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‘Tribute to Maria Callas’ to unite Indonesian, Italian culture in harmony through opera
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he Italian Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute Jakarta are commemorating the 100th anniversary of soprano Maria Callas, one of the world’s most renowned opera singers in the 20th century, with the “Tribute to Maria Callas" concert, organized in collaboration with Ciputra Artpreneur and to be held on Oct. 7 at Ciputra Artpreneur Theater in Kuningan, South Jakarta.
“Tribute to Maria Callas” honors the legendary American-born Greek soprano, who established herself in Italy and was once described by conductor Leonard Bernstein as “the Bible of opera”.
The concert also forms a bridge between Italy and Indonesia through culture, by introducing Italian opera to Indonesia. Though Italy has a lengthy and storied history of developing its art of opera, the performing art is not yet well known in Indonesia.
Italian soprano Felicia Bongiovanni and tenor Dario Ricchizzi will be joined by Indonesian soprano Regina Handoko in the tribute concert, led by conductor Massimiliano Sinceri.
Indonesia’s Avip Priatna will conduct the musical accompaniment provided by the Jakarta Concert Orchestra and Batavia Madrigal Singers, together featuring around 65 musicians and 60 choristers who will combine their talents in one harmonious sound.
The concert also marks Bongiovanni’s first performance in Indonesia. She expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to pay homage and respect to Callas’ spirit in the opera arts through by performing in the concert.
“Maria Callas is a model for me, I learned the [Maria Callas] model when I sing. And I sing with my passion, sentiment, interpretation of my experience of my life,” she said.
Bongiovanni added that Callas was not only a technical model, noting that she was a woman full of passion and through opera, Bongiovanni felt close to Callas, helping her to express her feelings onstage.
She also conveyed her hope of transmitting the spiritual messages of opera to the audience, and that they would understand the message, as it was her wish is to live in harmony through the beauty of music.
Ricchizzi said it was a great honor for every singer, especially opera singers, to pay tribute to one of the genre’s icons. He said he would give all he could to his performance in trying to express all his feelings and emotions, especially for Callas.
The Italian tenor also believed that Indonesian concertgoers coming to hear opera for the first time would have no problem with language, as music was a universal language, and the powerful melody would allow the entire audience to feel Callas’ heart and spirit.
Meanwhile, Avip acknowledged that orchestral music was not yet popular in Indonesia, especially combined with lyrical language in expressing feelings.
Regina expressed her delight about the tribute concert, which gave her an opportunity to collaborate with her peers from both Indonesia and Italy. She said it was an honor to perform and share the stage with them.
Echoing Avip, Regina also observed that opera was still considered an unusual art form in Indonesia.
“We hope Indonesian people will love classical songs, especially opera, and they will enjoy it very much,” she said.
Tickets start from Rp 300,000 for Bronze seats, Rp 475,000 for Silver and Rp 750,000 for Gold, with Platinum seats at Rp 1,100,000 and VIP seats at Rp 1,475,000. Tickets are available to purchase at Loket.com.
