Month: June 2022

The Monte-Carlo Opera and the Prince’s Musicians are heading to Vienna after being invited for the first time to be part of the Rossini Mania Festival at the Vienna State Opera House.

The Rossini Mania Festival, running from 28^th June to 8^th July, will feature three major musical events from Gioachino Rossini by the Monte-Carlo Opera and the Prince’s Musicians, namely productions of La Cenerentola, Il Turco in Italy and a Lyrical Gala as a finale benefitting the World Association of Children’s Friends (AMADE), the association dedicated to child protection that has been active in the Principality since 1966.

The first performance on 28th June will be La Cenerentola, the tale inspired by Cinderella, where a young woman is forced to be servant to her mean stepfather and horrid step-sisters. When the local prince, Ramiro, decides to go house to house to find a bride, the beautiful Cenerentola captivates him, but it isn’t until he meets her again at a ball that he falls in love. When she disappears from the ball, he searches for her, finding her back at home in her servant’s rags, and takes her away to become his Princess, leaving behind her miserable family forever.

The Choir of the Monte-Carlo Opera and Prince’s Musicians will both be on stage along with Edgardo Rocha, Nicola Alaimo, Pietro Spagnoli, Rebeca Olvera, Rosa Bove, Cecilia Bartoli, and José Coca Loza,

Next up, from the 3rd to 7th July, is Il Turco in Italy, a comic opera that first debuted at La Scala in 1814. The opera was influenced by Mozart’s Così fan tutte, which was performed at the same theatre shortly before Rossini’s work. The odd harmonization of the overture, though infrequently recorded, is one of the best examples of Rossini’s characteristic style. A long introduction moves on to an extended horn solo with full orchestral accompaniment, before giving way to a lively, purely comic main theme involving gypsies and a poet looking for a story to tell.

This night features also performances by the Choir of the Monte-Carlo Opera and Prince’s Musicians who are part of the evening with Ildebrando D’Arcangelo, Cecilia Bartoli, Nicola Alaimo, Barry Banks, José Maria Lo Monaco, David Astorga, and Giovanni Romeo.

Rounding out the festival is the Gala, benefiting charitable organization AMADE. The night is sure to be magic, as the Prince’s Musicians will be sharing the stage with opera star Cecilia Bartoli, who will be debuting at the State Opera, alongside perennial favourite tenor Placido Domingo and Levy Sekgapane, Alessandro Corbelli, Nicola Alaimo, Varduhi Abrahamyan, Ildebrando D’Arcangelo, Rosa Bove, Rolando Villazón, and Edgardo Rocha.

A new migratory bird has found its way to the Japanese Garden in Monaco, discovered almost by accident during a yearly reptile and amphibian check.

There’s a new bird in town! Called the little bittern, or Ixobrychus minutus for budding ornithologists, it is considered the smallest heron in Europe… and one of the cutest. It ranges from 33 to 38 centimetres high, has a wingspan of 52 to 58 centimetres, and is characterised by its long, sharp beak and thickset neck.

The male has black plumage with a greenish tinge from the top of its head to the top of the tail. The sides of its head and neck are a pale yellow and it has two barely noticeable white stripes.

The female has a black cap with brown edges. Its back and shoulders are a rich chocolate brown with yellow borders. The neck displays markings in brown as well and the flanks are streaked with dark brown.

It was spotted during a routine check by the Department of the Environment in late May of amphibians and reptiles in the Japanese Garden, and is the first time it has ever been observed in the Principality.

Despite being new to Monaco, the bird is not uncommon in the region, as it migrates up from Africa for the summer months, before heading back to warmer climes for winter.

Its arrival, and subsequent decision to stay put in the Japanese Garden, is being chalked up to the humidity levels coupled with the abundance of food available. The little bittern eats insects and frogs, of which there are plenty in the garden. Additionally, as the gardens are closed at night, the bird can get the privacy it needs to rest and hunt.

The little bittern is widespread throughout southern and central Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. The studies carried out on this species show a very strong drop in numbers throughout Europe due to the disappearance or modification of their habitats and traditional staging grounds. A threatened species at the European level, it has been listed in Annex 1 of the European Bird Directive.

Photo of the Little Bittern – Ixobrychus minutus, source: Shutterstock