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Baritones Gianni Giuga and Jorge Eleazar Álvarez Mora believe that The Italian in Algiers is the best recognition we can give Rossini on the 150^th anniversary of his death. Both singers are playing the role of Taddeo, the old Italian man in this comedy that will open the new Ópera de Tenerife season.

Mexican Álvarez trained at Conservatorio de Las Rosas and at Escuela Nacional de Música. He has heard about the work being done in Tenerife and has “great expectations regarding the artistic level of Ópera de Tenerife”. Sicilian Gianni Giuga graduated from Accademia Nazionale d’Arte Drammatica Giusto Monaco and does not hesitate to say that Opera (e)Studio “is one of the most sought-after and interesting theatrical opportunities in Europe for an opera singer”.

Regarding the academic experience that is to start shortly at Auditorio de Tenerife, Jorge Eleazar hopes to “grow artistically, professionally and as a human being”, and trusts that the Ópera de Tenerife team “will lead us to reach the very best level in the opera”. Gianni Giuga’s opinion is backed by “the experience of many friends who have come to the audition, have worked or studied in Tenerife in the past years”. This led him to make the decision to take part this year, which involves his “artistic and professional growth”.

About The Italian in Algiers, the Mexican highlights “the balance of beauty and comedy”, confirming that “it is a master piece we must all bear in mind”. The Italian does not fall short of praise and says it is “the paradise of opera buffa”, achieved thanks to “the dizzying complex colours, apart from quick textures for all the characters and voice registers”.

Regarding the role of Taddeo they are performing, Álvarez says that the most difficult aspect is “the great contrast in nuances in terms of music, performance and drama”, describing the character as “key in the plot and acting as a relief for the audience”. Giuca points out that this title “offers opportunity for voice and musical growth” mentioning “the particular phrasing necessary to better understand and perform the different peculiarities”.

Regarding possible future projects, Gianni Giuga clings on to “the ambition of singing and studying as much as possible”. As an admirer of the Italian composer he admits that one of his near future projects is “to reaffirm himself as a Rossini baritone”, Tenerife being “a great opportunity to carry it out”. When it comes to thinking of future characters, “Figaro, in The Barber of Seville and Dandini, in Cinderella, “represent me emotionally”, although he admits “he does not want to restrict himself to just one repertoire” and so he hopes “to be successful” when he sings everything the quality of his voice is fit for.

Jorge Elezazar has a similar opinion, stating that he would like to perform “everything” and leaves his voice to determine his career. He also says that one of his dreams is to cross the pond in order to “enter the professional European market, calmly and intelligently”. To accomplish this, he wishes to “grow with every rehearsal and performance until he achieves excellence”.

Both singers are arriving in Tenerife next week to take part in the sixth Opera (e)Studio, made up of thirteen singers. They will all benefit from a process of comprehensive artistic improvement, under the direction of Giulio Zappa, and that culminates with four performances of The Italian in Algiers, to be held at Sala Sinfónica of Auditorio de Tenerife from 25 to 28 October. This is the first time Nikolas Maximilian Nägele is the musical director for Ópera de Tenerife while Giorgia Guerra is the stage manager.

The new Auditorio de Tenerife resident company, Lava, started work last week. This new Tenerife Danza project is made up of six dancers and is part of the Tenerife 2030 strategy, fostered by the Island Cabildo. Tenerife-born Daniel Abreu, who was awarded the Premio Nacional de Danza 2014, is in charge of the artistic direction.

The Island Director for Culture and Education of Cabildo, José Luis Rivero, paid a visit to Auditorio de Tenerife, where he talked to Daniel Abreu and the Lava dancers: Carmen Fumero, Julián Lazzaro, Emiliana Battista, Javier García Arozarena, Virginia Martín Mateos and Samuel Déniz Falcón.

Rivero highlights “we’re very excited to start this new project, we have great expectations” adding that “setting up Lava reaffirms the long-standing support given to dance by the Cabildo and Auditorio de Tenerife”. “The idea is to position Lava as a leading national and international company, with young choreographers of international scope who can bring to us the new discourses of dance”.

Daniel Abreu admits he is very excited about the project “which is part of Tenerife Danza, and has a more creative line; I’m happy to have been given the chance to direct it”. After the first working sessions, “I’m very happy to see how involved in the project the team at Auditorio Tenerife is, how they take care of it both artistically and creatively; I believe we’ve chosen a spectacular team of performers”.

Abreu points out that “we’ve had an initial contact with the whole team and they have a wonderful level of professionalism, are very eager and talented; with time we’ll shape the group and make it solid.”

Daniel Abreu reminds us that Lava is premiering a two-piece programme in the Festival de Tenerife. One of the pieces is with La intrusa company, which was awarded the Premio Nacional de Danza 2015; the other one is with Fernando Magadán, who is currently the director of Nederlands Dans Theater. “We’re starting with this double programme, I’m very happy and looking forward to it; I’ve always wanted creations to be very original, made specifically for our dancers”.

Abreu takes the opportunity to point out the high level of dance in the Canaries; “At this stage, it’s unquestionable; the Canaries are a source of nationally and internationally renowned dancers and creators, so it makes sense that half of the dancers at Lava are Canarian”.

The dancers will undergo a high-performance physical training through classes on classical technique and will also practise contemporary languages thanks to the different guest choreographers and masters to suit the repertoire being performed.

The Tenerife Artes Escénicas programme, organized by the Cabildo with the collaboration of the town councils, starts the cultural calendar for September with six shows to be held between Saturday, 01 and Wednesday, 05 in Arico, Garachico and La Victoria de Acentejo.

Double act Aarón Gómez & Kike Pérez are offering two performances, one on Saturday, 01 at 9:00 pm in Plaza de Villa de Arico and another one on Tuesday, 04 at 9:30 pm in Plaza El Pinar in La Victoria. The show is called Contado Pierde, and in it the comedians offer a hilarious picture of Canarian idiosyncrasy that is suitable to all ages.

The company Contando Ando is putting on the theatre play ¿Te lo cuento otra vez? on Sunday, 02 at 6:00 pm in muelle viejo de Garachico (Garachico’s old harbour). This is a children’s show where Mariquita and Tontón, the main characters, will go through classical tales which everyone knows although they’ll introduce some changes at the end.

The Tenerife Artes Escénicas programme is also travelling to La Victoria de Acentejo on Sunday, 02. Comedian Juanfree Batista is offering a sarcastic monologue on social networks criticising the pressure they put on people. It is held in Plaza Rodríguez Lara at 7 pm.

On Monday, 03, at 6 pm in the same place, Medio Almud is performing La tragicomedia de la papa antigua de Canarias, a theatre proposal to raise environmental awareness and bring back the memory of traditional Canarian culture.

Vocal siete, a group that combines different musical disciplines, will be in Plaza Rodríguez Lara on Wednesday, 5 at 6:00 pm to perform Todo se transforma. The group does not use any instruments in their shows, only their voices and bodies.

Maria Ostroukhova and Vittoria Vimercati are playing the part of Isabella, the young Italian who has the leading role in Rossini’s The Italian in Algiers, which opens the new Ópera de Tenerife season next October. Both singers agree it is “an amusing and intelligent opera”.

Ostroukhova and Vimercati are arriving on the Island next week to join the new group at Opera (e)Studio where the Russian mezzo soprano hopes to “gain a good command of her vocal skills and deepen her knowledge of Rossini’s brilliant style”, whom she greatly admires. On her part, the Italian singer admits that the great challenge for her in Tenerife is “facing a difficult task that challenges my musical and stage skills”. However, she affirms it is precisely that what “will allow me to grow as an artist”.

Vimercati, who is currently studying at Conservatorio di Musica Verdi in Milan, knows about the work with new talents carried out in Tenerife and thinks that “it’s a great opportunity as young singers get the chance to make their debut in an important season”.  Ostroukhova, who trained at Moscow State Tchaikovsky and at London’s Royal College of Music, admits that “I was in my own little bubble in the British musical scene” unaware of “European opera programmes”.

It is clear for both of them that The Italian in Algiers is an “amusing and intelligent opera”. Ostroukhova points out that it is “concise, entertaining and full of successes”, while in Vimercati’s opinion, the construction of the opera is “extremely intelligent both in terms of music and stage”. They think that the plot is still valid today and the characters are very funny.

Regarding the role of Isabella, they are going to perform from 25 to 28 October at Sala Sinfónica of Auditorio de Tenerife, Maria Ostroukhova says that since her graduation, she has only performed Baroque opera and she “is looking forward to going on stage”. She defines Isabella as “a rare example of a strong, sexually free woman every feminist would be proud of”. The main difficulty of the character lies on “her conflictive and contrasting personality” as it is deemed to be “a strong but seductive character, sarcastic but sincere and shy but challenging”.

In contrast with her colleague, this is not the first time Vittoria Vimercati is facing this role. In fact, at the Festival de Música de Ticino last July, she played the Italian heroine. In general terms, she says that “every character you approach must be tailor-made to your individuality”. In her view, the greatest difficulties in the performance are “in the virtuosities sung at great speed and the vocal range needed to perform them”.

Ostroukhova believes that “as long as there is music there is life”, so regarding future projects, she hopes “to be immersed in music and on the stage as long as she can”. She hesitates when it comes to choosing the role of her dreams although she mentions “Carmen or Rosina”, and amusingly concludes that “one day, when I’m old and wise, Isolde... who knows?”. Also, being a geology lover, she hopes to visit El Teide soon, as “I´ve admired it for years”.

Vimercati has no specific projects either, but she hopes to be able to take on “new roles and start her musical career after making her debut”. Although she admits that “every mezzo soprano usually dreams of singing Carmen”, she also says that she’d like to play “the role of Charlotte in Werther and Dalila in Samson and Dalila”.

Next week the young singers, along with eleven other artists, are starting the sixth Opera (e)Studio in Tenerife, where they will spend two months in a process of comprehensive artistic improvement, under the supervision of Giulio Zappa, which concludes with four performances of The Italian in Algiers to be held at Sala Sinfónica of Auditorio de Tenerife from 25 to 28 October. Musical director Nikolas Maximilian Nägele is working at Ópera de Tenerife for the first time this year and Giorgia Guerra is returning to the Island as stage manager.

The programme Tenerife Artes Escénicas, fostered by the Cabildo with the collaboration of the town councils, is bringing to La Victoria de Acentejo the shows La Familia Pi, by puppet company Bolina, and El bosque de colores, by Komba Producciones. The shows are on in Plaza Rodríguez Lara, on Sunday, 26 at 5:00 pm

Bolina opens this cultural gathering in La Victoria with La Familia Pi [The Pi Family]. Jockeys, wading birds, chicks and leaping worms will make the youngest laugh and have a great time. In a passacaglia full of feathers and colours, these characters offer participative games and parade while interacting with the public.

At 6:00 pm, Plaza Rodríguez Lara welcomes El bosque de colores [The colourful forest]. This is a show for families and it includes magic, humour and participative songs. By interacting with the characters, the audience will meet the fantasy protagonists including a wicked witch who will try to spoil the party. With the help of magic and the audience, the cast makes the witch open her heart and let the party go on.

Tenerife Artes Escénicas is a professional programme for the performing arts and music by Cabildo de Tenerife, and it is part of the Tenerife 2030 strategy, which aims to develop coordination, administrative, economic and technical strategies to offer a quality artistic programme. This initiative has promoted more than 175 shows in all the municipalities in 2018.

Tenors Milos Bulajic and Li Biao are interpreting Lindoro in Rossini’s The Italian in Algiers, on stage in late October at Sala Sinfónica in Auditorio de Tenerife. Bulajic and Biao -both part of the sixth Opera (e)Studio production- will share the role of the man who loves Isabella in the four performances that will open the Ópera de Tenerife season.

This is the first time they are performing on the Island but this opera, which they highly praised, is not new to them. “This is Rossini’s best opera and the best comedy I’ve ever seen”, they say about Ópera de Tenerife’s production.  

Milos Bulajic is from Bonn (Germany), and he studied at Berlin’s Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler and at Hochschule für Musik de Würzburg. The performer, who was recently on the Island to enjoy The Traviata, heard about the academic programme of Opera (e)Studio through some friends. He highlights “the work it carries out to become a great opera reference”.

Li Biao comes from Gansu (China). He obtained his degree from Sichuan Conservatoire in 2011 and meant to take part in the auditions for Don Pasquale during the 2016-2017 season but different commitments prevented it.  He says that “he’s never been to Tenerife, but the Auditorio, apart from being a most beautiful building, has a great reputation outside the Island”.

Milos Bulajic, who has already played the role at Nationaltheater Weimar in the 2016-2017 season, points out that “it has high technical demands”. In Li Biao’s view, who has also performed this opera at Italian and Austrian venues, the challenge lies in “expressing the personality and nature of the role”. They both conclude that Lindoro requires “balance to deal with the notes, the coloraturas and the long phrases”.

Regarding their work at Opera (e)Studio under the direction of maestro Giulio Zappa, Bulajic hopes to “enjoy the time shared with other young artists”; as well as “being listened to by an opera-loving audience”. On his part, Biao, aspires to “improve and train to become a professional singer”. They both say “they’re looking forward to be on stage at Auditorio de Tenerife”, and state it will be a “fresh and attractive production”.

About their future projects, the German tenor says that he would like to “have a quiet career”, by which he means “far from media attention” so that I can “focus on my work and enjoy something that comes from deep inside my heart”. His preferences regarding future performances include “the roles of Ernesto in Don Pasquale, Tonio in La fille du régiment, Arturo in Puritani, and even Elvino in Sonnambula”. He also expects “to be able to aspire to the roles of Edgardo in Lucia de Lammermoor, Tito in Clemenza or Macduff in Macbeth in two decades’ time”.

Biao says he cannot make plans for the future and he’d rather “experience the moment on the stage” fulfilling his dream. Although he is not bent on one in particular, he again agrees with his colleague in that he would like to play the role of Tonio in La fille du régiment, “an opera I’d like to perform”, he concludes.

Before reaching those future goals, their minds are focused on Tenerife, where on 7 September they are starting a two-month artistic improvement process under the direction of Giulio Zappa, which would lead to four performances of The Italian in Algiers to be held from 25 to 28 October.

This title opens the new Ópera de Tenerife season and includes the debut of Maximilian Nägele as musical director and the return of Giorgia Guerra as stage manager. She has set this new coproduction of Auditorio de Tenerife and Teatro Comunale di Bologna in the surreal atmosphere of a spa located in 1980s Algiers and characters are dressed with the amusing, colourful costumes of that period.

Tenors Matías Moncada Albarrán and Alexander Utkin are sharing the role of King Mustafa in the Auditorio de Tenerife production The Italian in Algiers, by Rossini, which opens the Ópera de Tenerife season on 25 October. Their performance is part of the sixth Opera (e)Studio, whose training period is starting on 7 September.

Chilean tenor Matías Moncada, who studied at Universidad de Chile and obtained a grant from Fundación Ibáñez Atkinson and from Corporación Amigos del Teatro Municipal de Santiago, is “looking forward to coming to the Island”, as he has had “good references about the opera work done at Ópera de Tenerife”. Born in Russia, Alexander Utkin studied choral direction at Bryansk Regional College and at Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire in St. Petersburg, and describes the island’s Auditorio “as one of the most beautiful in Spain”. The Russian singer, who in his early years took up rock, has personal references about the training that has been carried out on the island in the last years.

Regarding Opera (e)Studio, which is starting in September and lasts two months, Utkin has purposefully prepared for it and believes “it’s a great chance to take part in an exciting production and gain stage experience by playing one of the leading roles”. He also highlights “the feedback you get when working with major musicians and young performers”, something Moncada also points out, as he hopes to have “many experiences that will enrich me and make me grow as an individual”.

Neither of them has performed the The Italian in Algiers before but they both believe it is “energetic”. Moncada likens it to “a wave that gets hold of you from the overture all the way to the end”. For his part, Utkin adds that Rossini’s classic “is full of humour and vital power”.  

The character of Mustafa “is a real challenge” according to Moncada, as, “you can’t fall off, you must keep active not to lose the audience attention”. He adds that “this histrionics, Rossini’s typical sparkle, means that if one of the characters doesn’t keep up the energy, the whole thing fades”. Utkin, refers to the different aspects of Mustafa’s multi-faceted personality to describe the difficulty of the role, “he’s a serious guy but behaves like a child; I think the most difficult thing is to combine these two features to make him interesting and amusing to the audience”.

With their eyes in the future, they are both realistic and take it step by step, as Utkin says “it wouldn’t be very original to say that my goal is to become a top-level professional, have an international career and sing across the world”. For the time being, he feels “very comfortable with Rossini, my commitment in Tenerife looks like a good start for a long successful path”. Moncada also focuses on the present and wishes “to go on learning as much as I can” as “whatever the future brings depends on how I live the present time”, he reflects.

When asked about the roles they would like to play in the future, Alexander Utkin recognises that when he discovered the beauty of Verdi’s The Troubadour, he was certain that it was “the role of my dreams”; although he admits that because he has a bass-baritone tessitura “it could be a problem”, so he goes for “Garibaldo in Rodelinda by Händel or Igor in Prince Igor by Borodin as the most suitable roles in my career at the moment”. Matías Moncada says that “he likes Mozart very much and the character of Leporello”. He claims to be enjoying every performance “to the full, as if each of them were the role of my dreams”.

Moncada and Utkin are two of the thirteen singers in this year Opera (e)Studio, where they will start a process of comprehensive artistic improvement, under the supervision of Giulio Zappa, to conclude with four performances of The Italian in Algiers to be held at Sala Sinfónica of Auditorio de Tenerife from 25 to 28 October. This production is bringing musical director Nikolas Maximilian Nägele to the Island and has Giorgia Guerra as stage manager.

The programme Tenerife Artes Escénicas y Música Profesional [Tenerife Performing Arts and Professional Music], fostered by the Island Cabildo and different town councils, and publicly and privately-owned venues across the Island, is offering on Wednesday [15 August], the concert Timples y otras pequeñas guitarras de mundo [Timples and other small guitars of the world] at 9 pm.

Germán López, Althay Pérez, Yone Rodríguez, and Beselch Rodríguez are some of the most outstanding timple performers of the new generation. On this occasion, they get together to show the timple and its relation to other similar instruments in the world. So, Timples y otras pequeñas guitarras de mundo also includes the ukulele, the cavaquinho, the charango, and the cuatro.

The four timple players will offer a repertoire of the major themes that best represent the place of origin of the different instruments. The concert is thus divided in the geographical areas of each instrument: Hawaii, Portugal, Brazil, the Andes countries, Venezuela, and the Canary Islands. They will play a maximum of four pieces from each area.

Tenerife Artes Escénicas is a professional programme for the performing arts and music by Cabildo de Tenerife, and it is part of the Tenerife 2030 strategy, which aims to develop coordination, administrative, economic and technical strategies to offer a quality artistic programme. This initiative has promoted more than 170 shows in 2018.

Sopranos Inés Lorans Millán and Anna Kabrera Eliseeva are the voice of Elvira, King Mustafa’s wife in The Italian in Algiers, the comic masterpiece by Rossini which opens Ópera de Tenerife’s  2018-2019 season and is on at Auditorio de Tenerife from 25 to 28 October. Both singers are excited about their debut on the Island in an opera they think is “brilliant and energetic”.

Inés Lorans is a French-Spanish soprano who trained at the Conservatoire de Rennes and at Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. She has never been to Tenerife, but has heard about Auditorio de Tenerife productions, particularly about the Opera (e)Studio scheme “through sopranos Inés Ballesteros and Leonor Bonilla”, who have performed in previous Ópera de Tenerife seasons and who were finalists in the 2018 Tenor Viñas competition.

Anna Eliseeva was born in Russia and has lived in Madrid since 2016. Her training started at Moscow Children School to then go on to Escuela Superior de Canto de Madrid. She has not been to the island either but knows about the work being done here as she says that “there are very good productions and I know many singers who have performed in Ópera de Tenerife”.

Both singers have great expectations of the training programme starting in September at Auditorio de Tenerife. In Lorans’s case, “when I finished my musical studies in London, I decided to prepare for the auditions”, in order to “improve my training of the scene”. Eliseeva expects “to learn as much as she can from the Ópera de Tenerife team and her fellow singers”. Inés Lorans values this concept of “comprehensive training” with other artists.

Lorans and Eliseeva will add the role of Elvira to their repertoire. About this debut, Eliseeva points out that The Italian in Algiers deals with “important and complex social issues in a funny, light manner”. Lorans Millán, for her part, believes it is a composition whose “vocal and musical agility is so lively that it is a good chance for singers to show off their voices, not only in the arias but also in the ensembles”, which makes it a “perfect opportunity to make progress in my Rossini repertoire”.

Regarding the possible technical difficulties involved in the role of Elvira, Lorans says that “although it does not have a solo aria, there are many ensembles in a high G-A-B”. For her, “these notes are between high and very high, and as I am a coloratura soprano passing from one register to the other easily, involves technical work”; as she is currently working on it, she believes “this role will allow me to put this into practice and enjoy myself on the stage”. Eliseeva thinks that the most complex aspect of the character is “not to allow Elvira to show just one trait”. To achieve this, she aims at “finding her strength”, otherwise, “the role of the King of Algiers’s wife would be weak and languid”. 

Regarding her future, Lorans Millán recognises that “being part of this project in Tenerife is a goal achieved” and she is certain that “singing and being on stage” is what makes her happy.  As for characters, she hopes to be “lucky enough to play the role of Lakmé or The Queen of the Night”, but she highlights her leading role in Lucia di Lammermoor, by Donizetti, which she thinks is “very complete and difficult both in vocal and dramatic terms”. Anna Eliseeva would also like to play this role in the future, but she must first finish her studies at Escuela Superior de Canto de Madrid, although she is combining her training with her first professional experiences, like “the opportunity granted by Ópera de Tenerife”.

Both singers are arriving in Tenerife on 7 September to take part in the sixth Opera (e)Studio. Eleven other singers are also taking part in the course which is a process of comprehensive artistic improvement, under the direction of Giulio Zappa, and that ends with four performances –two for Lorans and two for Eliseeva- of The Italian in Algiers, to be held at Sala Sinfónica of Auditorio de Tenerife from 25 to 28 October.

This new coproduction of Auditorio de Tenerife and Teatro Comunale di Bologna will have Nikolas Maximilian Nägele as musical director while the stage management is in the hands of Giorgia Guerra, who has set the scene in a 1980’s spa in Algiers.

Auditorio de Tenerife has opened the call for the next Tenerife Artes Escénicas. Companies, groups and artists who work in the performing arts and music can submit their projects until 28 September. This scheme is part of the Cabildo Tenerife 2030 strategy and you can learn about the regulations and conditions on www.tenerifeartesescenicas.com  The aim of the call is to produce a catalogue by selecting stage productions as well as musical groups and artists so that programming agents can easily access the tool they need to choose and present their projects for 2019.

In the area of the performing arts, theatre, dance, circus and street arts can send in their projects while in the musical section, jazz, blues, soul, gospel, rock, opera, classical music, contemporary music and new creation projects are welcomed to take part in the selection process. The programme is fostered by the Cabildo de Tenerife with the collaboration of town councils and publicly and privately-owned venues on the Island. Tenerife Artes Escénicas programmed a total of 312 shows in 2018, 173 of which have already been held.

The programme Tenerife Artes Escénicas y Música Profesional, [Tenerife Performing Arts and Professional Music] fostered by the Cabildo and different town councils, and publicly and privately-owned venues on the Island, is offering the street show El paso de los cisnes by Reciclown in Vilafor. It will take place in Plaza de San Pedro at 7:30 pm. El paso de los cisnes was created by Gabriel Maldonado and by using classical ballet style it carries out a series of itinerant numbers that include dance, humour and the festive spirit characteristic of passacaglia.

This show by Reciclown is opened to all audiences and it is a lively piece that combines the strictness of classical ballet with a touch of easy-going wit. On this occasion, we will enjoy the performance of dancers Isabella Porteles and Ainhoa Jiménez, stilt-walkers Miguel Ramírez, Eduardo Feria, and Miguel Espinosa plus the driver of a mobile music box. Tenerife Artes Escénicas is a professional programme for the performing arts and music by Cabildo de Tenerife, and it is part of the Tenerife 2030 strategy, which aims to develop coordination, administrative, economic and technical strategies to offer a quality artistic programme. This initiative has promoted more than 170 shows in 2018.

Los cantantes Francesco Samuele Venuti y Esteban Sebastián Baltazar debutarán en Tenerife afrontando dos funciones cada uno el rol de Haly, el joven capitán de la guardia del rey de la composición La italiana en Argel, de Rossini. Los dos llegarán el próximo mes a la Isla para participar en la sexta edición de la academia Opera (e)Studio durante dos meses y que, un año más, se encargará de abrir la temporada de Ópera de Tenerife.

Graduado en el Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini de Florencia, Venuti (Lecce, Italia) nunca ha estado en la Isla, pero tiene importantes referencias de Ópera de Tenerife y concretamente del programa Opera (e)Studio, “gracias a unos amigos que me aconsejaron participar en el proceso de audiciones”, afirma. Considera que se trata de un “brillante programa de formación para jóvenes” y confía en que le haga “crecer mucho desde el punto de vista profesional”.

Baltazar se formó en la Escuela CasAzul Artes Escénicas de Argos y es uno de los aspirantes que realizó las audiciones en el Auditorio de Tenerife, proceso del que también tiene referencias por amigos que han participado en anteriores ediciones. El mexicano sostiene que es “uno de los teatros más importantes de España”. Además reconoce que este programa es “un trampolín para nosotros”, asimilándolo con un “radar para entrar en los grandes teatros del mundo”.

Ninguno ha tenido contacto previo con la ópera de Rossini La italiana en Argel, aunque es un título conocido por ambos. En el caso del intérprete italiano la define como una creación “muy entretenida, pero también desafiante que requiere de mucho cuidado en el estudio”. El artista mexicano coincide al adjetivarla como “divertida” y no duda en definirla como “muy compleja y muy precisa”, que exige mucho trabajo “tanto vocal como físicamente”.    

Respecto al rol que van a poner encima del escenario de la Sala Sinfónica del Auditorio de Tenerife, Francesco Samuele señala que el aspecto que entraña más dificultad se encuentra “en las partes concertadas, así como en los recitativos”. Por su parte, Esteban Baltazar hace hincapié “en la afinación perfecta” para un rol que “reclama mucho desde el punto de vista vocal e interpretativo”.

En cuanto a los objetivos que se plantean en un futuro próximo, ambos son realistas y precavidos. Los deseos de Venuti se centran en “mejorar y crecer artísticamente”, no sólo para ganar “competitividad en otros concursos líricos”, sino para “comenzar a trabajar en diferentes compañías”. Baltazar, por su parte, espera también “aprender muchísimo tanto desde el punto de vista personal como profesional” y deja bien claro su intención de  regresar a Tenerife “todas las veces que pueda”.

Ambos atesoran en su lista de deseos muchos papeles, aunque si tuvieran que concretar alguno, el artista italiano se decanta por “El barbero de Sevilla o Las bodas de Fígaro”, en este último título coincide con el azteca, quien también añade Don Giovanni.

En la primera semana de septiembre comenzará la sexta edición de la academia Opera (e)Studio donde trece artistas iniciarán un proceso de perfeccionamiento artístico integral. Esta iniciativa, dirigida por Giulio Zappa, concluirá con la representación de cuatro funciones de La italiana en Argel, que tendrán lugar en la Sala Sinfónica del Auditorio de Tenerife del 25 al 28 de octubre.

La italiana en Argel supone el arranque de la temporada 2018-2019 y traerá consigo el debut en Ópera de Tenerife de Nikolas Maximilian Nägele. Esta nueva coproducción de Auditorio de Tenerife con el Teatro Comunale di Bologna contará en la dirección de escena con Giorgia Guerra y transcurre en la década de los ochenta del siglo pasado en la atmósfera surrealista de un spa ubicado en Argel, todo ello aderezado con un vestuario divertido y colorido afín a la época.