Leone Philharmonic Society

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Operas at the Teatru Aurora

The Teatru tal-Opra Aurora holds a record of 29 opera productions spanned over 32 years. The first opera in Gozo was Madama Butterfly. It was staged twice in a weekend - 7th and 8th January 1977. It was the ignition for a general awakening of the opera-fever in Malta and Gozo, giving rise to a renaissance in the operatic field. The comeback of opera in Malta - actually a new feat for Gozo - was strong to the extent that the second year of opera in Gozo (1978) saw the production of no less than four different operas. As from 1994 onwards, Colin Attard, resident conductor, has directed an opera annually (with the exception of just one year). This year's AIDA wasbe his 15th one, marking Attard as the conductor with the most operas to his credit.

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It-Teatru tal-Opra Aurora kiseb ir-rekord ta' 29 produzzjoni operistika fuq medda ta' 32 sena. L-ewwel opra Madama Butterfly kienet ukoll l-ewwel opra sħiħa f'Għawdex u saret darbtejn. Kienet l-opra li tat qawmien ġdid għan-namra operistika fil-gżejjer Maltin li bdew jgħixu rinaxximent fil-kultura u produzzjonijiet operistiċi mill-1977 'il quddiem. It-Teatru tal-Opra Aurora baqa' jkun pijunier u fit-tieni sena ta' opra tiegħu, inħadmu fih xejn inqas minn 4 opri differenti. Mill-1994, Colin Attard, is-surmast direttur residenti tat-teatru, idderieġa opra kull sena (b'eċċezzjoni ta' sena waħda), biex bl-opra lirika ta' din is-sena, Aida, sar l-aktar surmast li mexxa opri fit-Teatru tal-Opra Aurora, b'total ta' 15.

	Giacomo Puccini MADAMA BUTTERFLY 7-8th January 1977 Joseph Sammut		Giuseppe Verdi LA TRAVIATA 28th April 1978 Joseph Sammut

	Giacomo Puccini LA BOHÈME 29th April 1978 Alberto Leone		Gaetano Donizetti LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR 1st December 1978 Alberto Leone

	Giacomo Puccini TOSCA 2nd December 1978 Alberto Leone		Giuseppe Verdi IL TROVATORE 28th September 1979 Joseph Sammut

	Giacomo Puccini MANON LESCAUT 29th September 1979 Alberto Leone		Pietro Mascagni CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA 3rd March 1984 Joseph Vella

	Vincenzo Bellini NORMA 18th April 1986 Alberto Leone		Giuseppe Verdi NABUCCO 19th April 1986 Joseph Sammut

	Umberto Giordano ANDREA CHENTIER 23rd October 1987 Giovanni Veneri		Giuseppe Verdi RIGOLETTO 24th October 1987 Joseph Sammut

	Georges Bizet CARMEN 3rd December 1988 Joseph Sammut		Giacomo Puccini LA BOHÈME 29th December 1990 Joseph Sammut

	Giuseppe Verdi IL TROVATORE 23rd April 1994 Colin Attard		Giuseppe Verdi OTELLO 2nd December 1995 Colin Attard

	Giacomo Puccini TOSCA 28th September 1996 Colin Attard		Giacomo Puccini MADAMA BUTTERFLY 1st November 1997 Colin Attard

	Giuseppe Verdi LA TRAVIATA 16th May 1998 Colin Attard		Giuseppe Verdi AIDA 24th April 1999 Colin Attard

	Georges Bizet CARMEN 25th November 2000 Colin Attard		Giuseppe Verdi ERNANI 27th October 2001 Colin Attard

	Giacomo Puccini TURANDOT 26th October 2002 Colin Attard		Gioachino Rossini IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA 29th November 2003 Colin Attard

	Giuseppe Verdi NABUCCO 16th October 2004 Colin Attard		Umberto Giordano FEDORA 3rd December 2005 Colin Attard

	Giuseppe Verdi LA FORZA DEL DESTINO 13th October 2007 Colin Attard		Giacomo Puccini LA BOHÈME 11th October 2008 Colin Attard

	Giuseppe Verdi AIDA 10th October 2009 Colin Attard		COMING UP 2010 SEASON Georges Bizet CARMEN 16th October 2010 Colin Attard