There’s an opera by Verdi that, among musicians, is known as “the unnamed”: it’s said to bring terrible bad luck (not to use more explicit terms). To avoid mentioning it, a universally recognized synonym has been coined: “The Power of Fate.” Perhaps because at the end of the story, almost everyone dies—as happens in all melodramas of the period—or perhaps due to a series of coincidences that befell more than one orchestral musician…
It doesn’t seem a good omen, therefore, to have included the overture to that opera in the program of the eleven New Year’s Eve concerts I will have the pleasure of conducting at the helm of the ORV Orchestra Regionale Filarmonia Veneta, between the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026—that is, on that occasion when we wish for the best for the times to come. And in a production that, notoriously, is often marred by snowfall, voiceless singers, and suspended chandeliers.
However, this music is too beautiful to pass up. As a superstitious compromise, let’s accept a play on words that combines Verdi’s title with that of “Dance of the Comedians,” a whirlwind piece by Bedřich Smetana from the opera “The Bartered Bride,” which will also be performed in concert. The result is a title that also conveys a programmatic intent: the power of dance, the destiny of comedians. A sort of reminder to sailors on a planet that too often resembles the Titanic: let us look to the new year with the knowledge that we are performing in a great comedy whose ending we are only partially responsible for, and in which the everyday can be sublimated by the beauty of art.
In this sense, the traditional music of a New Year’s concert touches everyone’s experience and speaks to everyone, thanks to the popularity of the themes elevated by the refinement of the language. Thus, a wide range of moods is expressed by the arias—ardent spirits, remorse, mercy, supplication, anticipation, nostalgia, but also sweetness, lightness, and malice—and just as many feelings are interpreted by the orchestral pieces, sometimes dance-like, sometimes pathetic.
Famous works by renowned composers such as Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Lehár, and Strauss are a must. But also a few surprises or novelties, such as the aforementioned Smetana, and then Offenbach and Prokofiev.
No, no film music—which I appreciate and had the privilege of conducting for the Venice Film Festival—nor national anthems or folk songs, which I respect and consider in their proper context. I believe in the value of a New Year’s Eve concert where Viennese tradition meets Italian opera, and this year I have the pleasure of conducting an orchestra born from this very tradition.
I am honored to be invited by one of the region’s leading orchestras, the ORV Filarmonia Veneta, with whom I will perform in splendid and prestigious theaters—especially the “Del Monaco” in Treviso and the Teatro Sociale in Rovigo—and I am delighted to almost always be accompanied by Elena Filini’s elegant performances.
The concert program is available on the website homepage and at the link below. Happy New Year and a happy ending… I look forward to seeing you at the concerts!