The colossal Roman-era Verona Arena amphitheater remains an imposing presence in the northern Italian city's main piazza, but its place in the opera world has waned in recent years.
The popular Verona Arena summer festival has lost both audience and prestige and nearly closed two seasons ago under a mountain of debt. Now the artists and public who have sustained it are putting their hopes for a relaunch in the hands of a former opera singer who this year became the first to run an Italian lyric theater.
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The new general manager and artistic director of the Verona Arena, Cecilia Gasdia, talks during an interview with the Associated Press ahead of the season premiere of Rossini’s ‘’Barbiere di Siviglia’’ at the Verona Arena, in Verona, Northern Italy, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018. After the colossal Roman-era Verona Arena amphitheater lost audience and prestige, nearly closing two seasons ago under a mountain of debt, artists and public that have sustained it are putting hopes for a relaunch former singer Gasdia, in her first season as general manager(AP PhotoMartino Masotto)
The new general manager and artistic director of the Verona Arena, Cecilia Gasdia, 57, talks during an interview with the Associated Press ahead of the season premiere of Rossini’s ‘’Barbiere di Siviglia’’ at the Verona Arena, in Verona, Northern Italy, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018. After the colossal Roman-era Verona Arena amphitheater lost audience and prestige, nearly closing two seasons ago under a mountain of debt, artists and public that have sustained it are putting hopes for a relaunch Cecilia Gasdia, in her first season as general manager(AP PhotoMartino Masotto)
The colossal Roman-era Verona Arena amphitheater remains an imposing presence in the northern Italian city's main piazza, but its place in the opera world has waned in recent years.
For her inaugural season as general manager, Gasdia has used her connections in the singing world to secure top voices with the aim of boosting ticket sales in the 13,500-seat amphitheater, the biggest open-air opera theater in the world, which in recent years has seen audiences plunge. Her next goal: balancing the budget.
Gasdia also coaxed back Leo Nucci, one of Italy's most renown baritones, who had announced last year at 75 he had sung his last aria in the Verona Arena, reprising one of his signature roles, "Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville)."
Gasdia said she is seeing results at the box office, although she won't discuss numbers until after the season closes later this month.
The Verona summer festival still remains popular with foreign tourists, who are responsible for about half of its ticket sales. But they often book packages not based on who is singing but on the ancient backdrop, the popular Italian repertoire including mainstays "Aida" and "Nabucco," and the impressive, imposing scenery that is lifted in and out of the Arena by crane in the wee hours of the morning.
A recent performance of "Aida" had a swathe of empty seats in the pricey orchestra section, but Gasdia's bet on Nucci seemed to pay off. The Arena was nearly packed and the crowd thrilled at his trademark encore of "Figaro" during the performance and its closing fireworks display.
The new general manager and artistic director of the Verona Arena, Cecilia Gasdia, talks during an interview with the Associated Press ahead of the season premiere of Rossini’s ‘’Barbiere di Siviglia’’ at the Verona Arena, in Verona, Northern Italy, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018. After the colossal Roman-era Verona Arena amphitheater lost audience and prestige, nearly closing two seasons ago under a mountain of debt, artists and public that have sustained it are putting hopes for a relaunch former singer Gasdia, in her first season as general manager(AP PhotoMartino Masotto)
The new general manager and artistic director of the Verona Arena, Cecilia Gasdia, 57, talks during an interview with the Associated Press ahead of the season premiere of Rossini’s ‘’Barbiere di Siviglia’’ at the Verona Arena, in Verona, Northern Italy, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018. After the colossal Roman-era Verona Arena amphitheater lost audience and prestige, nearly closing two seasons ago under a mountain of debt, artists and public that have sustained it are putting hopes for a relaunch Cecilia Gasdia, in her first season as general manager(AP PhotoMartino Masotto)
Soprano Cecilia Gasdia, a 57-year-old Verona native who has appeared on the Arena stage as an extra, a chorus member and a star, inherited a troubled festival that has struggled for years.
Spectators watch Rossini’s ‘’Barbiere di Siviglia’’ at the Verona Arena, in Verona, Northern Italy, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018. After the colossal Roman-era Verona Arena amphitheater lost audience and prestige, nearly closing two seasons ago under a mountain of debt, artists and public that have sustained it are putting hopes for a relaunch in 57-year-old former singer Cecilia Gasdia, in her first season as general manager. (AP PhotoMartino Masotto)
For her inaugural season as general manager, Gasdia has used her connections in the singing world to secure top voices with the aim of boosting ticket sales in the 13,500-seat amphitheater, the biggest open-air opera theater in the world, which in recent years has seen audiences plunge. Her next goal: balancing the budget.
"I know the whole opera world and the singers have all helped me. From February and March, I worked day and night to convince them," Gasdia said, adding that many singers also agreed to take a cut in their usual fees for this season.
With short notice, Gasdia booked Russian mezzo-soprano Anna Goryachova as Carmen opposite Arena newcomer American tenor Brian Jagde as Don Jose, sharing the role with Italian tenor Francesco Meli.
Israeli conductor Daniel Oren talks during an interview with the Associated Press in the back backstage of Rossini’s ‘’Barbiere di Siviglia’’ at the Verona Arena, in Verona, Northern Italy, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018. After the colossal Roman-era Verona Arena amphitheater lost audience and prestige, nearly closing two seasons ago under a mountain of debt, artists and public that have sustained it are putting hopes for a relaunch in 57-year-old former singer Cecilia Gasdia, in her first season as general manager. (AP PhotoMartino Masotto)
Gasdia also coaxed back Leo Nucci, one of Italy's most renown baritones, who had announced last year at 75 he had sung his last aria in the Verona Arena, reprising one of his signature roles, "Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville)."
"We singers are a bit like sailors, we make worthless promises! But the reality is, that if it weren't for Cecilia Gasdia, with whom I sang 'Il Barbiere di Siviglia' in 1996, I wouldn't be here," Nucci said backstage at the Aug. 4 season premiere of that opera. "I did it because Cecilia convinced me."
For next season, she secured Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, who will make her Arena debut with her husband, Azerbaijani tenor Yusif Eyvazov, in three performances of Franco Zeffirelli's production of "Il Trovatore (The Troubadour)."
Italian baritone Leo Nucci bows after singing the title role in Rossini’s ‘’Barbiere di Siviglia’’ at the Verona Arena, in Verona, Northern Italy, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018. After the colossal Roman-era Verona Arena amphitheater lost audience and prestige, nearly closing two seasons ago under a mountain of debt, artists and public that have sustained it are putting hopes for a relaunch in 57-year-old former singer Cecilia Gasdia, in her first season as general manager. (AP PhotoMartino Masotto)
Gasdia said she is seeing results at the box office, although she won't discuss numbers until after the season closes later this month.
"Ticket sales are a consequence of what we propose on the stage. We will be happy if all the great singers want to return to sing at the Arena of Verona, as many did in the past, when this theater was a destination for many," she said. "It was considered a bit like La Scala, the summer-time La Scala. That would be the most beautiful thing for me, if that was to be the case again."
There is no question that the Arena, which has hosted such opera stars as Maria Callas and Luciano Pavarotti, had fallen from its former glory. The average attendance last season was just over 50 percent capacity, down from two-thirds capacity just seven years earlier in 2010, according to the Italian society of authors and publishers that keeps entertainment statistics.
Italian baritone Leo Nucci, third from left, waves at the crowd after singing the title role in Rossini’s ‘’Barbiere di Siviglia’’ at the Verona Arena, in Verona, Northern Italy, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018. After the colossal Roman-era Verona Arena amphitheater lost audience and prestige, nearly closing two seasons ago under a mountain of debt, artists and public that have sustained it are putting hopes for a relaunch in 57-year-old former singer Cecilia Gasdia, in her first season as general manager. (AP PhotoMartino Masotto)
The Verona summer festival still remains popular with foreign tourists, who are responsible for about half of its ticket sales. But they often book packages not based on who is singing but on the ancient backdrop, the popular Italian repertoire including mainstays "Aida" and "Nabucco," and the impressive, imposing scenery that is lifted in and out of the Arena by crane in the wee hours of the morning.
Israeli conductor Daniel Oren has been conducting at the Arena since 1984, a period he said when tickets were impossible to find.
"The Arena is very sad when it is partly empty. Even if there are 9,000 people, it's like a funeral for us artists. And for the business, it is also a funeral," he said.
Fireworks explode during the finale of Rossini’s ‘’Barbiere di Siviglia’’ at the Verona Arena, in Verona, Northern Italy, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018. After the colossal Roman-era Verona Arena amphitheater lost audience and prestige, nearly closing two seasons ago under a mountain of debt, artists and public that have sustained it are putting hopes for a relaunch in 57-year-old former singer Cecilia Gasdia, in her first season as general manager. (AP PhotoMartino Masotto)
A recent performance of "Aida" had a swathe of empty seats in the pricey orchestra section, but Gasdia's bet on Nucci seemed to pay off. The Arena was nearly packed and the crowd thrilled at his trademark encore of "Figaro" during the performance and its closing fireworks display.
"Truly Gasdia, with her capacity, will succeed in making the theater great again," said Oren. "She is our great hope. Finally, we have a musician and a singer who knows voices. And thanks to this, I believe she will bring back the big audiences to the Arena, which we have lost."
Israeli conductor Daniel Oren acknowledges the crowd at the end of Rossini’s ‘’Barbiere di Siviglia’’ at the Verona Arena, in Verona, Northern Italy, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018. After the colossal Roman-era Verona Arena amphitheater lost audience and prestige, nearly closing two seasons ago under a mountain of debt, artists and public that have sustained it are putting hopes for a relaunch in 57-year-old former singer Cecilia Gasdia, in her first season as general manager (AP PhotoMartino Masotto)
The new general manager and artistic director of the Verona Arena, Cecilia Gasdia, talks during an interview with the Associated Press ahead of the season premiere of Rossini’s ‘’Barbiere di Siviglia’’ at the Verona Arena, in Verona, Northern Italy, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018. After the colossal Roman-era Verona Arena amphitheater lost audience and prestige, nearly closing two seasons ago under a mountain of debt, artists and public that have sustained it are putting hopes for a relaunch former singer Gasdia, in her first season as general manager(AP PhotoMartino Masotto)
The new general manager and artistic director of the Verona Arena, Cecilia Gasdia, 57, talks during an interview with the Associated Press ahead of the season premiere of Rossini’s ‘’Barbiere di Siviglia’’ at the Verona Arena, in Verona, Northern Italy, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018. After the colossal Roman-era Verona Arena amphitheater lost audience and prestige, nearly closing two seasons ago under a mountain of debt, artists and public that have sustained it are putting hopes for a relaunch Cecilia Gasdia, in her first season as general manager(AP PhotoMartino Masotto)
PARIS (AP) —
Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem captured this year’s prestigious World Press Photo of the Year award Thursday with a depiction of loss and sorrow in Gaza, a heartrending photo of a Palestinian woman cradling the body of her young niece. The photograph, taken in Khan Younis just days after Salem’s own child was born, shows 36-year-old Inas Abu Maamar holding five-year-old Saly, who was killed along with her mother and sister when an Israeli missile struck their home.
Salem, who is Palestinian, described this photo filed Nov. 2 last year, as a “powerful and sad moment that sums up the broader sense of what was happening in the Gaza Strip.”
The image ”truly encapsulates this sense of impact,” said global jury chair Fiona Shields, The Guardian newspaper's head of photography. “It is incredibly moving to view and at the same time an argument for peace, which is extremely powerful when peace can sometimes feel like an unlikely fantasy,” she added.
The World Press Photo jury praised the shot’s sense of care and respect and its offering of a “metaphorical and literal glimpse into unimaginable loss.”
This is not the first time Salem has been recognized for his work on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; he received a World Press Photo award more than a decade ago for another depiction of the human toll of conflict in the Gaza strip.
In the three other global categories announced Thursday, South Africa’s Lee-Ann Olwage won Photo Story of the Year for her touching series “Valim-babena,” featured in GEO magazine. The project focused on the stigmatization of dementia in Madagascar, a topic she explored through intimate portraits of “Dada Paul” and his family. Lack of public awareness surrounding dementia means that people displaying symptoms of memory loss are often stigmatized.
In the series, “Dada Paul,” who has lived with dementia for 11 years, is tenderly cared for by his daughter Fara. One of the standout images in the series shows him preparing for church with his granddaughter Odliatemix, capturing moments of normalcy and warmth amidst the challenges of dementia.
Photographer Alejandro Cegarra, a Venezuelan native who migrated to Mexico in 2017, won the Long-Term Project award for “The Two Walls,” published by The New York Times and Bloomberg. Cegarra’s project, initiated in 2018, examines a shift in Mexico’s immigration policies, which have moved from being historically open to enforcing strict regulations at its southern border. The jury said the photographer's perspective as a migrant gave it a “sensitive," human-centered perspective, according to a press release.
Julia Kochetova of Ukraine won the Open Format award for “War Is Personal.” The project stood out from coverage of the ongoing conflict by offering a personal look at the harsh realities of war. On a dedicated website, she merged traditional photojournalism with a diary-like documentary style, incorporating photography, poetry, audio clips and music.
The Associated Press won the Open Format award in the regional Africa category with the multimedia story “Adrift,” created by journalists Renata Brito and Felipe Dana. The story investigates the fate of West African migrants who attempted to reach Europe via a treacherous Atlantic route but ended up on a ghost ship discovered off Tobago. The team’s compelling use of photography, cinematography and detailed narrative, enhanced by expert design and multimedia elements, highlights the perils faced by migrants and the human stories behind global migration issues.
The Associated Press' Ebrahim Noroozi won the Asia Stories award for his series “Afghanistan on the Edge,” which documents the country since the Taliban took over in August 2021.
World Press Photo is an independent, nonprofit organization based in the Netherlands, founded in 1955.
This image provided by World Press Photo is part of a series titled Afghanistan on the Edge by Ebrahim Noroozi, Associated Press, which won the World Press Photo Asia Series category and showsAn Afghan refugee rests in the desert next to a camp near the Torkham Pakistan-Afghanistan border, in Torkham, Afghanistan, Friday, Nov. 17, 2023. A huge number of Afghans refugees entered the Torkham border to return home hours before the expiration of a Pakistani government deadline for those who are in the country illegally to leave or face deportation. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
This image provided by World Press Photo is part of a series titled Afghanistan on the Edge by Ebrahim Noroozi, Associated Press, which won the World Press Photo Asia Series category and shows : Since the chaotic Taliban takeover of Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021, an already war-devastated economy once kept alive by international donations alone is now on the verge of collapse. There isn't enough money for hospitals. The World Health Organization is warning of millions of children suffering malnutrition, and the U.N. says 97% of Afghans will soon be living below the poverty line. Three Afghan internally displaced children look with surprise at an apple that their mother brought home after begging, in a camp on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Feb 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
This image provided by World Press Photo is part of a multimedia project by Associated Press' Renata Brito and Felipe Dana titled Adrift, won the World Press Photo Africa Regional Winner Open Format category and shows a mortuary technician opening the door of a refrigerator used to store the remains of migrants recovered from inside the Mauritania boat that appeared drifting near the island of Tobago, in Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. In May 2021 a boat from Mauritania full of dead men was found off the coast of the Caribbean Island of Tobago. Who were these men and why were they on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean? Two visual journalists sought answers, uncovering a story about migrants from West Africa who seek opportunity in Europe via an increasingly popular but treacherous Atlantic route. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
This image provided by World Press Photo is part of a multimedia project by Associated Press' Renata Brito and Felipe Dana titled Adrift, won the World Press Photo Africa Regional Winner Open Format category and shows young fishermen walk into the ocean to board an artisanal fishing boat in Nouakchott, Mauritania, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021. In May 2021 a boat from Mauritania full of dead men was found off the coast of the Caribbean Island of Tobago. Who were these men and why were they on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean? Two visual journalists sought answers, uncovering a story about migrants from West Africa who seek opportunity in Europe via an increasingly popular but treacherous Atlantic route. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
This image provided by World Press Photo is part of a multimedia project by Associated Press' Renata Brito and Felipe Dana titled Adrift, won the World Press Photo Africa Regional Winner Open Format category and shows Moussa Sako, an asylum-seeker from Mali, who survived 22 days aboard a Mauritanian boat drifting in the Atlantic Ocean covers his face during an interview with the Associated Press in Guadalajara, Spain, Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021. In May 2021 a boat from Mauritania full of dead men was found off the coast of the Caribbean Island of Tobago. Who were these men and why were they on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean? Two visual journalists sought answers, uncovering a story about migrants from West Africa who seek opportunity in Europe via an increasingly popular but treacherous Atlantic route. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
This image provided by World Press Photo and taken by Julia Kochetova is part of a series titled War is Personal which won the World Press Photo Open Format Award. Amidst tens of thousands of civilian and military casualties and an effective stalemate that has lasted for months, there are no signs of peace on the horizon for Russia's war in Ukraine. While news media updates its audience with statistics and maps, and international attention drifts elsewhere, the photographer has created a personal website that brings together photojournalism with the personal documentary style of a diary to show the world what it is like to live with war as an everyday reality. (Julia Kochetova/World Press Photo via AP)
This image provided by World Press Photo and taken by Julia Kochetova is part of a series titled War is Personal which won the World Press Photo Open Format Award and shows a stabilization point near Bakhmut, Ukraine, of the 5th assault brigade and 77th brigade. Hospitalliers battalion - volunteer battalion of combat medics are helping here. Amidst tens of thousands of civilian and military casualties and an effective stalemate that has lasted for months, there are no signs of peace on the horizon for Russia's war in Ukraine. While news media updates its audience with statistics and maps, and international attention drifts elsewhere, the photographer has created a personal website that brings together photojournalism with the personal documentary style of a diary to show the world what it is like to live with war as an everyday reality. (Julia Kochetova/Der Spiegel/World Press Photo via AP)
This image provided by World Press Photo and taken by Julia Kochetova is part of a series titled War is Personal which won the World Press Photo Open Format Award and shows the training of mobilized conscripts of 68th brigade in Donetsk region, not far from frontline. 68th brigade recently liberated Blagodatne village during the Ukrainian counter-offensive. The instructors came from US, working for NGO "Saber".Amidst tens of thousands of civilian and military casualties and an effective stalemate that has lasted for months, there are no signs of peace on the horizon for Russia's war in Ukraine. While news media updates its audience with statistics and maps, and international attention drifts elsewhere, the photographer has created a personal website that brings together photojournalism with the personal documentary style of a diary to show the world what it is like to live with war as an everyday reality. (Julia Kochetova/Der Spiegel/World Press Photo via AP)
This image provided by World Press Photo and taken by Alejandro Cegarra for The New Times/Bloomberg is part of a series titled The Two Walls which won the World Press Photo Long-Term Project Award and shows Carlos Mendoza, a Venezuelan migrant, crossing the Rio Grande river to seek asylum in the United States. Piedras Negras, Mexico, 7 October 2023. (Alejandro Cegarra/The New York Times/Bloomberg/World Press Photo via AP)
This image provided by World Press Photo and taken by Alejandro Cegarra for The New Times/Bloomberg is part of a series titled The Two Walls which won the World Press Photo Long-Term Project Award and shows a migrant walking atop a freight train known as "The Beast." Migrants and asylum seekers lacking the financial resources to pay a smuggler often resort to using cargo trains to reach the United States border. This mode of transportation is very dangerous; over the years, hundreds have fallen onto the tracks and have been killed or maimed. Piedras Negras, Mexico, 8 October 2023. (Alejandro Cegarra/The New York Times/Bloomberg/World Press Photo via AP)
This image provided by World Press Photo and taken by Lee-Ann Olwage for GEO is part of a series titled Valim-babena which won the World Press Photo Story of the Year Award and shows Dada Paul Rakotazandriny (91), who is living with dementia, and his granddaughter, Odliatemix Rafaraniriana (5), get ready for church on Sunday morning at his home in Antananarivo, Madagascar. 12 March 2023. (Lee-Ann Olwage/Geo/World Press Photo via AP)
This image provided by World Press Photo and taken by Lee-Ann Olwage for GEO is part of a series titled Valim-babena which won the World Press Photo Story of the Year Award and shows Joeline (Fara) Rafaraniriana (41) watches her father, Dada Paul Rakotazandriny (91) clean fish at home on Sunday afternoon. A typical Sunday consists of the family attending church in the morning and spending time together in the afternoon. Fara works during the week and as the sole provider and carer for her daughter and father struggles to manage all her responsibilities in the absence of assistance by her siblings who live close by. Mandrosoa Ivato, Antananarivo, Madagascar. 12 March 2023. (Lee-Ann Olwage/Geo/World Press Photo via AP)
This image provided by World Press Photo and taken by Mohammed Salem of the Reuters news agency won the World Press Photo Award of the Year and shows Palestinian woman Inas Abu Maamar, 36, embracing the body of her 5-year-old niece Saly, who was killed in an Israeli strike, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 17, 2023. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters/World Press Photo via AP)
