Cimarosa's amusing opera will be performed from 18 to 21 March 2021.

 

Auditorio de Tenerife is a cultural space linked to the Department of Culture of Tenerife Island Council that is managed by the councillor of Culture Enrique Arriaga. Tomorrow 17th of February, tickets go on sale to enjoy  Il matrimonio segreto, the new proposal of Opera Tenerife. From 18 to 21 March 2021, the eighth edition's singers of Opera (e)Studio will take the stage at the Symphonic Hall to perform this opera buffa by Domenico Cimarosa.

‘Il matrimonio segreto’ is a co-production driven by Auditorio de Tenerife together with Teatro Regio di Parma and Teatro Massimo di Palermo. The musical direction of this artistic proposal will be provided by Davide Levi, in charge of the OST (Tenerife Symphony Orchestra) while Roberto Catalano will be on charge of the stage management. The rest of the team is completed by the set designer Emanuele Sinisi, the costume designer Ilaria Ariemme and the lighting designer Fiammetta Baldiserri.

This opera is a dramma giocoso in two acts with music by Domenico Cimarosa, on a libretto by Giovanni Bertati and based on the play “The Clandestine Marriage” by George Colman the Elder and David Garrick. The Italian premiere of the opera was given at the Hofburgtheater of Vienna on the 7th February 1792 before the Leopold II. The emperor liked the performance so much that, after inviting the whole company to dinner, he asked for a complete encore of the opera. 

It is one of Cimarosa's most interesting and best-known pieces, a clear example of opera buffa from the 18thcentury. The plot is full of impossible situations, disguises and happy endings, where a wealthy merchant, eager to move up the social ladder, seeks to marry off his two daughters to noblemen. However, the businessman is unaware that one of his daughters has secretly married one of his employees. This impending conflict is spiced up with particularly original music, which stylistically falls somewhere between Mozart, Rossini and Donizetti. The stage manager and his team set the whole plot in New York in the 1950s.

The cast comprises twelve singers that participate in the current Opera (e)Studio's edition, an education academy directed by Giulio Zappa that is aimed at artists for their comprehensive music enhancement. The young artists have been selected from 195 candidates of 36 nationalities. They have already spent three weeks on the island where they receive intensive training in singing and acting. The singers, who are aged between 22 and 31, will form two casts each comprised of six roles of ‘Il matrimonio segreto’.

Both basses Ignas Melnikas, Lithuanian, and Francesco Leone, Italian, will play Geronimo. Both Italian sopranos Eleonara Nota and Marilena Ruta will play the role of Elisetta. Both sopranos, Giulia Mazzola, Italian, and Veronika Seghers, German, will play the role of Carolina. Fidalma will be played by both mezzo-sopranos Mara Gaudenzi, Italian, and Claire Gascoin, French. Both baritones, the Spaniard Jan Antem and the Chilean Ramiro Maturana have been chosen for the role of the Count Robinson, while both tenors Bekir Serbest, Turkish, and Antonio Mandrillo, Italian, will play the role of Paolino.

This programme for young artists is aimed at offering highly specialised training on international lyrical scene, and acts as a showcase and springboard for many of them. Opera (e)Studio also provides visibility for the technical production work of Auditorio de Tenerife. The Auditorium obtained both in 2019 and 2020 the recognition of the Creative Europe programme of the European Commission, which reflects development, sustainability, job creation and training.

Tickets can be purchased on the website www.auditoriodetenerife.com and by phone dialling 902 317 327 from Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., except holidays. They can also be obtained by prior appointment at the box office and at the same opening hours. Appointments can be requested on www.auditoriodetenerife.com/contact-us  or by dialling 922 568 625. Those telephone lines are also open to answer questions, from Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., except holidays. Ticket sales close two hours before the show starts to finish setting up the hall and to offer a completely safe experience.

The audience is requested to arrive at the venue well in advance to enter the auditorium in staggered "waves". By purchasing tickets, you accept the measures implemented by the cultural centre to combat Coronavirus, such as the correct use of masks and attendance to the event only with people you are living with. All of the measures, as well as the contingency plan certified by AENOR, can be consulted on the Auditorium’s website.