conductor Andrea Molino and the Opera Australia Orchestra a mighty and sustained ovation from the opening night audience." (Limelight Magazine, 2.3.2021).
 
"A stark and dark Opera Australia production, (…) led superbly by Italian conductor Andrea Molino", wrote Steve Moffatt (Daily Telegraph, 8.3.2021), and Jeremy Eccles also paid tribute to the arrangement: "Interestingly, maestro Andrea Molino is credited as orchestra arranger as well as conductor. The Italian, who seems to be brought in for the OA's more outré work (The Nose, Wozzeck and King Roger, for example), has reduced the score to cater for the company's diminished pit orchestra. But there was little lost in its impact (…)." (Bachtrack, 2.3.2021).
 
The performance was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House on March, 10. It will be broadcast by ABC Classic on April, 11 at 7pm in the frame of "Sunday Opera", presented by Mairi Nicolson.
 
more information
Bluebeard reviews
ABC Classic
 
 
     

Andrea Molino conducts Bluebeard's Castle
Premiere at the Sydney Opera House
 
On March 1, the curtain will rise on a new production of Bartók's only opera, Bluebeard's Castle, at the Joan Sutherland Theatre in Sydney.
 
After many successful productions at Opera Australia, Andrea Molino will conduct the Opera Australia Orchestra in this very special 20th century opera in a staging by Andy Morton (Associate Director: Priscilla Jackman) with lighting designed by John Rayment. Duke Bluebeard, the title role, will be sung by Daniel Sumegi, with Carmen Topciu as his fourth wife, Judith.
 
Opera Australia is currently one of the very few Opera Houses in the world presenting opera in front of a live audience; the 2021 Season started in January after the 2020 Season was interrupted in March, with all subsequent productions cancelled.
 
venue: Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House, March 1, 5, 8, and 10 at 7:30 PM

Molino's debut at the Royal Opera House London released on DVD
World Premiere of Cathy Marston's The Cellist
 
In February, 2020, the Royal Opera House London invited Andrea Molino to conduct the Royal Opera House Orchestra for a World Premiere: Cathy Marston's first choreography for the Royal Ballet, The Cellist, dedicated to the famous cellist Jacqueline du Pré, with music by Philip Feeney.
 
The very successful production was broadcast live in cinemas worldwide and is now available on DVD.

Andrea Molino: Swarm
New piece for solo electric guitar and electronics
World Premiere – Berlin, October 17, 2020
 
As part of ELEKTROPOLIS, a transmedia concert series by the Marc Sinan Company in the newly opened Spreehalle Berlin, Andrea Molino's new work Swarm will be premiered on 17 October 2020.
 
Swarm is conceived for solo electric guitar and an ensemble of 16 electric guitars; on this occasion the ensemble is achieved through sixteen pre-produced, independent guitar voices which will be heard on 16 tracks from different locations in the room. This "swarm" only gathers for the performance of soloist Marc Sinan (electric guitar), to whom the piece is dedicated.
 
„Molino focuses in Swarm on a sociological image“ reads the event's press communique. The simultaneity of similar but not perfectly synchronized elements and sequences creates what he calls „collective sounds“: sound organisms composed by countless small sound particles, where the single component loses its perceptual relevance in favour of a mesmerizing, immersive and multi-layered hearing experience.
 
"Even as a child I was attracted by complex, collective sounds: The chirping of birds, the communal singing in a football stadium or at demonstrations, raindrops on a tin roof... (...) Another fascinating aspect is the way collective sounds spread through space" comments Molino on his work.
 
The concert features two other compositions (Iva Bittová and Oguz Büyükberber). The entire programme "explores the sonic possibilities of the TRANSFORMATOR – an instrument specially developed for the Spreehalle by composer Marc Sinan together with the ambisonic and wave field synthesis specialist Johannes Scherzer from Taucher Sound".
 
The concert series is a cooperation of the Marc Sinan Company with the Industriesalon e.V., the sound scenographers TAUCHER and the University of Applied Sciences (HTW). Supported by the Hauptstadtkulturfonds and the initiative neue musik berlin e.V.
 
venue: Berlin, Spreehalle, 17.10.2020, 19.30 PM
 
 

Dear Ireland – I want the things
Video now available on Molino's homepage
 
Last April Andrea Molino contributed to a project of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin together with David Moss: Dear Ireland. Their video I want the things was first shown on the theatre's Youtube channel. Now it is available on Molino's homepage.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Andrea Molino conducts World Premiere by Marc Sinan
Am Anfang as part of Stuttgart's festival DIE IRRITIERTE STADT
 
Andrea Molino and Marc Sinan have worked together on two previous occasions: the World Premiere of Aghet, a project in Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide and the World Premiere of Sinan's Hasretim – Journey to Anatolia were conducted by Molino (a recording has been published by ecm).
 
The next project is on July, 22, when Andrea Molino will conduct the World Premiere of Marc Sinans Am Anfang at the Theaterhaus Stuttgart as part of the festival DIE IRRITIERTE STADT.
 
Am Anfang is a project of the Marc Sinan Company, the Neue Vocalsolisten and the Stiftung Humboldtforum Berlin. Marc Sinan and the choreographer and performer Kettly Noël "go in search of the origins of the world and explore scientific and mythological creation stories from West Africa and Europe" and "confront traditional and religious music from Mali with contemporary European music. The narrative instrument consists of singing, performance and video art," the composer states.
 
This is why musicians who come from very different traditions work together: Andrea Molino will conduct the avant-garde music ensemble Djiguiya Orchestra from Bamako (Mali), the Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart and the Berlin Marc Sinan Company.
 
Am Anfang is invited by the festival DIE IRRITIERTE STADT which takes place in the Theaterhaus Stuttgart and at various locations throughout the city, with performances, actions, city walks, installations and a symposium.
 
venue: July 22, Stuttgart, Theaterhaus, 7:00 and 9:00 PM
more information
 
 

The Sense of the Place – Dublin
A music video series conceived and composed by Andrea Molino
 
13. In one breath has already been published two months ago, 14. Not fast, smooth and deliate is online for some weeks, and 9. Liquid for a few days.
 
They are available on Vimeo, YouTube, and on Andrea Molino's web page.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Dear Ireland  – I want the things
Abbey Theatre's Digital Project in the Times of Corona
Andrea Molino and David Moss contribute with a monologue
 
What should Ireland write on a postcard to itself? This is one of the questions with which Ireland's National Theatre introduces Dear Ireland, a digital project launched in April/May, 2020. 50 writers have been given a commission to create a monologue, and each of them has chosen an actor to perform it. Thus, in times when direct contact between artists and the public is impossible, the dialogue between them may continue.
 
As the project is conceived to create opportunities to hear and share Ireland’s artistic voices, most of the contributors are Irish. But there are some exceptions, including Italian composer and conductor Andrea Molino. His project I want the things was realized by David Moss. Molino and Moss have worked together many times, especially in Music Theatre projects conceived and composed by Molino like Those Who Speak in A Faint Voice, CREDO, and others.
 
Dear Ireland is a project in the times of Social Distancing: The monologues will not be shown on stage but will be screened in four parts at 7.30pm from April, 28 to May, 1 on Abbey theatre's YouTube Channel.
 
The turn of I want the things is on Wednesday 29 April. From May, 2 the videos will be permanently available.
 
 
 

The Sense of the Place – Dublin
A music video series conceived and composed by Andrea Molino
 
Videos 5. Intense, 7. Delicate, not too fast, not too loud and 12. Fragile have been published in March and April, 2020. They are available on Vimeo, YouTube, and on Andrea Molino's web page.

The Sense of the Place – Dublin
A music video series conceived and composed by Andrea Molino
 
The place where a piece is performed as a constituent element of the composition: this is the starting point for The Sense of the Place – Dublin, a series of music videos conceived by Andrea Molino. As Molino writes in his blog; "The location where the event takes place has an aesthetic, artistic and narrative (even more than logistic) influence on the event itself. [...] The context becomes part of the text.“

Recorded in Dublin in 2019, the music videos, shot by filmmaker Christopher Ash, show Deirdre O'Leary (solo bass clarinet), performing Molino's music at various places in Dublin. The video editing as well, realized by Ash and Molino together, is notated in the score and is part of the music composition.

The Sense of the Place – Dublin is conceived in the context of the HOME project, an ongoing multi-media arts project that focuses on the international homeless crises, a production of Lundström Arts Management in collaboration with Comhairle Cathrach, Bhaile Átha Cliath (Dublin City Council), Dublin City Arts Office and Fingal County Council Arts Office.

Starting on January 28, the videos will be published at intervals of about 2 weeks. They will be available on Vimeo, YouTube, and on Andrea Molino's web page.
  
 

Andrea Molino debutes at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
February 17 – World Premiere of The Cellist in London
 
The Royal Opera House, London, has invited Andrea Molino to conduct a ballet World Premiere: Cathy Marston's choreography The Cellist. Written in collaboration with Edward Kemp, this is her first work for The Royal Ballet on the Main Stage and it is dedicated to the famous cellist Jacqueline du Pré, who is regarded as one of the most important cellists of all time. Her career, however, ended early because she contracted multiple sclerosis at the age of 28.

The music for The Cellist is also a World Premiere: Philip Feeney has written an original score, and it features, of course, a solo cello, played by Hetty Snell, accompanied by the Royal Opera House Orchestra conducted by Andrea Molino.
 
On the stage: Royal Ballet soloists Lauren Cuthbertson, Matthew Ball and Marcelino Sambé (doubled by Beatriz Stix-Brunell, Cesar Corrales and Calvin Richardson for two performances) and the Royal Ballet perform in a stage set designed by Hildegard Bechtler with ligth design by Jon Clark and costumes by Bregje van Balen.
 
The performance will be broadcast live in cinemas worldwide on February, 25.
 
venue: London, Royal Opera House, Main Stage – February 17, 18, 25, 28 and March 2, 4, always at 7.30 PM
 
more information
rehearsal photos on instagram
rehearsal informations on twitter
rehearsal video on youtube
trailer
  
 

Limelight Magazine picks Wozzeck as one of the "Top Shows of 2019"
Opera Australia's production was conducted by Andrea Molino
 
Limelight, Australia's Classical Music and Arts Magazine, has picked Opera Australia's production of Berg's Wozzeck as one of the "Top Shows of 2019". The distinction is addressed especially to William Kentridge for his direction, Michael Honeyman for the title role, and to Andrea Molino who conducted the Opera Australia Orchestra: "Not only was it dazzling visually with its ever-changing projections, but it was pretty stunning musically too, with [...] conductor Andrea Molino uniting the disturbing dissonance and moments of lush beauty in a powerful reading of the complex, unsettling score."

The co-production between Opera Australia, the Metropolitan Opera, the Salzburg Festival and the Canadian Opera Company in association with the Sydney Festival premiered in the Sydney Opera House in January, 2019, and already then, Limelight's review was clear: "A stunning production, visually and musically, that tips you into a nightmarish world, though the emotion is  sometimes overwhelmed."


more reviews

Andrea Molino debutes with the Orchestre National de Lyon
New Year's Eve at Lyon: Offenbach en fête
 
Andrea Molino will start into the New Year with a series of four concerts, featuring a new collaboration: he will conduct the New Year's Concert with the Orchestre National de Lyon at the great hall of Lyon's Auditorium Maurice Ravel. This is also the starting point for a further cooperation with the orchestra which will continue in 2020.
 
The concert focusses on the Offenbarch bicentenary in 2020. On the program: a compilation of extracts from Offenbach's operettas, as sparkling as it should be for a New Year's Eve.
 
And sparkling also because of the contributing singers: sopranos Véronique Gens and Measha Brueggergosman together with tenor Jean-Paul Fouchécourt in the roles of Venus, Hoffmann or the Baron de Gondremarck among others, in a semi-staged direction by Romain Gilbert with light design by Fabrice Oudin.
 
 
venue: Lyon, Auditorium Maurice Ravel, Grande Salle – December 30 and 31 at 8 PM, December 29 and January 1 at 4 PM
 
 
 

HOME project: Video Trailer  
Andrea Molino creates the music for a new multi-media arts project
First Performance scheduled for autumn 2021 in Dublin 
 
HOME is an ongoing multi-media arts project that focuses on the international homeless crises. Originated by Deirdre O'Leary, created by Deirdre O'Leary, Andrea Molino and Christopher Ash and produced by Lundström Arts Management.
 
The project addresses the theme of homelessness through site specific video contributions, including from people with a lived experience of homelessness. HOME takes the form of a multi-media installation embedded in a live staged music performance.
 
HOME is scheduled to be completed and receive its first performance in Dublin in the autumn of 2021.
 
Part of the project is Andrea Molino's The Sense of the Place_Dublin music video series, recorded in Dublin in 2019, due to be published from January 2020.
 
Solo Bass Clarinet / Deirdre O'Leary 
Music / Andrea Molino 
Filmmaker / Christopher Ash
A production of Lundström Arts Management 
in collaboration with Dublin City Arts Office
 
HOME project: Video Trailer
 

 

Moscow – Tchaikovsky Concert Hall
Andrea Molino conducts Clementine Margaine's Recital
 
"Andrea Molino conducted the New Russia State Symphony Orchestra, giving the sound endless explosive vigor." That's what Maya Krylova wrote on Classical Music News about Andrea Molino's debut at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow. Under his baton, the New Russian State Symphony Orchestra has accompanied French mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine for her opera recital.
 
The program focused on French romantic repertoire, with vocal and symphonic highlights from Bizet's Carmen, Massenet's Werther and Saint-Saëns' Samson and Delilah. It also included a slight detour to Italy with Donizetti's La Favorite and, of course, has honoured the eponym of the Concert Hall, Tchaikovsky, with excerpts from The Queen of Spades and The Maid of Orléans.
 
 
venue: Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, Moscow, November 8, 7 PM
  
  
 

"Beethoven is everywhere", on Lugano's Ludwig van Festival
New post and video on Andrea Molino's RAI-Blog
 
In June, Andrea Molino curated the Ludwig van Festival, with Beethoven's Symphonies played by the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana conducted by Markus Poschner, Kagel's Ludwig van and multimedia installations at the LAC – Lugano Arte e Cultura.
 
Now Molino reflects the event in a text entitled "Beethoven is everywhere", published on his RAI-Blog -qui non 'è perché-. The core of the Festival's concept was to highlight the role of Beethoven's music and personality in contemporary perception and in the media. Molino chose to frame Beethoven's music in the context of Mauricio Kagel's intriguing project Ludwig van, realised in 1970 on the occasion of Beethoven's anniversary.
 
Together with the text, a video about the project is available, showing Andrea Molino in discussion with Denise Fedeli, the Artistic Director of the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, and with its Principal Conductor, Markus Poschner.
 
 
video
 
 

Andrea Molino curates Lugano's Ludwig van Festival
Beethoven's Symphonies, Kagel's Ludwig van
and a multimedia installation at the LAC – Lugano Arte e Cultura
 
In the framework of the Festival Ludwig van curated by Andrea Molino, five Beethoven symphonies (the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th) will be performed over the course of three concerts by the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, conducted by Markus Poschner. Two concerts will take place in the Sala Teatro LAC, the 9th Symphony will be presented as an open air event in Piazza Luini, with more than 200 choristers coming from all over the Italian part of Switzerland.
 
But the core of the Festival's concept is to highlight the role of Beethoven's music and personality in the contemporary perception and in the media. Andrea Molino has chosen to frame Beethoven’s music in the context of the intriguing project Ludwig van, realised in 1970, on the occasion of Beethoven's anniversary, by the German-Argentinian composer Mauricio Kagel. The Orchestra will perform a selection of Kagel's fragments during the Beethoven concerts, interacting with video projections. A multimedia installation, featuring Kagel's ironic and provocative film among other materials, will be displayed in the LAC foyer.
 
The makeup of this event involves several local organisations, under Molino's supervision: among others the CISA-Conservatorio Internazionale di Scienze Audiovisive in Locarno will realize all audio-visual components of the project; an Ensemble of students of the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana (CSI) will play Kagel compositions in the Hall of the Sala Teatro LAC on the nights of the performances.
 
venue: Lugano, June 7 and 8 at Sala Teatro LAC – 20:30PM and June 9, Piazza Luini – 21:00PM
 
  

Kròl Roger at Stockholm's Royal Opera
Andrea Molino conducts Swedish First Performance on March, 16
 
In May 2017, Andrea Molino was honoured with the Green Room Award for his conducting of an acclaimed production of Szymanowski's King Roger (Kròl Roger) in Sydney and Melbourne, the Australian First Performance of this opera.
 
Now he is back in the pit for another First Performance of this sumptuous opera, this time at Stockholm's Royal Opera. On March, 16, it will be premiered on the Swedish stage, directed by Polish film director Mariusz Trelinski who is surrounded by a mostly Polish team. Not astonishing since this is a co-production with Warsaw's Teatr Wielki where the Premiere took place in December, 2018. The second co-producing stage is the National Theatre, Prague.
 
As for the singers, the roles of King Roger and the Shepherd are sung by Trelinski's compatriots Lukasz Golinski and Arnold Rutkowski, who are joined by two Swedish singers: Elin Rombo as Roxane, and Niklas Björling Rygert, as Edrisi. Molino conducts the Royal Swedish Orchestra, the Royal Swedish  Choir and the Childrens’ Choir from the Adolf Fredrik’s School of Music.<
 
venue: Stockholm, Kungliga Operan, March 16, 19, 27. and April, 2, 10, 18, and 23 at 7 PM. March, 23 at 15 PM

 
reviews of the Australian First Performance

"This production is an overwhelming triumph."
Andrea Molino conducts Berg's Wozzeck at the Sydney Opera House
 
On January, 25, Andrea Molino was once more at the conductor's desk of Sydney's Joan Sutherland Theatre, this time to conduct Alban Berg's Wozzeck with staging by South African multimedia artist William Kentridge.
 
Reviewers were once more unanimously convinced: "This production is an overwhelming triumph. The conductor, Andrea Molino, understands the score so deeply that by the third scene the musical language seemed completely natural, embracing both lyricism and disjunction comfortably.", wrote Nicholas Routley (Australian Stage Online, 26.1.2019).
 
His colleague Jo Litson fully shares this opinion: "Musically, the production is also a thrilling, if challenging ride, with the orchestra rising to the occasion under the baton of the superb Andrea Molino who unites both the disturbing dissonance and moments of lush beauty in a powerful reading of the complex, unsettling score." (Limelight Magazine, 27.1.2019)
 
Opera Chaser (26.1.2019) wrote: "It’s a feast of extraordinary artistic stimulation of the highest level in a new, grandly signed William Kentridge production. Conductor Andrea Molino matches Kentridge’s gestures head on with Berg’s angular, atonal musical landscape as he sculpts an ever-present tension over the rises, falls and tumbles in the score."
 
For whoever wants to build an own opinion: the live radio broadcast of Opera Australia's production by ABC Classic is available until the end of March, 2019.
 
more reviews
radio interview with Andrea Molino (in Italian)
 
 

Andrea Molino conducts Australian Premiere of Berg's Wozzeck
Staging by South African multimedia artist William Kentridge
 
Andrea Molino will again conduct at the Sydney Opera in January/February 2019. After Kasper Holten‘s King Roger and Barrie Kosky‘s The Nose (the production was recently called "a highlight of Opera Australia’s mainstage season" in Limelight's top opera shows of 2018) Molino is again working with a major director for an important 20th century opera: on the program is the acclaimed production of Berg's Wozzeck in the staging of South African multimedia artist William Kentridge, "his most elegant and powerful operatic treatment yet", as stated by The New York Times.
 
The cast of the Australian Premiere includes baritone Michael Honeyman in the title role and Lorina Gore as Marie. Andrea Molino conducts the Opera Australia Chorus, Opera Australia Children's Chorus and the Opera Australia Orchestra.
 
The co-production between Opera Australia, the Metropolitan Opera, the Salzburg Festival and the Canadian Opera Company in association with the Sydney Festival was premiered with great success at the Salzburg Festival in 2017.
 
Kentridge sets the story in a war situation and the set design by Sabine Theunissen as well as the costumes designed by Greta Goiris are visibly inspired by his characteristic charcoal drawings.
 
The production is accompanied by a series of events. Two retrospective exhibitions will offer an insight into Kentridge's work. The Art Gallery NSW hosts an exhibition curated by the artist. Drawings, sculpture, woodcuts, kinetic theatre installation and rare vintage works can be seen at the Annandale Galleries.
 
And finally Opera Australia's Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini is in conversation with the artist on January 22 at 7:30 PM in the Joan Sutherland Theatre.

The live recording of Wozzeck from the Sydney Opera House will be broadcast by ABC Classics FM on Saturday, February 24, at 7 PM.
 
venue: Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House
January 25 and 30, February 6, 9, 12 and 15 at 7:30 PM
February 2 at 1:00 PM
 
 
 

Andrea Molino conducts Carmen in Xi'an, China
Premiere of a new production at the Shaanxi Opera House
 
Carmen is not only Bizet's best-known work but it is also at the top of the most performed operas worldwide. Andrea Molino has conducted the work on several occasions, including the premieres of the new productions by John Bell at the Sydney Opera House for Opera Australia in June, 2016 and by Jean-Louis Grinda at the Théâtre du Capitole at Toulouse in April, 2018.
 
Andrea Molino will now conduct the Xi'an Symphony Orchestra Chorus and the Xi'an Symphony Orchestra in a new production by Charles Roubaud at the Shaanxi Opera House in Xi'an (central China) with stage design by Emmanuelle Favre and costumes by Cui XiaoDong. On the stage an international cast including Jolana Fogasova (Carmen), Francesco Pio Galasso (Don José), Zoltan Nagy (Escamillo) and Ruth Rosique (Micaëla).
 
venue: Shaanxi Opera House in the Shaanxi Performing Arts Centre,  October 26 and 28
 
 

Andrea Molino conducts Il Turco in Italia
Reviews of the reprise at the Sydney Opera House
 
In August, Andrea Molino returned to the Sydney Opera House for the reprise of the acclaimed 2014 production by Simon Phillips of Rossini's Il Turco in Italia. The 2018 reviews for the reprise are just as impressive as those of the premiere.
 
"The orchestra, led by Andrea Molino, plays with as much joie de vivre as the performers on stage. Together they make this almost silly, yet musically stretching opera, a frivolous musical romp that lifts the spirits and makes life seem a lot brighter," wrote Carol Wimmers (Stage Whispers, 12.8.2018). Angus McPherson (Limelight Magazine, 11.8.2018) stated that "Chorus and orchestra are both in top form under the baton of Andrea Molino...". Bill Stephens (Arts Reviews, 13.8.2018) thought that "...The music is certainly attractive, especially when given the sparkling performance it received on this occasion by the Opera Australia Orchestra under Andrea Molino."
 
Others spoke of the "...tasteful and stylish conducting of Andrea Molino..." (Zoltán Zsabó, Bachtrack, 13.8.2018) and said that "Australian Opera Chorus and Opera Australia Orchestra were both in fine form under the clear and expressive direction of Andrea Molino." (David Barmby, ArtsHub, 14.8.2018)
 
more reviews
 
 

Andrea Molino conducts Rossini at the Sydney Opera House
Reprise of the acclaimed 2014 production of Il Turco in Italia
 
"She's flirtatious, audacious and unspeakably bored. He's geriatric, sycophantic and easily ignored. Add a handsome prince, a gypsy minx, and a poet in need of a plot. Put this classic Rossini in vintage bikinis and a rollicking good time we've got!" That's how Opera Australia announces the reprise of its 2014 production of Rossini's Il Turco in Italia (The Turk in Italy) – the Australian First Performance.
 
Andrea Molino conducted this premiere in Sydney with great success: "It is musically superb. The Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra under the wickedly delightful and exuberant conducting of maestro Andrea Molino is in fine form…", stated Lynne Lancaster (Sydney Arts Guide, 2.2.2014).
 
For the reprise, Molino returns to the Joan Sutherland Theatre, conducting all of the eight performances. The acclaimed production directed by Simon Phillips is, of course, unaltered, and Molino conducts, as for the premiere, the Opera Australia Orchestra and the Opera Australia Chorus. Paolo Bordogna is back in Sydney as the Turk Selim and leads an outstanding cast.
 
Venue: Sydney, Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House
August 10, 15, 23, 25, 28, 30 and September, 1 at 7:30 PM – August 18 at 12:30 PM
 
more information
reviews of the premiere
trailer video
interview with Simon Phillips (director)
 
 
 

Andrea Molino conducts Mahler, Messiaen and Strauss
Reviews of the concert with Thomas Hampson and the MSO

Andrea Molino returned to Australia for a sumptuous concert with Thomas Hampson and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at Melbourne's Hamer Hall and a second performance the next day at Geelong's Costa Hall. On the program: Mahler's Totenfeier and his Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, sung by Thomas Hampson, Messiaen's Le Tombeau Resplendissant and Tod und Verklärung by Richard Strauss.
 
"It was a night to remember", wrote Ron Jontof-Hutter (J-Wire). "Maestro Andrea Molino conducted with conviction bringing out the vast colours of Mahler’s tonal palette… (and) brought out the best with excellent knowledge of the scores, clear conducting, great attention to detail in dynamics and accurate phrasing."
 
And Paul Selar (OperaChaser) wrote that "…it was especially rewarding to see Andrea Molino conducting with a clear sense of poetry and purpose for tonight's Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert."
 
more reviews
Molino about the program