Bellini’s Norma wears Giovanni Fabiani shoes

The new season of the Macerata Opera Festival, which began on the 22nd of July at the renowned, prestigious and one-of-its-kind Sferisterio, is dedicated to the Mediterranean, the mare nostrum, whose shores and routes form the building blocks of our history and culture and have more recently been making headlines as the “tragic stage”, as defined by festival director Francesco Micheli, of the treacherous migrant routes.

The scheduled operas include Verdi’s Otello and Il Trovatore and Bellini’s Norma.
Highly regarded professional Daniela Cernigliaro will be responsible for the costumes for all three performances. It has taken her more than nine months to make the stage outfits, around 120 in total, working in collaboration with artisan companies from the region for the accessories, which include hats, scarves and of course shoes.

The shoes worn by Maria José Siri, the Uruguayan soprano who plays the leading role in Norma, were in fact designed by Giovanni Fabiani and made by the San Marco shoe factory in the province of Fermo.

The design is a re-elaborated version of one of the pieces in Fabiani’s 2016 spring/summer collection, which was designed and suitably modified (e.g. without the laces) for the scene, as well as being inspired, as is the case with all the costumes created by Daniela Cernigliaro, by Sardinian artist Maria Lai and her weaves and tangles of threads and cords reminiscent of textile art.

Performed on the 23rd and 29th of July, Norma, conducted by Michele Gamba and directed by Luigi Di Gangi and Ugo Giacomazzi, will be repeated on the 7th of August.