The opera, directed by Paco Azorín, wins as best lyrical show, with another award for Ana Garay's costumes
The Auditorio de Tenerife’s production of the opera Yerma won two Talía awards yesterday (Monday, 18 May). At the ceremony, organised by the Academy of Performing Arts of Spain, the work was chosen in the categories of best lyrical show and best costumes. The awards were accepted by Tenerife Island Councillor for Cultural Affairs José Carlos Acha, and the production’s costume designer Ana Garay at the ceremony held at Teatros del Canal theatres in Madrid.
José Carlos Acha said, ‘I accept this award with great excitement and a deep sense of responsibility’. He thanked all the technical crew, the production staff, and the artists and musicians of Sinfónica de Tenerife orchestra. He also expressed his gratitude to the administrative services and co-producers ‘in this artistic adventure’: Festival Amazonas de Ópera (Manaos, Brazil), Festival de Ópera do Theatro da Paz (Belém, Brazil) and the Teatro La Zarzuela theatre.
The councillor also thanked stage director and set designer Paco Azorín and conductor Luiz Fernando Malheiro and his colleagues, who ‘got this world-class opera up and running, convincing international critics that opera in Spanish is alive and is becoming more and more relevant’. Continuing, he pointed out that the recovery and premiere in Europe of this work of Heitor Villa-Lobos, based on the same-titled work of Federico García Lorca, is a sampling of next year’s events celebrating the centennial of the Generation of ’27.
After accepting her award, Yerma costume designer Ana Garay thanked her academy colleagues ‘for giving this project the importance it deserves. García Lorca’s Yerma is a work that lives on because it speaks of desire, of societal pressure, of the body of silence and of unrestricted women’ and added that ‘this work underpinning the opera of Villa-Lobos took us to an emotional, physical and powerful dimension’. She thanked the Auditorio de Tenerife ‘for rising to the challenge with its support and trust, for continuing to create discomfort-driven dramatic works and for accepting that performing arts always lead us to push our limits and to manage the unexpected’.
Continuing, she said, ‘Paco Azorín filled the stage with water to represent life, fertility and desire, giving us afterwards an arid and sterile landscape that transformed the whole production’. She went on to say that the costumes of this production ‘were not ornamental; there was no room for superficiality’, and she thanked all her colleagues for their work. In conclusion, she added that she was sharing the award ‘with Berna Perles and each one of the cast members as an example of dedication and confidence’.
Paco Azorín was stage director and responsible for dramaturgy and scenography, Riccardo Benfatto assisted the stage director, Carlos Martos de la Vega was in charge of dramaturgy and stage movement, Pedro Chamizo designed the video, Pedro Yagüe designed the lighting, and Blanca Torres Cazallas provided historical–psychological advice.
The Tenerife cast, under musical direction by Luiz Fernando Malheiro (three performances) and Pablo Urbina, comprised two sopranos in the title role of Yerma: Berna Perles (three performances) and María Miró; tenor Alejandro Roy (Juan); baritone Javier Castañeda (Víctor); mezzo-soprano Anna Gomà (María); and mezzo-soprano María José Montiel (Dolores). Supporting roles—older women, young girls, sisters-in-law, and washerwomen—were performed by mezzosopranos Belén Elvira, Guadalupe Barrientos, and Alexandra Urquiola, and sopranos Zayra Ruiz, Marga Cloquell, and Carmen Mateo. Tenor Alberto Ballesta took on the role of the Macho.