Spanish-language puppet-opera is for whole family, with performance time of under an hour and tickets priced at €5 and €10
Opera de Tenerife has scheduled a show for the entire family: El retablo de maese Pedro (Master Peter’s Puppet Show). This puppet opera composed by Manuel de Falla and inspired by Don Quixote is sure to please the whole family. An eight-meter Don Quixote, among other characters, will take the stage of the Symphony Hall of the Auditorio de Tenerife on Saturday, 26 April at 6 p.m. and Sunday, 27 April at noon. The performance will last less than an hour and tickets are priced at €10 or €5 for spectators under 30 years of age.
The proposal for Ópera en Familia this season is presented by the theatrical, musical and puppet artists Etcétera, a company directed and founded by Enrique Lanz, whose grandfather Hermenegildo Lanz was the creator of the set design and puppetry of the debut production, in which the poet Federico García Lorca also collaborated.
The story of this opera sung in Spanish dates back to 1918, when the Princess de Polignac commissioned the Cádiz composer Manuel de Falla to write a short work for a chamber orchestra. He proposed Chapter XXVI of the Second Part of Miguel de Cervantes’ The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha as the plot of his opera. Also, he suggested staging it with puppets, as this chapter tells ‘the funny story of the puppeteer’. The premiere of the staged work took place at the princess’ estate in 1923.
In this opera, Don Quixote attends a puppet show of Master Peter and his young assistant Trujamán. Part of the show involves the telling of how Gaiferos tries to rescue his wife Melisendra, who is held prisoner in a tower. The surprise comes when Don Quixote, believing the story to be real, seeks to rescue the damsel in distress, interrupting the show and unleashing havoc.
Gran Canaria-born tenor Gabriel Álvarez will voice the marionette of Master Peter, and the opera’s narrator Trujamán will be voiced by soprano Ruth González. Bass-baritone Abraham García will provide the voice of Don Quixote, whose marionette is the biggest of all, standing eight meters tall.
The singers and marionettes will be accompanied onstage by the musicians of the Tenerife Symphonic Orchestra, which will be conducted by Music Director Pablo Urbina.
Enrique Lanz is in charge of the staging, set design, marionettes and projections. In his score, Falla sought to emulate Cervantes’ blend of literary styles. The Andalusian composer used music of different styles and from different periods, combining ancient, folkloric, sacred and avant-garde music. With this approach in mind, Lanz makes use of medieval and Baroque aesthetics, materials and symbols, as well as finding inspiration in the expressiveness of African and outsider art.
Alberto Rodríguez is in charge of lighting, and Assistant Director Yanisbel Martínez will bring the marionettes to life with the help of 13 actors: Alicia Cegrí, Cristina Colmenero, Leo Lanz, David Rodríguez, Tete Rojas, Miguel Rubio, Christine Mackenzie, Irene Molina, Silvio Garabello, Julien Flotat, Alejandro Conesa and Adrián Zamora.
The show is a coproduction involving Etcétera, Spain’s Royal Theatre and the Granada Music and Dance Festival.
Ópera de Tenerife is an initiative organised by the Island Council through the Auditorio de Tenerife with the collaboration of the ICDC (Regional Institute of Cultural Development) and the INAEM (National Institute of Performing Arts and Music).
The tickets are available on the website www.auditoriodetenerife.com, at the auditorium’s box office or by dialling the phone number 902 317 327 from Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Check the special discounts for, among others, students, unemployed people and large families.