Pia de' Tolomei

Spoleto Festival USA

Charleston, SC

“Spoleto’s pick-up orchestra, augmented in Pia by Westminster Choir, remains a marvel, and Lidiya Yankovskaya conducted with the brio and tenderness this opera demands.”
–Lawrence Toppman, Opera News

“Yankovskaya conducted the Spoleto Festival Orchestra with considerable skill…”
–Jack Sullivan, Opera Magazine

“Maestra Lidiya Yankovskaya presided over the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra in a reverential performance of Donizetti’s musically resplendent score. Utilizing the fruits of the recent scholarship creating critical editions of Donizetti’s scores, she made a strong case for “Pia’s” musical worthiness.”
–William Burnett, Opera Warhorses

“With conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya firmly in control, the orchestra was much more lively and idiomatic than the staging.”
–Heidi Waleson, Wall Street Journal

“Thanks to Lidiya Yankovskaya’s fine reading of the score and some standout vocal performances, Spoleto Festival’s US premiere…is well worth a look.”
–Clive Paget, Limelight Magazine

“Yankovskaya is a formidable conductor and member of the creative team. She led both choir and orchestra with authority opening night, keeping the music moving forward and navigating the dynamic shifts of Donizetti score.”
–Susan Galbraith, DC Theatre Scene

“Lidiya Yankovskaya makes a wonderful debut conducting this score, ignoring the misogynistic mutilations that Cigni has layered onto it. The Spoleto Orchestra and the Westminster Choir are consistently lively and impassioned, and Yankovskaya gets the best from Isaac Frishman as Ghino, Cassandra Zoe Velasco as Rodrigo, and Nathan Granner as Ubaldo.”
–Perry Tannenbaum, Classical Voice North America