PRESS RELEASE

Opera a Palazzo, Mascarade Opera’s new performance series, launches on 12 November at Palazzo Corsini al Prato. The evening features the Emerging Artists, directed by Patrick Lynch.

Florence, 9 November 2026 – On Thursday, 12 November 2026 at 7 pm, Mascarade Opera presents Verità e Clemenza at Palazzo Corsini al Prato, Via Il Prato 56/A, Florence. The performance brings together excerpts from Giacomo Puccini’s La bohème and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, exploring different expressions of love through the characters, conflicts and choices of two very different musical worlds.

The event marks the launch of Opera a Palazzo, one of the new additions to the 2026/27 season. The series features intimate, staged chamber productions that bring together excerpts from different operas in a single performance. With audiences seated close to the performers, the format offers a more personal perspective on the characters and provides an accessible introduction to the operatic repertoire, including for those discovering it for the first time.

The production is directed by Patrick Lynch, founder of Lyngo Theatre, whose work has taken him across Europe, America and Asia. His previous projects in Italy include adapting and directing Charles Kingsley’s The Water Babies in Rovigo, as well as directing a children's version of Rossini's La Cenerentola for Mascarade Opera in 2020.

This collaboration continues Mascarade Opera's work with directors from the international opera scene, including Federico Grazzini, who directed Nabucco for the Rome Opera at the Baths of Caracalla and Rigoletto at the Macerata Opera Festival; Noa Naamat, director of Henze's Phaedra at the Royal Opera House in London and Benvenuto Cellini at the Opéra Royal de Versailles; and Andrea Bernard, winner of the 2024 Abbiati Award for Best Direction, whose productions include Ernani at La Fenice and Lucrezia Borgia at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

These productions give the artists the opportunity to develop their character work and ensemble skills, while performing in front of audiences and representatives from artistic agencies and international partner theatres. These industry professionals are invited to discover emerging talent for future roles and collaborations.

The cast brings together Mascarade Opera's new group of Emerging Artists: sopranos Milan McCray (USA) and Sarah Mileham (New Zealand); mezzo-sopranos Claudia Pereira (Portugal)