Ópera de Tenerife is staging an in-house production of Béla Bartók’s A kékszakállú herceg vára (Bluebeard’s Castle).
This version of Bluebeard’s Castle follows Bartók’s original musical structure, but takes the idea a step further, offering an updated and visceral reading of the work. The story becomes an exploration of memory, body, trauma, desire, identity and internal oppression. Leaving behind medieval or fantasy-based trappings, this version takes the plot to an abstract and dehumanised space that represents the mind of Bluebeard. The actions of the characters are crude, physical, and ruthless, portraying a Bluebeard who is torn between the need to feel loved and the terror of being discovered.
Bluebeard is a woman trapped in a man’s body. She has constructed a world in which she can hide her truth and silence her identity. This staging marks the transition towards the woman she has always aspired to be. Judit is the last person to dare to enter this world. However, her love turns out to be as voracious as her curiosity: she wants to understand, but she also wants to possess her. This opera is not about a power play but a gripping love story in which every door that opens is a wound and every wound is one leg of the journey towards freedom. Its visual language is extreme, combining the super-realistic with the symbolic: naked bodies, blood, sweat, and physical pain. There is no escape.
Musical direction: Jordi Francés
Stage management: Pedro Chamizo
Scenography: Víctor Longás
Lighting Design: Pedro Chamizo and Víctor Longás
Costume Design: Pier Paolo Alvaro and Roger Portal
Musical adaptation of the text: Carlos Imaz
Production: Auditorio de Tenerife
Judit: Deirdre Angenent, mezzosoprano
Barbazul: José Antonio López, baritone
Narrator: Celeste González, actress
Where shall we put this kind of story?
What hiding place is there for a body that hasn’t fit any moulds?
Where does the story begin…?
Outside? Inside?
In the closet…or in the mirror?
They say that this is a legend.
But I swear to you…
that stories are sometimes so similar to life that they inflict pain.
Ladies, gentlemen, all people: I am here.
You look at me, and I also look at you.
The curtain rises—if there is one—and nobody knows whether the stage is here or within me.
Because, like so many others, this story isn’t about castles or princes,
it’s about bodies.
About closed doors.
About identities that understood how to wait.
About names that were difficult to find.
About love. And about courage.
And, yes, the world out there is still full of noise, judgment, wars, rules,
and labels like walls.
But that is not what breaks us.
What breaks us
is having to choose a single way of being so that others may have peace of mind.
What kills us
is not being able to say: “I am here”.
Everyone bears their life story like a burden.
Let’s look at ourselves.
And you may wonder: “Who is Bluebeard?” I’ll tell you:
Whoever dares to seek themself.
The music has begun. The flame is burning.
And when this is over—because everything comes to an end—, I won’t ask for your applause.
I’ll ask you for questions.
–Bluebeard, you can choose a companion for this journey or you can do something more courageous: choose yourself.
Access to the hall is not permitted once the doors are closed for the event's start.
Access is only allowed to those over five years of age.
For further information, please check the general purchase terms and hall conditions.
If you have any questions while purchasing your tickets, please write to taquilla@auditoriodetenerife.com or call 922 568 625 from Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., except for public holidays.