Ópera de Tenerife

The couple stars in Leonard Bernstein's chamber opera, which has its final two performances this weekend. 

The final two performances of Trouble in Tahiti , featuring the main couple Sam and Dinah, will take place this Saturday, January 25, and Sunday, January 26, at 7:30 p.m. in the Chamber Hall of the Auditorio de Tenerife. This chamber opera, produced in-house, is composed by Leonard Bernstein, known for *West Side Story*.

Tickets for this entertaining show, which combines jazz music with irony, are available for €20. There is a discounted price of €10 for people under 30, along with various other discounts.

In this 45-minute opera, a young middle-class married couple in the 1950s grapples with a relationship crisis despite seemingly living the American dream. Rather than addressing their issues directly, they immerse themselves in the consumer-driven materialism typical of the era. A jazz trio, playing in an ironic tone, acts as a Greek chorus to convey this story.

This one-act opera in seven scenes, premièred 1952 in Massachusetts, is part of Bernstein's repertoire, a figure who was one of America's first conductors and well-known for his educational televised concerts. This in-house production by the Auditorio de Tenerife, which was released around this time last year, involves a predominantly local artistic team, with the musical side led by the Tenerife composer and orchestra conductor Francis Hernández and the staging by Siscu Ruz, a Catalan theatre director based in Lanzarote.

The team is completed by the stage designer Carlos Santos from Gran Canaria, who has come up with a white design that creates unity between the stage and the rest of the hall; the costume design is by Leo Martínez from Tenerife, who has taken inspiration from the period dress while adding a futuristic touch; and the lighting is by Ibán Negrín, also from the island, who will surprise the crowd with the atmosphere of the aria Island Magic.

The stage director's approach includes unifying the hall with white, offering a nod to the typical white houses of American residential developments in the storyline. Also, he wanted to add the colour orange to allude "to the symbolism of Mr or Ms Right (known as media naranja, 'half orange', in Spanish), which is so often used to refer to the endless pursuit of true love, which can only be found, allegedly, through the union of two incomplete parts. Has society forgotten that we are already full of oranges?”.

The cast is headed up by the mezzo-soprano Blanca Valido from Gran Canaria, who plays Dinah, and the Mexican baritone Omar Lara, who plays her husband, Sam. The cast is completed by the members of the trio who accompany the lead characters in the narration: Tenerife soprano Candelaria González, Basque tenor Aitor Garitano, and Lanzarote baritone Borja Molina.

Francis Hernández will conduct the Ensemble Ópera de Tenerife, an orchestral ensemble made up of fourteen musicians: Satomi Morimoto (piano), Sara Cabrera (flute), Desirée González (oboe/English horn), Diego Jorge Rodríguez (clarinet), Alberto Díaz (bassoon), Marianne Melián (horn), Aitor Acosta (trumpet), Cristo R. Delgado (trombone), Nelson Hernández (percussion), Juan Manuel Díaz (violin I), Carmen Vázquez (violin II), Alba Gorrea (viola), Diego Pérez (cello) and Juan Carlos Baeza (double bass).

The Auditorio de Tenerife will stage a shortened version by Garth Edwin Sunderland. The four performances offered count with the authorisation of Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Limited.

The 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.

The Island Council's new undertaking also offers an open-air performance at the Espacio La Granja this Wednesday.

The first edition of 'Ópera en minúscula' (small-format opera) finishes this week with an open-air show and two performances of Alone with Marilyn. Both events of this programme, presented by the Island Council of Tenerife in collaboration with the Canary Islands Government, will take place at Espacio La Granja at 7.30 p.m. One of the objectives of this new proposal for the Ópera de Tenerife season is to draw new spectators to less conventional venues using innovative formats.

The programme continues this Wednesday (25th) outside the Espacio La Granja with the performance La Plaza. This experiment showcases how eight artists come together to create and seek possibilities within the opera genre, exploring the limits of each of its member's performing skills. This creative process blurs individuality and roles in favour of creativity, fostering a space for vulnerability and affection or a search for commotion. 

With a largely process-based approach, this group has worked as a laboratory during an artistic residency, prioritising search and exploration and shunning the logic of an industry-imposed result. La Plaza seeks to defy the operatic canon by breaking away from judgment, space and time. Entry is free until total capacity is reached.

Two performances of Alone with Marilyn will take place this Friday (27) and Saturday (28). This chamber opera for soprano, mezzo-soprano, electric viola, electric guitar, and soundscapes explores betrayal, self-destruction, and the influence of modern-day myths on society's perception of reality. The National Music Award winner David del Puerto composed this opera's music, combining contemporary styles with classic techniques.

The story is based on Alfonso Zurro's theatrical work with the same title, and Zurro himself adapted it to the operatic format. The work focuses on the everyday life of a mother and supermarket cashier and the crisis she experiences after being abandoned by her husband. Upon hearing the name Marilyn, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery and desperation in which she will confuse reality, fantasy, dreams and delirium when she becomes obsessed with the enigmatic figure of the cinema actress Marilyn Monroe. Alone with Marilyn is a co-production of Teatro Xtremo, Ópera de Tenerife and Madrid Cultura y Turismo (MACUTU) of the Community of Madrid.

Tickets for Alone with Marilyn can be purchased at a general price of €10 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. They are also available at the Espacio La Granja box office on the day of the show. Check the special discounts for unemployed people (-50%), the audience under 30 years of age (single price €5), students (-20%), 65 years or more (-20%), large families (-20%), people with a disability degree equal to or greater than 33% (- 20%) and 33% low visibility seats (-20%).

The four shows of the first edition of Ópera en minúscula (small-format opera), programmed under the artistic direction of Ruth González and Ricardo Campelo of Teatro Xtremo, are a selection of operas for soloists and ensembles and represent several periods and styles. Ópera de Tenerife, the opera programme of the Auditorio de Tenerife, has the support of the Canary Islands Government and the National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (INAEM).

This is a joint initiative that brings together TITSA, the Island Board of Music, and the Auditorio de Tenerife. Free buses are provided over one route in the north and another in the south, specifically for the eighteen Sinfónica de Tenerife season concerts and five Ópera de Tenerife performances.

From this year onwards, it will be easier and more convenient to access the cultural events offered by the Sinfónica de Tenerife and Ópera at the Auditorio from anywhere on the island. With the shuttle buses ‘Lanzadera Sinfónica’ and ‘Lanzadera Ópera’, the Tenerife Island Council will provide free transport from various locations for each orchestra and opera performance. To that end, today (Friday), the initiative was introduced at the Auditorio de Tenerife during a press conference attended by the President of the Island Council, Rosa Dávila, the Island Minister of Culture and Museums of Tenerife, José Carlos Acha, and the Minster of Mobility, Eulalia García.

Rosa Dávila highlighted the importance of the project, which 'Not only promotes cultural participation but also strengthens our commitment to sustainable mobility, reducing the use of private vehicles and promoting public transport for major events. This service aims to encourage attendance at the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife concerts and the Ópera de Tenerife programme while also providing a convenient and sustainable means of transport for music lovers. By launching these shuttle buses, we are facilitating cultural access for all of the island's inhabitants, regardless of their place of residence.

According to José Carlos Acha, the Island Councillor for Culture and President of the Island Board of Music and of the Auditorio, through this project, 'We are helping allow for culture and territorial cohesion, hoping that more people from Tenerife will benefit from the brilliant symphonic and singing season that we have on our island”. Additionally, Eulalia García, the Island Councillor for Mobility and President of TITSA, underscored 'The public commitment of TITSA, the Sinfónica, and the Auditorio, providing a free transport service from all over the island to enhance residents' quality of life while at the same time promoting culture-related tourism’.

The service will be offered on Saturdays when Ópera de Tenerife performances and Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife concerts are to be held.

The shuttles include two special routes to the Auditorio de Tenerife to bring citizens to the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife concerts. The first route will depart from the island's north, starting in Buenavista, and the second from the south, beginning in Adeje. Both routes include several strategic stops in different municipalities, allowing residents of various areas to easily access the cultural events held at the Auditorio de Tenerife. The buses, which will be able to service up to 50 passengers (including one specially adapted seat for those with reduced mobility), will be duly identified.

The buses are scheduled to depart at a time that ensures that all passengers arrive at the Auditorium before 7:10 p.m., in time for the concerts, which will begin promptly at 7:30 p.m.

As of 30 September, reservations will be required to use this shuttle service, which is free with a ticket for a symphony or opera performance. Reservations can be made online or at the physical box office, both for tickets already purchased and for future tickets.

Routes and schedules:

Northern Route: Departure from Buenavista at 5:15 p.m., with stops in Los Silos, Garachico, Icod de Los Vinos, San Juan de la Rambla, Los Realejos, La Orotava, Santa Úrsula, La Victoria, La Matanza and Tacoronte.

Southern Route: Departure from Adeje at 5:15 p.m., with stops in Arona (Los Cristianos), San Isidro, Arico (El Porís), Fasnia, Güímar/Arafo, Candelaria and El Rosario (Radazul).

Opera de Tenerife performances

The Tenerife Opera performances for which this service will be available will be on the Saturdays of the five subscription titles:

Ariadne auf Naxos, by Richard Strauss (19 October)

Madama Butterfly, by Giacomo Puccini (23 November)

La bella Susona, by Alberto Carretero (7 December)

Giovanna d’Arco, by Giuseppe Verdi (29 March)

Parsifal, a symphonic-choral synthesis in three acts by Pedro Halffter on Richard Wagner's opera (28 June).

Information about routes, schedules, and reservations can be found on the websites sinfonicadetenerife.es and auditoriodetenerife.com. Those interested can also check the TITSA and the Tenerife Island Council's official websites for more information on schedules and stops.

This Wednesday at the Chamber Hall, the music disseminator will expound what is to come in the 2024-2025 season.

The Auditorio de Tenerife renews its collaboration with Ramón Gener for the 2024-2025 season with five educational talks. The first date with the cultural populariser will be this Wednesday (10 July) at 7:30 p.m. in the Chamber Hall, presenting the operas that make up the programme for the next season, entitled Tu lugar en la ópera (Your place at the Opera).

For these presentations, where Gener enriches his explanations with live piano accompaniment, tickets for the general public are priced at 8 euros and 5 euros for those under 30. However, opera subscription holders receive a 50% discount, reducing the cost to 4 euros. After the lecture, there will be a stand in the Hall with Genere's first novel, Historia de un piano (History of a Piano), and the winner of the Ramon Lull Prize himself will sign his work.

The following lecture, for which tickets are already available, takes place on 3 October, explaining Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss, the first subscription opera of the season. On 5 and 20 November, the writer and singer will return to the island to delve into Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Alberto Carretero's La Bella Susona, respectively. Gener's last lecture about Giuseppe Verdi's Giovanna d'Arco takes place on 14 March 2025.

Born in Barcelona, Ramón Gener holds a humanities and business studies degree. When he was six, he began his studies as a musician at the Higher Conservatoire of Music of the Liceu. After a career lasting several years as a baritone, he started a new phase as a musical educator, offering conferences about opera, classical music and art, which have taken him to radio and television, even internationally. He has published four books: Si Beethoven pudiera escucharme (2013), El amor te hará inmortal (2016), Beethoven, un músico sobre un mar de nubes (2020) and Historia de un piano (2024).

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. There are discounts for students, unemployed and large families.

Tickets can now be purchased for the five subscription titles, the chamber, the family opera and the October lecture with Gener.

The Ópera de Tenerife puts on sale the tickets for the five subscription titles (Ariadne auf Naxos, Madama Butterfly, La bella Susona, Giovanna d’Arco and Parsifal, síntesis sinfónico-coral en tres actos), the chamber opera Trouble in Tahiti, the family opera El retablo del maese Pedro and Ramón Gener's lecture on 3 October to further explore Ariadne auf Naxos. The prices range from 5 to 50 euros, depending on the age, title, and performance day. Special discounts are also available for unemployed people, students, large families, and groups. All information, as well as the purchase of tickets, are available at www.operadetenerife.com.

Accordingly, the following events are for sale: Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss (15, 17 and 19 October), Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini (19, 21 and 23 November), a production of the Teatro Comunale di Modena, La bella Susona, by Alberto Carretero (7 December), a contemporary proposal co-produced by Auditorio de Tenerife and the Teatro de la Maestranza of Seville, the chamber opera Trouble in Tahiti, by Leonard Bernstein (18, 19, 25 and 26 January, produced by Auditorio de Tenerife, Giovanna d'Arco, by Giuseppe Verdi (25, 27 and 29 March), a co-production by the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, El retablo del maese Pedro, by Manuel de Falla (26 and 27 April), a family opera inspired by an amusing episode from Miguel de Cervantes' The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha, and Parsifal, síntesis sinfónico-coral en tres actos (Parsifal, a symphonic-choral synthesis in three acts) by Pedro Halffter (28 June), an adaptation of Wagner's work for choir and orchestra.

All of these titles involve the participation of the Tenerife Symphony, except for Gener's lecture, which is with a piano, and the chamber opera, with an orchestral ensemble format. The Ópera de Tenerife-Intermezzo choir will participate in all the productions except the season's opening show, the chamber opera and that of the music disseminator. The performances begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Symphony Hall of the Auditorio de Tenerife, with special schedules for the two family performances.

In addition to the single ticket sales, it is still possible to subscribe until 15 October. The Club Ópera offers five 2024-2025 season titles for 100 euros (Tuesday and Thursday performances) and 150 euros (Saturday performances). In this new season, the Symphony Hall now has a single price zone for all seats, and subscribers now have an Iberia discount of 5% on Spanish and European flights and 7% on intercontinental flights.

The Club offers discounts for large families, wheelchair users, and the person accompanying them. Aside from the special price, subscription holders of the Club Ópera enjoy a series of benefits, such as being invited to exclusive events for each title and a free drink in the interlude of each subscription title. They can also benefit from discounts in the store, on guided visits and in the café. On the other hand, the Club Ópera Joven (Youth Opera Club) for those under 30 years of age costs only 20 euros, and the subscription holders enjoy some of these benefits.

The opening hours of the box office and telephone sales (902 317 327) are Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., except for public holidays and for August, when the box office will be closed. The information telephone number of the Auditorio de Tenerife, 922 568 625, is open from Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., except for public holidays and for August.

The rest of the events for the 2024-2025 season will be on sale soon: the programme 'Ópera en minúscula' (small-format opera, on 20, 22, 25 and 27 September) at the Espacio La Granja,  Die Fledermaus (The Bat) by Johann Strauss (28 December), in collaboration with the Canary Islands music festival 'Festival de Música de Canarias' and the Teatro Pérez Galdós, the baroque opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto by Handel, in collaboration with the Teatro Guimerá (12 February), and the opera recitals with the soprano Raquel Lojendio (10, 11 and 12 April), as well as the rest of the lectures with Ramón Gener.

The 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 multi-award-winning tenor from San Sebastian will be accompanied by the Sinfónica de Tenerife and the choir Coro Ópera de Tenerife-Intermezzo.

Opera of Tenerife concludes its season this Saturday (22 June) with an Italian opera show and zarzuela starring the multi-award-winning tenor Xabier Anduaga from San Sebastian. This opera gala, which will feature the Sinfónica de Tenerife orchestra and the main choir Ópera de Tenerife-Intermezzo, will take place in the Symphony Hall of the Auditorio de Tenerife at 7.30 p.m.

Pablo Mielgo from Madrid will conduct and direct the programme, which will include well-known arias by Gaetano Donizetti and Giuseppe Verdi and romances from Spanish opera by composers such as Ruperto Chapí and Pablo Sorozábal. According to the maestro, 'an opera gala is an extraordinary journey with an open dialogue between the worlds of singing and symphonic music'.

For Pablo Mielgo, the Opera of Tenerife's last event of the season 'will exude expressiveness and offer a unique way of transporting the listener through different emotions between opera and zarzuela, from comedy to drama, from passion to regret, and three stars: the choir, orchestra, and the extraordinary voice of Xabier Anduaga. We thus have a winning formula to celebrate that opera remains the most significant expression of all stage arts today, according to the orchestra conductor.

The programme will get underway with several compositions by Gaetano Donizetti from operas such as Lucia de Lammermoor, Don Pasquale and the aria Una furtiva lagrima from L’elisir d’amore. Then, it will be the turn of Giuseppe Verdi and two creations from Nabucco and Rigoletto. After the interlude, the zarzuela will take control of the programme with eight performances from El tambor de granaderos by Ruperto Chapí, Doña Francisquita by Amadeo Vives, Los gavilanes by Jacinto Guerrero, Los emigrantes by Tomás Barrera, La boda de Luis Alonso by Gerónimo Giménez, La tabernera del puerto by Pablo Sorozábal and Luisa Fernanda by Moreno Torroba, featuring the soprano Natividad Oval as soloist alongside Anduaga.

Born in San Sebastian, Xavier Anduaga is a former member of the Accademia Rossiniana with M° Zedda, where he made his international opera debut in 2016 as Belfiore in Il Viaggio a Reims. Since then, he has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Opéra de Paris, Teatro Real, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Hamburg State Opera, Rossini Opera Festival, Wiener Musikverein, Donizetti Opera Festival and Teatro Regio Parma, among others. Named First Prize winner of the Operalia Singing Competition in 2019, in 2021, he received an International Opera Award as Best New Singer, an Ópera Actual Award and an Opera XXI Award.

Pablo Mielgo stands out for his enterprising spirit and mission to make music accessible to everyone. He is the conductor of the Orquestra Simfònica de les Illes Balears (OSIB) and the Symphony of the Americas (SOTA). He regularly conducts on the great stages of Europe, such as the Wiener Musikverein, in the United States at the Carnegie Hall in New York, Latin America and the Middle East. The Madrid composer, who has founded three youth orchestras, works in close artistic collaboration with orchestras such as the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Arena di Verona and the Qatar Philharmonic. Also, he has served as the musical and artistic director of the SaludArte Foundation since 2005 and as the artistic co-director of the Academia Filarmónica de Medellín since 2011.

The tickets for the Gala lírica, as well as the full programme, are available on the website http://www.auditoriodetenerife.com, at the auditorium's box office, or by calling 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 the audience under 30 years of age, students, unemployed, and large families.