Uneven but Gorgeous

I Masnadieri (literal translation: 'The Bandits') are on the road three times this season in Italy: a) they run Europe from Saxony to Bohemia where they rob, rape and set to fire homes and villages (even Prague). b) Verdi's opera on their adventures (rarely performed in Italy, even though it is part of standard repertory in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the USA) is presented in a new production that after a series of performances in Naples (until 31 March), will go to Venice, Trieste and Parma. c) Nearly in parallel, a staging of Schiller's tragedy (Die Räuber) from which the opera is drawn, is in one of the major theatres in Rome and will go on a tour to several locations in central Italy. I was in Naples at the Teatro San Carlo preview on 18 March 2012...