Summer is over but the operatic machine is now winding up for autumn seasons. The Teatro Sperimentale di Spoleto, which prepares performances for young debuting singers and which has reached its 59th edition / year, will perform Cleopatra by Domenico Cimarosa (23, 24, 25 Sept 2005). This is a relatively unknown and under-appreciated opera, about which little is known apart from the fact that it was composed in 1789. The decision to perform the piece could help promote Cimarosa as a more prominent composer of serious works.

It is a new production entrusted to Vito Clemente (conductor) and Lucio Gabriele Dolcini (director) and will be performed at the Teatro Caio Melisso. At the Teatro S. Nicolo there is a more traditional programme with La Bohme by Giacomo Puccini (2 Oct); a production from the Teatro Comunale di Modena conceptualised by director Giovanni Scandella and conducted by Marcello Panni. As is the case with Cleopatra, the interpreters are young singers. After Spoleto, La Bohme will go on tour around various cities in Umbria: Perugia (4, 5 Oct), Todi (7 Oct), Assisi (8 Oct), Terni (9 Oct), and Citt di Castello (10 Oct).