For the first time, the Madrid coliseum will not host guest productions, Alfredo Kraus will be honored, and ‘Carmen’ returns with a new production
The Teatro Real will open a new season on September 19 with 18 opera titles, with a predominance of pieces based on texts by William Shakespeare — up to five operas — and the tale of Barbazul by Charles Perrault, which will be the «thematic axes,» as announced by artistic director Joan Matabosch in a video shown at the press conference he could not attend due to health issues.
During the season presentation, Teatro Real President Gregorio Marañón stated that the new season will be «very eclectic» and will encompass pieces from the 17th to the 21st century. «It is the most Teatro Real season in its history and at the same time the most international, because all the opera productions we will see are co-productions of the theater,» he said.
All the opera productions for the upcoming season will be entirely Teatro Real’s own: eight new co-productions and two restagings, all shared with Spanish and foreign theaters. The new season will feature nine new titles that will be presented for the first time at the Real, where a total of 138 performances will be staged and 253 at the Real Teatro de Retiro, in addition to 46 flamenco performances. The artistic programming budget amounts to €19 million, as indicated by General Director Ignacio García-Belenguer.
The season will kick off on September 19 with ‘Otello’ by Giuseppe Verdi, with twelve performances directed by Nicola Luisotti and directed by David Alden. This will be the first of the Shakespeare text adaptations, an opera «exemplary» for its fidelity to the text, according to Matabosch.
The influence of the English writer will return to Teatro Real in November with ‘The Fairy Queen’ by Henry Purcell, in a semi-staged concert version inspired by ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by Benjamin Britten, which will also be performed in March. «Britten and Pearce make the viewer feel that the original work is included, when in fact it is not. Both manage to eliminate two-thirds of the theatrical piece and then mount the remaining third in a way that nothing essential is left out,» he revealed.
The Shakespeare theme will continue with an opera and a ballet based on ‘Romeo and Juliet’. First, the Royal Ballet of Sweden will present the dance show with the participation of the Teatro Real’s resident orchestra. In the case of the opera, Charles Gounod’s piece will be performed on May 27 with thirteen performances and directed by Thomas Jolly, who keeps the most famous scenes of the text.
This piece will be a tribute to Alfredo Kraus, as a prelude to the commemoration of the centenary of his birth and in memory of his performance of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in 1987 at the Teatro de la Zarzuela.
Also from the literary world comes Bluebeard, a character immortalized by Charles Perrault in one of his storybooks. In this regard, Teatro Real will present two 20th-century operas: one by Hungarian Béla Bartók — a premiere at the Real — and another by Frenchman Paul Dukas. Both pieces propose very different approaches and as Matabosch has stated, they will be «two radically different operas».
ÀLEX OLLÉ RETURNS TO THE REAL
The new musical director of Teatro Real, Gustavo Gimeno, and Christof Loy unite in a unique production of ‘Bluebeard’s Castle’ by Bartók, and the ballet ‘The Miraculous Mandarin’ by the same composer. The tale of Bluebeard will also be addressed in the production ‘Ariadne and Bluebeard’ by Paul Dukas, with Àlex Ollè from Fura dels Baus as stage director, alongside musical director Pinchas Steinberg, who returns to the pit of the Real after 20 years, to explore a world full of symbolism as he did when he directed ‘Die Frau ohne Schatten’ by Richard Strauss in 2005.
Another highlight of the upcoming season will be ‘Carmen’ by Georges Bizet, which returns to the Real on the 150th anniversary of its premiere, with a new co-production signed by Damiano Michieletto. In the pit will be Eun Sun Kim, current musical director of the San Francisco Opera, who conducted her first opera, ‘Il viaggio a Reims’, at the Teatro Real in 2007, when she won first prize in the second edition of the Jesús López Cobos conducting competition, propelling her brilliant career.
Subsequently, Gustavo Gimeno will return to the pit of Teatro Real to lead ‘The Bartered Bride’ by Smetana, in a new production signed by Laurent Pelly. Finally, ‘Il trovatore’ by Verdi will once again grace the stage of the Teatro Real, with Nicola Luisotti conducting and in the same production by Francisco Negrín that was seen a few seasons ago.
VIVALDI, HÄNDEL OR VERDI, BAROQUE OPERAS
Regarding world premieres, the Real will host ‘Enemy of the People’ by Francisco Coll, an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s text, which is a commissioned premiere in collaboration with the Palau de les Arts in Valencia. In this category, there will also be a concert version of ‘The Stuntmen’ by Fernando Velázquez, about the film specialists to film danger scenes. This production is a collaboration with Teatros del Canal and the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.
Additionally, for the performance of baroque operas in concert or semi-staged versions, ‘Farnace’ by Vivaldi, ‘Iris’ by Mascagni, ‘The Fairy Queen’ by Purcell, ‘I masnadieri’ by Verdi, ‘Giulio Cesare in Egitto’ by Händel, ‘Il Giustino’ by Vivaldi, and ‘Ariodante’ by Händel are planned.
Furthermore, the Voces del Real cycle consists of three lyrical concerts featuring soprano Asmik Grigorian, bass-baritone Gerald Finley, and soprano Anna Netrebko (June 30). The musical offerings also include the Tenor Viñas Competition Concert, a symphonic concert conducted by Gustavo Gimeno with pianist Javier Perianes, and the five morning concerts that make up the Domingos de Cámara cycle, featuring soloists from the Teatro Real’s resident orchestra.
As for the dance programming, the cycle will consist of three programs of very different profiles, with two companies making their debut at Teatro Real: the British New Adventures, directed by Matthew Bourne, will perform an iconoclastic version of ‘Swan Lake’; and the Royal Ballet of Sweden with ‘Juliet and Romeo’.
In the upcoming season, the National Ballet of Spain will kick off the dance season with a tribute to José Granero, which will include three of his choreographies: ‘Leyenda’ with music by Albéniz; ‘Bolero’ with music by Ravel; and ‘Medea’ with music by Manolo Sanlúcar).
Additionally, under the title ‘Solos,’ each performance will feature a work inspired by the choreographer’s legacy: ‘Second Skin’ (choreography by Miguel Ángel Corbacho with music by Scarlatti); ‘Arrieiro’ (choreography by Eduardo Martínez with music by Federico Moreno Torroba and Joaquim Nin Culmell); and ‘Somewhere,’ with choreography by Marco Flores and music by Antonio José Martínez Palacios).
TICKETS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
Teatro Real will offer 21 types of subscriptions with different compositions, number of shows – from three to eleven performances – and more than 150 rates to adapt to the economic and time availability of all spectators.
Between April 7 and June 22, 15 opera subscriptions, four dance subscriptions, one Voces del Real subscription, and one Domingos de Cámara subscription plus the Viñas concert will be available for purchase. Starting from July 11, tickets for each performance of the season will be released for sale gradually.