Recently, the position of director of the Opéra de Wallonie-Liège became vacant. On 1 July 2022, Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera was due to retire. Was due to. It was not to be. The man who became synonymous with opera and bravura died unexpectedly on 7 February 2021, at the age of 72. A shock went through and still goes through the opera world. Mazzonis was, after all, much more than the director of just any opera house.
Allow me to quote soprano Karen Vermeiren in her farewell message on her Facebook profile.
Karen Vermeiren: “Yesterday the most colourful, flamboyant opera director passed away. Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera led the opera in Liège with gusto, since 2007, bringing to life the most enchanting, often super-traditional productions. Always with big names such as Deborah Voigt, Angela Gheorghiu, Jessica Pratt, Leo Nucci, Juan Diego Florez, Elina Garanča, to name just a few. He was often the one who gave Belgian talent a first chance and devoted himself to also drawing children and young people into the addictive world of opera by staging splendid youth productions. The countless galas, often with the chance to meet the stars...
His power to turn the opera into a magical place was magnetic...
I wish his family and loved ones much strength in this difficult time. He was simply someone you will never forget... Liège was truly my guilty pleasure. Eating Liège waffles across the way and then going to peek at those world stars. Sometimes also at bad staging and singers on the comeback from a peak of yesteryear, but man... what fun you always had at that opera, and always something to discuss with friends and colleagues. It was always an experience. I think everyone can agree. RIP”. So far Karen Vermeiren, who perfectly expresses what countless people can only agree with.
Just before the first coronavirus lockdown, in February 2020, I was still able and allowed to present a Gouden Label Opera in ‘his opera’ for the production of Don Carlos (Verdi), which was greeted with worldwide acclaim. The sparkle in his playful eyes was telling, as were his words of thanks, with which he placed our web magazine on a higher pedestal.
I have only the best memories of Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera. An unpretentious man, without any snobbery, always placing himself on equal footing with whomever he came into contact with, never taking the upper hand. Everyone received his attention; think of how he gave roles to people with limited abilities and other disabilities in numerous opera performances. You could see those people beam with happiness. Behind the stage, when handing over the last Gouden Label, some of those people gave me a big kiss. Look, that would be unthinkable in any other opera house.
This man, who was so much more than the director of an opera house, attracted young people who otherwise idled their days doing nothing. His house was open to them and they filled the hall with him. Once I was able to speak with some of them after a Don Giovanni, no easy work to experience as a very first opera. There were street criminals among them. They were enormously impressed by the whole thing, but above all by that director who simply wanted to welcome them into his opera, hosted a reception and, even more striking, had a brief chat with each of them. Look, his pedagogical insight alone was so strong that he could bring those followers who commit crime out of boredom to insight and repentance. Do you believe me that during that famous performance I saw two of those tough guys wiping away tears? They will now also wipe their tears, as will very many involved, from up close or from afar, who came into contact with this Beautiful Man, the man who brought Art for Art’s sake, this servant of the Beautiful.
Oh, you dear rascal, youthful scamp who always seemed to be up to some mischief, but with style and class, with a taste for the very best, the sense of loss without you is only just beginning.
- WHAT: In Memoriam Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera, director of the Opéra de Wallonie-Liège
- PHOTOS: © Opéra de Wallonie-Liège
