Every year, Spoleto hosts an event that has been a highlight for opera lovers and theatre enthusiasts in general for decades. The city is preparing to host another festival that makes it famous throughout the world: the Opera Season of the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale Spoleto.
The opera season is held in Spoleto thanks to the Istituzione Teatro Lirico Sperimentale A.Belli, which has been operating since 1947.
Founded by Adriano Belli, for 73 years the institution has had the honourable and prestigious aim of launching the most promising young talents on the world stage into a professional career in opera. The experiment brings together all aspiring artists who have completed their vocal training and are yet to make their debut on the most important stages.
This is where the Spoleto Opera Competition, recognised as one of the world's leading competitions, comes in, organising a two-year course where artists can perfect their training, enriching it with knowledge that school does not provide. In this sense, the training is not limited to the process of preparing the works but also, and above all, to the gesture. The meticulous organisation of the Spoleto opera course provides for the entire activity to be developed in three phases each year. The European Community Competition for Young Opera Singers usually takes place in March.
Candidates from all over the Old Continent compete artistically, submitting themselves to the final judgement of a select international jury called upon to choose the winners. The next phase, lasting five months, includes preparatory courses for the debut, with lessons in diction, mime, acting and vocal training. The students then study the roles chosen by the Artistic Director for their eagerly awaited debut.
The Spoleto Experimental Opera Season in September is therefore the perfect culmination of the entire artistic journey.
Experimental Opera Theatre The undisputed star of opera in Spoleto, the “A. Belli” Experimental Opera Theatre has an incredible history of success and recognition behind it. Most of the stars in this sought-after singing sector saw their debuts come to fruition by participating in and winning the competition.
To name just a few of the artists mentioned above, the following participated in Spoleto's Experimental Opera Season:
Giangiacomo Guelfi
Ettore Bastianini
Anna Moffo
Elisabeth Norberg-Schulz
Giuseppe Morino
Monica Bacelli
Franco Corelli
Antonietta Stella
Anita Cerquetti
Marcello Giordani
Natale De Carolis
Equally prestigious are the personalities who have collaborated in the theatre's teaching activities and in the historic editions of the Experimental Opera Season, such as the great Gigi Proietti.
Today, the Experimental Opera Theatre collaborates with the major Italian opera houses and proudly presents its concerts in various parts of the world.
The Teatro Lirico Sperimentale di Spoleto has always been attentive to other issues as well. In the cultural sphere, it was awarded the “Cultura di Gestione” prize for its policies on the management, enhancement and promotion of cultural heritage and activities in 2009. Another example is the popular advertising campaign promoting separate waste collection inspired by opera in 2011.