Twelve offerings scheduled for coming months: eight during season and four during preseason period as part of Small-format Opera
Auditorio de Tenerife presents the coming opera season. Under the motto El mundo parece inmenso y callado (The world feels vast and silent), there will be 12 offerings: eight during the season and four during the preseason period as part of the third edition of Ópera en minúscula (Small-format Opera). Details were disclosed earlier today (Tuesday, 12 May) by Councillor for Cultural Affairs José Carlos Acha and Art Director of Auditorio de Tenerife José Luis Rivero.
José Carlos Acha thanked the artists and technical staff for their dedication to the current season, reporting ‘over 18,000 spectators, including 1,300 subscription holders, 200 of whom are under 30 years of age’. He referred to the nominations of Yerma in the category of best lyrical show and best costumes, describing them as ‘a nationwide acknowledgement of the performing arts, with the awards ceremony slated for 18 May’. The councillor added, ‘The staff of Ópera de Tenerife have worked hard to proudly announce today an ambitious new season full of challenges that will satisfy the public’s expectations of quality and excellence, with classic works as well as new forms of opera’.
José Luis Rivero said, ‘All the new season’s offerings will be premieres in Tenerife, except Le nozze di Figaro. This will amount to three premieres in Spain (The Golden Dragon, Owen Wingrave and Powder Her Face), such that there will be an opera offering every month, from September to June, with the exception of February. We are coming from a season of continuous creation, with in-house productions staged here and an educational ecosystem for the creation of a pool of talent. Now, we’re going to reap the rewards of our co-producers that have done the same and whose operas we’ll be seeing here’, said the art director, who went on to refer to the ’diversity of styles of the offerings as a means of stimulating the public’s interest’.
From the classicism of Mozart to zarzuela recently composed by Javier Carmena, the season offers a rich repertoire through in-house productions and in alliance with major theatres. Most of the performances will take place in the Symphony Hall, and others at Espacio La Granja and Teatro Leal.
The programme is set to begin on 17 June, when musical communicator Ramón Gener will return to the Chamber Hall to talk about the offerings scheduled from September onwards, with his characteristic style, audiovisual presentations and performances with piano and singing.
The preseason period is to begin with the third edition of Ópera en minúscula (Small-format Opera). The first of the small-format chamber works, to be performed on12 September at Espacio La Granja, will be Luciérnaga, composed by Gabriela Ortiz for soprano, actor, chamber ensemble and multimedia, and produced by Vector de Ideas. Ludwig Carrasco will conduct the Classical Laguna Experience Orchestra, and César Martín will be in charge of the stage direction of this work, starring soprano Carmen Acosta and actor Javier Santos.
Also, at Espacio La Granja, Svadba (The Wedding), by composer Ana Sokolović, has been scheduled for 19 September. This contemporary opera for six female voices performing a cappella features the production and stage direction of Aixa Guerra. Auditorio de Tenerife’s new production for Small-format Opera, The golden dragon, by Péter Eötvös, is to take place on 25 and 26 September at Teatro Leal. Orchestral conductor Jordi Francés and stage director Bárbara Lluch are part of this production starring soprano Natalia Labourdette.
Small-format Opera will draw to a close with La clausura del amor, by Reyes Otero, on 3 October in the Chamber Hall of Auditorio de Tenerife. The libretto of Pascal Rambert will be taken to the stage in a coproduction of Auditorio de Tenerife, Teatro Xtremo and the Autonomous Community of Madrid. Ricardo Campelo will be in charge of stage direction, set design and audiovisual design, with soprano Ruth González and baritone Enrique Sánchez-Ramos leading the cast.
The first big production of the season will be performances on 11, 13, 15 and 17 October of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. This offering for subscription holders is a coproduction of Gran Teatre del Liceu and Auditorio de Tenerife, with conductor Pablo González and stage director Marta Pazos. The cast includes soprano Leonor Bonilla as Susanna, baritone Jan Antem as Figaro, José Antonio López as Count Almaviva, soprano Lianna Haroutounian as Countess Almaviva, and sopranist Rafael Quirant as Cherubino. The cast will be accompanied by orchestra, choir and dancers.
Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin has been scheduled for 15, 18 and 21 November in a joint production of Fundación Ópera de Oviedo and Auditorio de Tenerife. The performances will feature the conducting of Paul Daniel and the stage direction of Guillermo Amaya. The cast will include Tenerife-born tenor Airam Hernández as Lohengrin, along with soprano Miren Urbieta-Vega as Elsa von Brabant, soprano Magdalena Anna Hofmann as Ostrud, baritone Olafur Sigurdarson as Friedrich von Telramund and bass Vazgen Gazaryan as Heinrich der Vogler. Orchestra and choir round out the production.
On 4 and 5 December, Tránsito, by Jesús Torres, will be performed in a production of Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía and Auditorio de Tenerife. Based on Max Aub’s same-titled work, Tránsito is about the pain, alienation and moral dilemmas of the Spanish Republican exile in Mexico. Conductor Jordi Francés and the orchestra will perform the music, Carles Alfaro will be in charge of stage direction, and the cast will include mezzosoprano Carmen Artaz, baritone Isaac Galán, soprano María Miró, baritone Toni Marsol and tenor Pablo García López.
Ringing in the new year 2027, Handel’s Baroque opera Orlando has been scheduled for 21 and 23 January in a production of Festival Peralada and Oper Köln (Germany). This production of a soldier’s emotional upheaval will feature stage director Rafael Villalobos and conductor Daniel Espasa at the helm of Baroque orchestra Vespres d’Arnadí. The cast will include countertenor Xavier Sabata as Orlando and soprano Emöke Baráth as the love-stricken Angelica, along with Sabina Puértolas as Dorinda and Anna Bonitatibus as Medoro, among others.
Ambroise Thomas’ Hamlet has been scheduled for 7, 9, 11 and 13 March in the Symphony Hall in a French production of Opéra de Saint-Etienne. Orchestra, choir and dancers will accompany the cast in this Shakespearean tragedy, with stage director Nicola Berloffa and conductor Seok-Won Hong. The production will feature Tenerife-born baritone Fernando Campero as Hamlet, soprano Serena Sáenz as Ophélie, soprano Lucie Peyramaure as Queen Gertrude, and basses Nicolas Courjal and Javier Castañeda as Claudius and Ghost, respectively.
Benjamin Britten’s Owen Wingrave will be performed on 16 and 17 April in an in-house production of Auditorio de Tenerife that will be the opera’s premiere in Spain. The Sinfónica de Tenerife orchestra will be conducted by David Greilsammer (music and art director of Geneva Camerata), and Emiliano Suárez will be in charge of stage direction. A choir of female voices will be part of this story about a young man who renounces his family’s military legacy and rejects his future as a soldier. The cast will include baritone Nikolay Borchev as Owen Wingrave, bass-baritone Javier Castañeda as Spencer Coyle, and mezzo-soprano Alexandra Urquiola as Kate Julian, among others.
Powder Her Face, by Thomas Adès, will premiere at Teatro Leal on 15 and 16 May, in a production of Auditorio de Tenerife. This contemporary opera brings to the stage the scandalous love life and divorce of Margaret, the Duchess of Argyll, in the 1960s. The ensemble LUX:NM will be conducted by Alessandro Palumbo, with stage direction by Nicola Beller Carbone, and sopranos Sally Matthews and Meghan Picerno as the Duchess and her maid, respectively.
The zarzuela El orgullo de quererte, by Javier Carmena, marks the season finale with performances on 25, 26 and 27 June. The characters of this story dare to love in a context that does not always legitimise that love, and their intimate gesture becomes a silent political act. The production, by Fundación Orquesta y Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid-ORCAM, and Auditorio de Tenerife, will feature the stage direction of Albert Boadella and Martina Cabanas. In addition to the choir and dancers, Alondra de la Parra will conduct the Sinfónica de Tenerife orchestra. The cast includes Enrique Viana, Santiago Ballerini, Germán Olvera, María Rey-Joly, Mar Morán, Andrea Rey, Berna Perles, Gerardo López, Jesús Cantolla and Daniel González.
Current subscription holders can now renew their passes, and those interested in joining Club Ópera may do so from 23 June onwards. The subscription for seven of the operas may be purchased for €140 (opening nights and second performances) or €190 (Saturday performances), and, for spectators under 30 years of age, the special price of €35 remains available regardless of the performance day.
The Sinfónica de Tenerife orchestra will perform in six offerings, of which the Main Choir Ópera de Tenerife-Intermezzo will perform in five, and the dancers from Centro Internacional de Danza Tenerife in three. One of the season’s new developments is the starting time of the performances, which has been brought forward by 30 minutes to 7 p.m., except for Sunday performances, which will begin at 6 p.m.
Regarding the season’s title El mundo parece inmenso y callado (The world feels vast and silent), in view of the challenging international climate, Auditorio de Tenerife invites spectators to embrace silence, to identify their doubts, fears and wishes with the stories of these characters. As discourse becomes polarised and borders harden, opera serves as a place where contained emotion may at last be expressed aloud. Because only when we dare to listen to it, the world may, at last, start to respond.
Members of Club Ópera, Club Ópera Empresa and Club Ópera Joven already have all the information they need for their renewal processes, while new season subscriptions go on sale on 23 June. All the details about the benefits of joining Ópera de Tenerife, such as choosing your seat, attending unique events, and gaining access to exclusive discounts, are now available at www.operadetenerife.com.
Ópera de Tenerife is an initiative organised by the Island Council through the Auditorio de Tenerife with the sponsorship of the ICDC (Regional Institute of Cultural Development) and the INAEM (National Institute of Performing Arts and Music).