Four Seasons, Viva Verdi

Four Seasons, choreographed by Agnese Omodei Salé and Federico Veratti, music by Giuseppe Verdi from the opera I Vespri Siciliani, Balletto di Milano. Shot on 9.5.2015, Jõhvi Ballet Festival 2015.

Cast

• Winter- Angelica Gismondo, Federico Mella
• Spring – Alessandro Orlando, Alessandro Torrielli, Giordana Roberto
• Summer- Alessia Campidori, Simone Maier
• Fall – Federico Veratti, Martina Bezzi
• Dio Giano – Federico Veratti

Four Seasons is one-act ballet, choreographed by Agnese Omodei Salé and Federico Veratti, music by Giuseppe Verdi from the opera I Vespri Siciliani.

Giuseppe Verdi, 1813 – 1901, was an Italian Romantic composer primarily known for his operas. He is considered, with Richard Wagner, the preeminent opera composer of the 19th century. Verdi dominated the Italian opera scene after the eras of Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini. His works are frequently performed in opera houses throughout the world and, transcending the boundaries of the genre, some of his themes have long since taken root in popular culture.

Les vêpres siciliennes (I Vespri Siciliani, The Sicilian Vespers) is a grand opéra in five acts by the Italian romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi set to a French libretto by Eugène Scribe and Charles Duveyrier from their work Le duc ‘Albe, which was written in 1838. Les vêpres followed immediately after Verdi’s three great mid-career masterpieces, Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata of 1850 to 1853 and was first performed at the Paris Opéra on 13 June 1855. An Italian libretto was quickly prepared under Verdi’s supervision by the poet Ettore Caimi. After 1861, in the post-unification era, the opera reverted to its translated Italian title, I Vespri Siciliani and it is under that title and in that version that the opera is most frequently performed today. Today it is better-known in its post-1861 Italian version as I vespri siciliani and it is occasionally performed. The story is based on a historical event, the Sicilian Vespers of 1282, using material drawn from the medieval Sicilian tract Lu rebellamentu di Sichilia.

Photos by Jack Devant Ballet Photography with kind permission of the Teatro di Milano and Jõhvi Ballet Festival, special thanks to Piia Tamm and Urmi Püve.