Opera Vermont at the barn opera house Presents
le villi / la fata del nord
A Double-bill of Puccini & Zuelli’s
Puccini’s “Le Villi” & Zuelli’s “La Fata del Nord”
September 19 & 20, 2025
“I may have won the competition, but you will have won the hearts of the world.”
- Guglielmo Zuelli to Giacomo Puccini (1884)
It is so rare to find music that was written 100 years ago, but that no one living has ever heard! This double-bill is just that. Opera Vermont is thrilled to present this performance with a fairly known piece by one of opera’s greatest composers, partnered with an unknown, unheard of piece by a composer whose composition won against that of Puccini!
La Fata del Nord is a composition by Zuelli that was submitted alongside Le Villi by Puccini for the Sonsogno publisher’s competition. Puccini’s composition won second place, and La Fata del Nord took home the prize. Ironically, the only time that it was performed was at the prize concert of the May 4, 1884 competition. The opera, written for piano and voices, was lost to time, but Artistic Director Joshua Collier’s friend and collaborator Marco Attura, found the clothbound score in an antique store in Italy.
This will be the second time in history that this piece will be heard, and the first time that it will be heard in conjunction with it’s fellow competitor, Le Villi by Puccini.
