Italian tenor Francesco Meli will be arriving in Israel to perform in one concert only, on May 29, 2021 at the Israeli Opera. An initiative of the Italian embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute, the concert will mark Italy’s Republic Day.
Meli will perform arias and duets from popular operas as well as favorite Italian songs, accompanied by the award-winning Italian pianist Davide Cavalli, and special guest Israeli Opera soloist Veronika Brook. Works to be performed include: Nemorino’s aria Una furtiva lagrima, from L’elisir d’amore by Gaetano Donizetti, which he sings when he believes that the love potion, the elixir he has bought, is working; E lucevan le stelle, an aria sung in the third act of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca, by Mario Cavaradossa as he awaits his execution; and songs by Francesco Paolo Tosti and Ruggiero Leoncavallo. Veronika Brook will join Francesco Meli for two duets of Violetta and Alfredo from Guiseppe Verdi’s La Traviata.
Meli was born in Genoa in 1980, and began his music studies at age 17. He debuted in 2002, performing in Macbeth, the Petite Messe Solennelle, and in Puccini’s Messa di gloria at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto. The young tenor made his debut at La Scala at age 23 in Les Dialogues des Carmelites, conducted by Maestro Riccardo Muti, and since then has returned to perform in many operas, including Otello, Idomeneo, and Don Giovanni. Meli had just been about to take the stage at La Scala once more, in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, when La Scala announced on February 23, 2020, that due to the pandemic, they were closing the theatre.
Over the past year, performers and audiences alike have yearned for the return of live concert performances, and it is a pleasure to see a performer of Meli’s international stature come to perform in Israel.
Francesco Meli at the Israeli Opera
Saturday, May 29, 2021 at 21:00. Ticket prices are 190/280/350, and may be ordered online from the Israeli Opera: www.israel-opera.co.il; or call: 03-692777.
