For over ten years, the Macerata Opera Festival has been involved in accessibility projects for people with sensory disabilities of all ages.

In 2019, our guests will be offered audio descriptions in Italian for all the operas on stage, prerecorded introductory descriptions in English, tactile tours for blind people, and Italian Sign Language tours for deaf people, to go behind the scenes and discover the set, props, wardrobe, make-up, and musical instruments.

Deaf people will be offered a new tour to discover the sounds and noises associated with the preparation of one of the operas on stage. During the opera performances listed below, Italian audio descriptions will be available to help blind people enjoy the opera on stage. Additionally, personal hearing devices for deaf people will be available in collaboration with Sennheiser Streaming Technologies.

The ‘InclusivOpera’ project has been implemented in collaboration with the University of Macerata, Museo Statale Tattile Omero (Ancona, Italy), University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Unione Italiana dei Ciechi e degli Ipovedenti (Macerata, Italy), and the Ente Nazionale Sordi (Macerata, Italy).

All tours are free and available for up to 35 people, while tickets for the performances are available at a reduced rate.

SATURDAY 28 JULY

6 p.m. Italian Sign Language tour dedicated to Carmen
9 p.m. Carmen with audio description and personal hearing assistant

FRIDAY 2 AUGUST

6.15 p.m.  discovering the instruments and orchestra (tactile tour)
6.15 p.m. Italian Sign Language tour dedicated to the sounds and noise of the theatre
9 p.m. Rigoletto with audio description and personal hearing assistant

SATURDAY 3 AUGUST

6.15 p.m.  discovering the wardrobe and make-up (tactile tour)
9 p.m. Carmen with audio description

SUNDAY 4 AUGUST

6.15 p.m. discovering the set and props (tactile tour)
9 p.m.  Macbeth with audio description and personal hearing assistant

Italian and English subtitles are available for all the operas of the Festival.

Introductory notes

Italian and English pre-recorded introductory descriptions include details provided by the artists themselves in order to highlight the style of and the ‘philosophy’ behind the productions.

RIGOLETTO

Music by Giuseppe Verdi
Opera in three acts
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave
from the tragedy by Victor Hugo Le Roi s’amuse
publishing house Ricordi, Milano

CARMEN

Music by Georges Bizet
Opéra-comique in four acts
Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy
from the novella by Prosper Mérimée
owner and publisher: Schott, Mainz;
delegate for Italy: Piero Ostali’s Casa Musicale Sonzogno, Milan
Original language with Italian and English surtitles

MACBETH

Opera in four acts
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave
publishing house Casa Ricordi, Milano
with Italian and English surtitles

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