Some 500 students discover Pedro Chamizo’s ground-breaking stage production

Around 500 students from fourteen educational centres attended today’s (Thursday 23rd) performance of Béla Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle. The opera will be performed for the public this Saturday (April 25) at 7.30 p.m. in the Symphony Hall. Ópera de Tenerife’s fresh production delivers, courtesy of stage director Pedro Chamizo, a ground-breaking and modern take on the legendary tale’s protagonist.

The students who attended hailed from six educational centres in Santa Cruz: the secondary schools IES Teobaldo Porwer, IES San Andrés, IES Andrés Bello, and the vocational training centres CIFP César Manrique and CIFP Las Indias. Additionally, four secondary schools from La Laguna participated: IES Profesor Martín Miranda, IES La Laboral, IES Domingo Pérez Minik, and Colegio Nuryana. Finally, students came from IES Villalba Hervás in La Orotava, IES Los Realejos, IES Adeje and IES Tacoronte.

Pedro Chamizo delivers in this version a psychological thriller exploring identity, presenting the stage as an eerie, cinematic nowhere, a suspended mental landscape. The story becomes an exploration of memory, body, trauma, desire, identity and internal oppression.

Leading the Sinfónica de Tenerife is conductor Jordi Francés for Ópera de Tenerife’s fresh take on the opera. José Antonio López (Spanish baritone) is Bluebeard, with Deirdre Angenent (Dutch mezzo) as Judit. Celeste González narrates, alongside Canary actresses Ylenia de Luis, Adriana Cortés, and Sobeida Gómez, in the Appearances.

Costume designs are by Pier Paolo Alvaro and Roger Portal, with lighting by Víctor Longás and Pedro Chamizo, who also delivers the audio-visual design signature to his oeuvre.

Tickets for Saturday’s performance can be purchased at a single price of €20 on the website www.auditoriodetenerife.com, at the auditorium’s box office, or by dialling 902 317 327 from Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Check the special discounts for audience under 30, students, unemployed people, and large families.

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).