Aleko & Pagliacci

This new production double bill of two operas that both premiered in May 1892, Rachmaninov’s Aleko and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, sets off New York City Opera official return.

Don Giovanni

My first direction of Mozart’s Don Giovanni was staged in 2006 at the Serbian National Theater in Belgrade and coincides with my debut in the Republic of Serbia. This appointment holds special significance for me, as Serbia is the birthplace of my mother and my grandparents. Having had, therefore, the opportunity to bring my work as a director, as well as a set designer and costume designer, in the most important theater in the nation and moreover with the opera title which, perhaps more than any other, lends itself to being broken down and eviscerated thus giving vent to my analytical nature, legacy of my university studies in psychology, has been a source of pride and joy for me.

Aida

The production of Aida in 2013 within the “Noicattaro Lirica” opera festival will remain forever etched in my memory, not only because it was my first directing of the great Verdian title, but above all, because this impressive production, which it counted more than 200 people including figures, singers and dancers on the stage, it was the result of the commitment and work of almost an entire citizenry. In fact, most of the inhabitants of Noicattaro had the opportunity to participate and contribute to the realization of this cultural event, starting from the creation of the sets and costumes, from the organization and promotion of the event, and finally with their participation as extras, dancers and choir members.

Lucia di Lammermoor

Gaetano Donizetti Lucia di Lammermoor cast creators producers photos & videos Notes The second collaboration with the National Opera and Ballet Theater of the Republic of North Macedonia sees Lev’s debut in the direction of Donizetti’s masterpiece Lucia di Lammermoor, for which he also signs the sets and, in collaboration with Marija Pupucevska, the costumes. […]

La bohème

La bohème is the opera that, more than any other title I’ve had the pleasure of producing or directing, I feel most strongly about.
Fortunately, I have had the pleasure of tackling Puccini’s masterpiece on several occasions. Among all of them, I remember with greater affection and also a bit of nostalgia the one related to my debut in the title, at the Ventidio Basso Theater of Ascoli Piceno in 2009. That edition marked, besides my own, the debut of several of the main performers, as well as of Giuseppe Sabbatini as conductor after his brilliant career as a tenor, which had just ended, and which had brought him to the stages of the most important theaters in the world. I believe today that this particular factor, together with the ties that had been forged within the company during the production, contributed to generating a growing energy that exploded into a whirlwind of feelings on the very day of the debut.

Il barbiere di Siviglia

The debut as director of Rossini’s masterpiece will take place in 2006 with an imposing set designed to be staged in the wonderful Piazza del Popolo in Ascoli Piceno.
Lev will direct Il barbiere di Siviglia for a second and third new production only several years later, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Festival Aphrodite of Paphos in Cyprus and on the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the death of the genius from Pesaro in 2018 and the following year, as part of the Festival Granda, at the Gran Teatro Nacional del Perù in Lima.

Manon Lescaut

This new production of Manon Lescaut was born from the collaboration of three traditional Italian theaters: the Teatro Verdi of Pisa, the Teatro Sociale of Rovigo and the Teatro Goldoni of Livorno as the leading proponent.
In this production, which marks his debut in the title, Lev, in addition to directing, also designs the sets and costumes.
A distinctive feature of the production is undoubtedly the use of images and videos projected onto three different spatial planes, including an undulating slope representing the “desert” in its etymological meaning of abandonment, which in addition to distinguishing the different settings of the libretto provide a magnifying glass on the emotional experiences of the main characters of the opera.

Tosca

Tosca is the Puccini’s opera that I had the privilege to direct the most times. Among the different editions, I certainly remember my first, which was staged in August 2006 in the splendid setting of Piazza del Popolo in Ascoli Piceno and whose scenography boasted the signature of the Oscar-winning Gianni Quaranta. In September of the same year, this same production was chosen to inaugurate the eighth edition of Bangkok’s International Festival of Dance and Music.
Another edition that I remember with particular fondness is the one that marks my debut in the United States as well as the rebirth of the glorious New York City Opera in January 2016.

Turandot

The debut in China comes in 2016 and, as chance would have it, signing the direction of the very Puccini opera that is set in this country.
This new production of Turandot, which makes use of the sumptuous staging of the Carlo Felice Theater in Genoa and includes in the title role the presence of the timeless dramatic soprano Giovanna Casolla, undoubtedly among the interpreters of reference of the character, took place at the beautiful Tianjin Grand Theater and the futuristic Harbin Grand Theater.

Le nozze di Figaro

Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro is the title that marks Lev’s directorial debut. In 2004, in fact, following the international premiere of Antonio Cericola’s The Adventures of Pinocchio at the Athens Festival, where in addition to being production director, Lev also held the role of assistant director of Christoforos Christofis, he was hired to direct a new production of The Marriage of Figaro which was to be staged in South Korea at the Olympic park in Seoul and then also in Daegu.