Gourmet Abu Dhabi to hit high notes with opera dinner

Gourmet Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital’s highly-acclaimed annual culinary festival, is ready to hit a high note this February with a themed ‘opera dinner’ when an international operatic trio, accompanied by a pianist, comes together with the genius creations of the three-Michelin-starred Chef, Massimo Bottura.

The Italian Opera Dinner will be held at the award-winning Mezzaluna Italian restaurant at the opulent Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi on February 8th. Presented by the festival’s partners, Acqua Panna and S.Pellegrino, the event will pay homage to the unforgettable Italian tenor, Maestro Luciano Pavarotti.

S.Pellegrino has produced a limited edition bottle dedicated to Pavarotti, arguably the most successful tenor of all time, and to the magnificence of Italian Opera.

“The cuisine of one of Italy’s most acclaimed culinary experts and the grandeur of Emirates Palace provide a fabulous backdrop for an evening which we believe is a perfect setting to pay homage to the Maestro,” said Sandra Husseini Norberg, Zone Director MEA, for S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna.

Chef Massimo is Chef Patron of Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy, which has been listed in the Top 5 of the World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards since 2010 and currently sits third in the World’s Best Restaurants Awards list.

“Chef Bottura is one of the biggest names on the global culinary scene,” said Sandro Gamba, Executive Chef of Emirates Palace. “He has used his expertise to juxtapose culinary tradition with contemporary art and design. The entire Mezzaluna kitchen staff are eagerly awaiting Massimo’s visit and looking to imbibe aspects of his creativity into their own learning.”

Chef Bottura will serve up an artistic dinner to the accompaniment of two set pieces by an operatic trio comprising Armenian soprano, Christine Belbelian, a graduate of Hungary’s Franz Liszt Academy of Music and Arts, German opera singer, Maria Gluck, a gifted young protege of the Bavarian state government, and British tenor, Bradley Minchin who studied under the supervision of Adrian Clarke in Vocal and Operatic Studies at Birmingham Conservatoire. The trio will be accompanied by Ukrainian pianist, Stanislav Fedyuk, a graduate of the Lviv Music Academy and Trinity College London.

In two half-hour sets, the operatic trio will perform arias, duets and harmonic pieces from noted works including Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, La Traviata and Giuseppe Verdi’s La Boheme. Bradley will also perform solo renditions of some of Italy’s most international acclaimed pieces.

“This promises to be an exceptional night when the uplifting genres of music and food come together to transport guests to the grandiose side of Italy,” said Noura Al Dhaheri of the Gourmet Abu Dhabi organising committee. “It is a night for opera lovers, Italian food lovers, those with an artistic nature and those who want to experience opera in a convivial setting.”