“Italian Love”. Rossini. Puccini. Verdi.

On March 21, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory hosted a concert featuring world-renowned opera star Fabio Sartori. The acclaimed tenor, celebrated for his interpretations of Italian operatic roles, joined forces with the talented Darya Rybak (soprano) to present the program Italian Love. The evening featured famous arias by Italian composers Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, and Gioachino Rossini. The audience was taken through legendary love stories filled with tenderness, jealousy, and passion. The concert was accompanied by the Evgeny Svetlanov State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia, conducted by one of Russia’s most sought-after young conductors, Denis Vlasenko.

World opera star Fabio Sartori was born in Treviso. He graduated from the vocal department of the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice. In 1996, he made his operatic debut in La Bohème at Venice’s Teatro La Fenice. He took part in the opening of the 1997–1998 season at La Scala, performing in Macbeth under the direction of Riccardo Muti, as well as at La Fenice and the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. Since then, audiences at leading opera houses across Europe, from Milan to Berlin, as well as in the United States, Argentina, India, and China, have applauded his performances. He has collaborated with La Scala on numerous occasions, including the theatre’s international tours. The power of Fabio Sartori’s voice and its “captivating brilliance,” as one journalist from a prestigious German newspaper described it, enthrall audiences from the very first notes and transport them into the atmosphere of a sultry Italian evening.

Darya Rybak was born in Switzerland and is a recipient of the 2020 Migros Culture Percentage Award. In summer 2018, she earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Royal College of Music in London. She won the Swiss National Music Competition SJMW in 2011 and 2013 and is a laureate of the Baccarini and Hug-Cuenod Awards. Her repertoire includes leading roles in Italian, German, French, and Russian operas.

The Evgeny Svetlanov State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia is one of the country’s oldest symphony orchestras, celebrating its 85th anniversary in 2021. The orchestra has performed at some of the world’s most renowned concert venues. Its discography includes hundreds of vinyl records and CDs released by leading Russian and international labels. A special place in this collection is occupied by the Anthology of Russian Symphonic Music, featuring recordings of works by Russian composers from Mikhail Glinka to Igor Stravinsky, conducted by Evgeny Svetlanov. The orchestra’s concerts have been recorded and broadcast by Mezzo, Medici, Russia-1 and Russia-Kultura television channels, as well as Orpheus Radio.

Denis Vlasenko is one of the brightest young Russian conductors. After graduating from the A. V. Sveshnikov Choral College and the V. S. Popov Academy of Choral Art, he studied opera and symphonic conducting at the Moscow and St. Petersburg Conservatories. In 2010, he won a conducting competition and joined the Novaya Rossiya State Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Yuri Bashmet. He has collaborated with numerous Russian and international ensembles and performed with leading stars of the classical music world. Since January 2022, Maestro Vlasenko has served as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Alisher Navoi State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.