Italian theater director Giancarlo del Monaco was granted Russian citizenship by a decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In November, he presented Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Rigoletto at the Bolshoi Theater.

We would like to send our heartfelt congratulations to Giancarlo and warmly welcome him to life in Russia as a citizen, we are sure that he will be able to find plenty of good outlets for his creativity and we are looking forward to seeing what great works he will produce here.

If you are not familiar with Giancarlo del Monaco then here are some of his achievements:

“Del Monaco has staged more than 100 operas in his operatic repertoire, among them are La fanciulla del West, Stiffelio, Madama Butterfly, Simon Boccanegra, La forza del destino, Rigoletto, Turandot, Las Golondrinas, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Don Carlos, Norma, Pagliacci, Cavalleria rusticana, La traviata, Tosca, Otello and Abai.

He also has served as the General Manager for several opera companies and festivals: the Montepulciano Festival in 1975, Staatstheater Kassel from 1980 to 1982, the Macerata Festival from 1986 to 1988 and Theater der Bundesstadt in Bonn from 1992 to 1997. In the 1992-93 season, he made his debut as a director at the Metropolitan Opera. He served as the General Director of Opéra de Nice from 1997 to 2001, and as the Artistic Director of the Tenerife Opera Festival from 2009 to 2011.^[6]

With his great career as General director, Giancarlo del Monaco becomes one of the most important stage directors of his generation.“