A director who knows the stage like the back of his hand, a superintendent accustomed to intertwining art and management, a man of the theatre in the fullest and most practical sense of the term.
Andrea Cigni will take over from Nicola Colabianchi at the helm of the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari. An appointment decided a few minutes ago, awaiting only ministerial ratification, which entrusts Cigni – currently at the helm of the Teatro Ponchielli di Cremona – with the task of charting the new course of one of the most important lyric institutions on the national scene.
Born in 1971, Tuscan, trained at the Dams in Bologna and a professional path marked by stage practice even before theory. Cigni has crossed the theater in its most concrete dimension, that of the body and the voice, taking his first steps as an actor, mime and assistant director. Among the initial collaborations stand out the names of masters such as Pier Luigi Pizzi, Giancarlo Cobelli, Yannis Kokkos: founding experiences that have contributed to defining a lucid and plastic directorial gaze.
His debut in opera came in 2006 with Vivaldi's Andromeda Liberata, staged in Cremona. The following year it was the turn of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo. From that moment on, musical theatre became his stable home: over forty titles to his credit, signed in the most diverse international contexts - from the United States to Kazakhstan, from Palma de Mallorca to Jakarta - build a highly recognisable artistic profile, made of narrative clarity, attention to scenic gesture and aesthetic coherence.
Alongside directing, a constant commitment to training and cultural planning. Cigni was Director of the Conservatory “Claudio Monteverdi” in Cremona, where he teaches Performing Arts, Musical Dramaturgy, Law and Management of Entertainment. He directed the Orizzonti Festival in Chiusi for three years, dedicated to new creations in the performing arts, and served as artistic secretary for opera at the Teatro Grande in Brescia.
A figure, in short, who combines the rigor of artistic practice with solid organizational and institutional expertise. It is precisely this balance between creative vision and management ability that seems to have guided the choice of the Board of Directors of the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari. We now have to wait for the formal ratification by the Ministry, the last act before the curtain officially opens on the new course.
