This week the Rossini Opera Festival is set to open with a new production of one of the composer’s lesser-known works, “Bianca e Falliero.” The work has been presented at the festival before famously in 1986 and is considered very difficult to sing due to the intensity of its coloratura writing. The new production will include some very important Rossini artists including Aya Wakizono, one of today’s rising stars dedicated to the Bel Canto reperotire.
She made her Rossini Opera debut in 2014 in “Il viaggio a Reims” and followed that with Concerts in 2016, “La pietra del paragone” in 2017, “Il barbiere di Siviglia” in 2018 and 2020, and Tra rondò e tournedos in 2022. Now she gets to extend her Rossini muscle in the high profile “Bianca e Falliero,” which opens the season. Of her work in the Rossini repertory she has been acclaimed with critics stating, “she commanded the stage with her warm, intense and velvety voice, technically flawless agilità” and “ her performances are full of personality.
” Regarding her upcoming role, Wakizono said “His music is full of genius like the great Master, absolutely inspiring, and it is so beautiful that I often want to cry when I sing and listen to it.” For those not in Pesaro for the performances of “Bianca e Falliero,” the opera will be broadcast on Rai5. Wakizono will also head to Palermo for another Rossini rarity “Elisabetta, Regina d’Inghil d’Inghilterra.
” Recordings For those who want.