Spoleto Festival to star Wilson, Muti, Ronconi, Valeri

Bennato, Huppert, Depardieu also on 57th roster

(By Erica Firpo). (ANSA) - Rome, April 18 - The Spoleto Festival opens on June 27 with a double billing of music and stage performance. Returning to the festival are blockbuster names, including Robert Wilson and Luca Ronconi, a new piece written and performed by Franca Valeri, special events from Luca Barbareschi and Edoardo Bennato as well as Isabelle Huppert and Gerard Depardieu, and a special concert conducted by Riccardo Muti. "We hope to have created a festival that is always more interpretive of our time in the belief that art can and must do its part", said Giorgio Ferrara, Festival artistic director, in the company of minister Dario Franceschini, while presenting the festival billboard and pointing out the support of its many sponsors, from Foundation Carla Fendi Foundation to the newly return Mercedes.

The June 27 fest opens with a trio of short operatic works by Berlioz, Poulenc and Schoenberg conducted by John Axelrod and directed by Frederic Fisbach, followed by the debut Strindberg's "The Dance of Death", a stage performance with Giorgio Ferrara and wife Adriana Asti, directed by Ronconi. The July 13 closing performance includes a concert dedicated to American musical of the 1940s and 50s held on the main square with two great performers, soprano June Anderson and baritone Paulo Szot. The day before the festival's conclusion, Riccardo Muti will conduct a special program "Concert for a Friend" at the restored Caio Melisso Theatre. The concert is dedicated to Candido Speroni, husband of Carla Fendi who recently passed away, a performance that Muti "could not pass by for his dear friend".

The crux of festival programming is focused on the three festival weekends, when visitor presence is heightened. Opening weekend presents the debut of the new comedy "Il Cambio dei Cavalli" with the always lively Franca Valeri, 93, on stage with Urbano Barberini in performance directed by Giuseppe Marini. To follow will be Luke Barbareschi's recital celebrating his 40 years on stage, and Huppert in "Lit Sade" from the writings of the Divine Marquis.

The San Francisco Ballet performs the second weekend with a great dance. Also, Robert Wilson debuts his new avant-garde theatre performance of "Peter Pan", with music by the duo CocoRosie, followed by Giancarlo Sepe's "Dubliners" based on the novel by James Joyce. Anouk Aimee accompanies Depardieu in A.R. Gurney's classic play "Love Letters".