Ezio Frigerio
Birth : 1930-07-16, Erba, Lombardia, Italy
Death : 2022-02-02
History
Ezio Frigerio (16 July 1930 – 2 February 2022) was an Italian costume designer and art director.
After finishing architecture studies, he approached theatre art by realising the costumes for Casa di Bambola and L'opera da 3 soldi, two plays directed by Giorgio Strehler at Piccolo Teatro in the 1955-56 theatre season. From then on a fertile artistic marriage started between art director and producer, setting up several unique productions as I giganti della montagna (1966), Santa Giovanna dei macelli (1970), Re Lear (1972), Il temporale (1980), L'Illusion Comique, which premiered in 1984 at Théatre de l'Odéon in Paris, La grande magia, which premiered in 1985 and was reprised several times.
The collaboration with Strehler made Frigerio enter the world of opera: Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte were realized by Strehler and Frigerio between 1973 and 1996. Così fan tutte was being staged just before Strehler died.
Frigerio also created stage designs for the Burgtheater in Vienna: Trilogie der Sommerfrische (Trilogia della villeggiatura) by Carlo Goldoni, directed by Strehler, 1974; Judith by Hebbel, directed by Gerhard Klingenberg, 1975.
Other operatic stage designs include: Cherubini's Medea, directed by Liliana Cavani, for the Opéra National de Paris; Strauss' Elektra, directed by Nuria Espert, for De Munt Theatre in Brussels; Verdi's Ernani, directed by Luca Ronconi, 1980, Beethoven's Fidelio, directed by Werner Herzog in 1999 for the Teatro alla Scala in Milan; Bellini's Norma, directed by Piero Faggioni, for the Vienna State Opera in 1977; Verdi's Rigoletto, for the Polish National Opera in 1997. The team of Frigerio and Squarciapiano also designed the Met Opera's gorgeous and sensational Zandonai FRANCESCA DA RIMINI in 1984 (Scotto, Domingo, MacNeil, Levine).
Frigerio also created the sets for Liliana Cavani's movie Galileo e i Cannibali and Jean-Paul Rappeneau's Cyrano de Bergerac, which got an Oscar nomination in 1991.
He designed the grave of Rudolf Nureyev. Frigerio often collaborated with Italian costume designer Franca Squarciapino who was also his life partner.
Frigerio died on 2 February 2022, at the age of 91.
Source: Article "Ezio Frigerio" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Art Direction
Shakespeare's heartbreaking tale, Nureyev's blazing ballet.
Sumptuous costumes and sets transport you to Renaissance Verona, its piazza bustling with market traders, street entertainers and the restless factions of the Capulet and Montague families.
Amidst the grandeur of the Capulet’s ball, our star-crossed lovers – Alina Cojocaru and Isaac Hernández – meet, unleashing a fateful sequence of events, from the romantic bedroom scene to their tragic final embrace.
Set Designer
Eva-Maria Westbroek stars in the title role of Zandonai’s sensuous drama, opposite Marcello Giordani as Paolo. Piero Faggioni’s lush production provides the perfect setting for one of the all-time great tales of tragic passion, adapted from an episode in Dante’s Inferno. Mark Delavan co-stars as Giovanni, the husband and brother of the star-crossed lovers, whose jealousy leads him to kill them both. Robert Brubaker is Malatestino and Marco Armiliato conducts.
Set Designer
This elegant romance is the least-known work of the mature Giacomo Puccini . The story concerns a kept woman who defies convention to chase a dream of romantic love with an earnest, if naïve, young man. This Met Opera production features the dynamic soprano Angela Gheorghiu and Frenchborn tenor Roberto Alagna performing the roles of Magda and Ruggero, it blooms into its rightful place in the glorious Puccini canon. La Rondine (The Swallow) was commissioned by Vienna s Carltheater in 1913. Due to the impending outbreak of World War I, premiered in 1917, at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo with Gilda Dalla Rizza and Tito Schipa. Set in a Parisian salon, it is the story of Magda, the glamorous mistress of wealthy banker Rambaldo. Her yearning for romantic love compels her into the arms of the ardent and adoring young Ruggero.
Set Designer
Art Designer
The Zurich Opera presents a stunning new production of Verdi’s most popular, most spectacular work. Responding superbly to the role, Swedish soprano Nina Stemme – she of the richly clear voice – offers an Aida vibrant with love and emotion. Heading a magnificent cast, she makes a poignant couple with talented tenor Salvatore Licitra as Radamès. Luciana d’Intino is nothing less than brilliant in the role of Aida’s rival Amneris and Juan Pons imbues his Amonasro with enormous humanity. Conducting the Zurich Opera orchestra and chorus, Adam Fischer brings out all the score’s musical and dramatic majesty.
Production Design
This was Domingo's last set of performances as Otello in La Scala. In spite of his relatively advanced age, he is still in excellent form, both vocally and in terms of stage presence. Nucci is also his usual self, delivering a performance of very high standard. Barbara Frittoli is an excellent Desdemona, in good voice and gives a very moving performance. Muti conducts with great emotion and tight accuracy, conveying the full orchestral drama of the score.
Production Design
Frenchman Abel Tiffauges is a naive man who lives a simple life working as a mechanic. Falsely accused of being a child abuser, he is recruited as a soldier when World War II begins, but is captured soon and taken to the heart of Nazi Germany.
Art Direction
In a time of war and disease, a young officer gallantly tries to help a young woman find her husband.
Scenic Artist
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had control over northern Italian theatres at the time, the opera had a triumphant premiere at La Fenice in Venice on 11 March 1851. This 1994 recording, directed by Riccardo Muti, stars Roberto Alagna, Renato Bruson and Andrea Rost.
Production Design
History buffs will glory in the riches of Louis, Enfant Roi, others will perhaps find this complex story of intrigues and betrayals in the court of the young king tough sledding. When Louis the Fourteenth (1638-1715) was born, the power of government was shared between the monarchy, the church, the nobility, and the Parlement. His predecessor had greatly centralized the powers of government following the advice of Cardinal Richelieu. Louis XIV (often called "The Sun King" for the brilliance of his rule) followed the advice of Richelieu's successor, Cardinal Mazarin (Paolo Graziosi), and brought the powers of government under the sole sway of the monarch. He expanded the territory and influence of France in a series of wars throughout his reign. How he came to be so autocratic and ruthless both personally and politically is the subject of this biographical drama.
Production Design
A domineering,reclusive, and ostentatiously pious widow in a small Spanish town keeps such close watch on her daughters that they are unable to have normal social lives. However, the eldest is allowed to become engaged to an unprincipled young man, primarily for the financial advantages it will bring the mother, Bernarda. Jealousy and envy ensues among the other daughters.
Production Design
Famed swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac is in love with his cousin Roxane. He has never expressed his love for her as he his large nose undermines his self-confidence. Then he finds a way to express his love to her, indirectly.
Production Design
Live performance from Schwetzinger Festspiele, 1988. What sets this IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA apart from all others available is its elegant realism. None of its visuals are the least bit cartoonish or blatantly designed for comedy. Dr. Bartolo’s house is a stark, stern-looking structure of plastered brick with a comfortable yet plain, white-curtained interior, while the costumes are highly realistic 18th century garb in subdued colors. Yet despite its fairly austere appearance the production is delightful, thanks to its performers and staging. The stage business is lively, witty and free of excessive slapstick, and every singer brings his or her character to life, all offering rich, vibrant characterizations that strike a perfect balance between comedy and humanity.
Set Designer
Luciano Pavarotti brings his spectacular voice and artistry to one of the most famous of all tenor roles—Manrico, the ardent troubadour, trapped in an impossible situation by forces beyond his control. The sensational Dolora Zajick, only days after her Met debut, gives an incandescent performance as the demented gypsy Azucena, thirsting for revenge against Count Di Luna (Sherrill Milnes). Eva Marton is the passionate Leonora, desired by both Manrico and the Count, and James Levine brilliantly leads the Met’s orchestra and chorus in some of Verdi’s best-known music.
Production Design
Luciano Pavarotti brings his spectacular voice and artistry to one of the most famous of all tenor roles—Manrico, the ardent troubadour, trapped in an impossible situation by forces beyond his control. The sensational Dolora Zajick, only days after her Met debut, gives an incandescent performance as the demented gypsy Azucena, thirsting for revenge against Count Di Luna (Sherrill Milnes). Eva Marton is the passionate Leonora, desired by both Manrico and the Count, and James Levine brilliantly leads the Met’s orchestra and chorus in some of Verdi’s best-known music.
Costume Design
Carmen, presented in a production at the French Opera House.
Production Design
Carmen, presented in a production at the French Opera House.
Production Design
Abbado wholly vindicates Verdi’s intentions through his feeling for the shape of a whole scene, for the inherent subtleties of Verdi’s scoring and for certain rhythmic effects.
Art Direction
The epic tale of a class struggle in twentieth century Italy, as seen through the eyes of two childhood friends on opposing sides.
Costume Design
On the streets of a damp metropolis lie the corpses of hundreds and hundreds of boys and girls. No one can give them a resting place because of a law enacted by a repressive State. But the young Antigone, with the help of a foreigner, Tiresias, violates this rule in the name of pietas, undermining the established order.
Production Design
On the streets of a damp metropolis lie the corpses of hundreds and hundreds of boys and girls. No one can give them a resting place because of a law enacted by a repressive State. But the young Antigone, with the help of a foreigner, Tiresias, violates this rule in the name of pietas, undermining the established order.
Costume Design
A humble scientist from Padua proves that the Earth revolves and that it is not the center of the universe.
Production Design
A humble scientist from Padua proves that the Earth revolves and that it is not the center of the universe.
Set Decoration
Production Design
Production Design
Mademoiselle de Maupin escapes from her uncle's castle, invaded by Hungarian troops, under the guise of a clergyman named Theodore. An army recruiter forces Theodore to enlist in the King's army, and not even the religious robe is an insurance against it. Theodore is assigned to be aide-de-camp to Alcibiade, a man as virile in combat, as he seems troubled for the figure of his aid. D'Albert, an aristocrat, will expose Theodore's true sex, and after a number of confusing, comedy situations, Alcibiade will appease his troubled feelings.
Production Design
Omnibus film with individual segments directed by Renato Castellani, Luigi Comencini and Franco Rossi; all of them starring the radiant Catherine Spaak as "out of place" women longing for love, in a Sicillian village, a monastery, and a modern Italian urban setting, respectively.
Production Design
Three tales of very different women using their sexuality as a means to getting what they want.
Production Design
Sweet-sour comedy on Italy's 1950s rage to get rich as fast as possible! The businessman wants to satisfy his wife's craving for luxury and a "respectable life" so he becomes heavily indebted. In desperation he agrees to sell a precious part of his body for a large sum of money. But just before the crucial operation he panics...
Production Design
A dying German magnate invites his youngest son and daughter-in-law home to discuss the future of the family's shipbuilding empire. There, the daughter-in-law stumbles upon a secret of the family's Nazi past.
Costume Design
During World War II, a plane full of RAF fighter crashes in the Ethiopian desert and they are met upon by an enemy Italian patrol that allows them to go free. But, when the Brits are given orders to attack the Italians, lots of problems ensue.
