We welcome London-based Opera Rara to the Opera Series. Specializing in lost and forgotten works from composers of the past, Opera Rara works in a unique intersection of opera company, recording label, and live operatic archeologist—through their work, they strive to expand the operatic repertoire and encourage the opera world to explore new and little-known rediscoveries.
Found in the archives of the Naples Conservatory Library in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, Opera Rara has restored the score to Saverio Mercadante’s Il proscritto, a story set in Edinburgh at the time of Oliver Cromwell. Unheard since its premiere in 1842, conductor and Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi leads the Britten Sinfonia and Opera Rara Chorus alongside an exceptional cast including Ramón Vargas, Irene Roberts, Elizabeth DeShong, Iván Ayón-Rivas, and more. We’re delighted to bring this rediscovered work to this year’s opera series, and we know listeners will be enchanted and excited to be a part of this history-in-the-making.
The US Broadcast of Mercadante’s Il proscritto is generously made possibly by support from Islée Oliva Salinas and Michael Buckley.
