ˋFuenteovejuna´ opens the new series in October and it ends in June 2023 with the symphonic poem `Tannhäuserˊ

 

The Council of Tenerife is presenting the new season at the Tenerife Opera, where justice, vengeance and passion star in the proposals. The details of the seven titles, which begin in October 2022 and run until June 2023, were provided by the vice-president and councillor for Culture of the Council of Tenerife, Enrique Arriaga, and the island director of Culture, Alejandro Krawietz.

The island’s Minister of Culture, Enrique Arriaga explained that "the commitment to an offer that mixes contemporary titles with proposals from classical composers has been maintained, thus making it possible to reach all audiences, from complete beginners to absolute purists, also including our tourists, who really value our cultural offer”. “It is important for us that the audience continues to grow and that is why we are continuing the Family Opera programme, where titles are adapted for the youngest audiences" stated the councillor who emphasised a maxim of his department. “Culture is safe and necessary”.

Alejandro Krawietz recalled that "in the season that has just ended we began to open a line of searching in the contemporary opera scene in order to bring citizens closer to different ways of staging classical titles as well as the contemporary languages of current works”. The new season continues in that vein, with "the objective of Tenerife Opera to begin to include a wide range of opera expression" according to the island director.

This new offer includes the productions Fuenteovejuna, Un ballo in maschera, The old maid and the thief, Der Zwerg (The Dwarf), The little sweep and the symphonic poem Tannhäuser, as well as the traditional opera gala that brings together seven artists around the figure of Nancy Fabiola Herrera. 

The season begins with Fuenteovejuna, by Jorge Muñiz, a contemporary opera in Spanish with a libretto by Javier Almuzara, that will take place on 18, 20 and 22 October in the Symphony Hall. This opera, in three acts, premièred in Asturias in 2018 and is the product of a commission by the Opera of Oviedo to the composer to celebrate the 400th year anniversary of the creation of Lope de Vega´s work, one of the most outstanding texts of the Spanish Golden Age. The musical direction is provided by Santiago Serrate and the stage direction is by Miguel del Arco. The cast is formed by María Miró, Antonio Gandía, Felipe Bou, Luis Cansino, David Astorga, Isabella Gaudí, Belén Elvira and Fernando Latorre.

The classic Giuseppe Verdi features in the second proposal of the season: Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball). It is a co-production between the Auditorio de Tenerife and the Teatro Regio di Parma, which will be staged on 22, 24 and 26 November. Alessandro d'Agostini and Marina Bianchi are in charge of musical and stage direction, respectively. José Bros, Sergey Kaydalov, Monica Zanettin, Enkeledja Shkoza and Sofía Esparza form the cast that recounts the assassination of King Gustav of Sweden at a masked ball at the hands of a gentleman from the court.

The opera gala this season revolves around the figure of the mezzosoprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera, who has brought together a series of guests at the Auditorio de Tenerife to celebrate 25 years since her debut in the leading role in Carmen. On 10 December, the Symphony Hall will have Yolanda Auyanet, Liping Zhang, Rubén Amoretti, Ramón Vargas, José Carbó, Leonel Gasso and María del Mar Moreno, under the musical direction of José Miguel Pérez-Sierra.

The first title of 2023 will be performed on 21, 22, 28 and 29 of January and will be the revival of the chamber opera The old maid and the thief, which the Tenerife Opera premièred in Spain in January. It is a work commissioned by the American radio station NBC to the musician Gian Carlo Menotti, who also wrote the libretto. It premièred in 1939 on the radio with great success and later Menotti produced an adaptation to stage it, which took place for the first time in Philadelphia in 1941. The musical direction of this production will be under Javier Lanis, with stage direction by Alicia Peraza. The cast of four singers is formed by Silvia Zorita, Fernando Campero, Candelaria González and Estefanía Perdomo, who share the stage with the actors Javier Socorro and Joel Hernández, and the stage manager Luis López Tejedor. 

On 7, 9 and 11 March, the opera Der Zwerg (The Dwarf), the most emblematic work by the Austrian composer Alexander von Zemlinsky will come to the Auditorio de Tenerife for the very first time. The operas of Lille, Rennes, the Royaumont Foundation and the Theatre of Caen are producing this production in which the Princess of Spain receives a dwarf among her birthday gifts. Alessandro Palumbo and Daniel Jeanneteau are responsible for musical and stage direction, respectively, and Mojca Erdmann, Beatriz Díaz, Phillip Jekal Dmitry Golovnin and Nina Solodovnikova star in the leading roles.

This season it is offering The little sweep as an opera proposal for the entire family. On 15 and 16 April this production by the Fondazione Teatro Comunale di Modena will be staged with a cast formed by Carmen Mateo, Ramiro Maturana, Mar Campo, César Arrieta and Laura del Río, under the musical direction of Maya Barsacq and with Stefano Monti as stage director.

The 2022-2023 series of the Tenerife Opera will conclude with the symphonic poem in three movements for choir and orchestra, Tannhäuser, a work by Pedro Halffter that took inspiration from the opera of the same name by Richard Wagner. It will be Halffter himself who returns to the Auditorio de Tenerife as musical director on the nights of 9 and 10 June.

As usual, the Sinfónica de Tenerife (Tenerife Symphony Orchestra) will provide the music in all the productions, except for the chamber opera, which will be performed by Javier Lanis on the piano. Once again this year, the Opera Choir of Tenerife will also have a key role in the season.

The season pass campaign begins today for the renewal of 2019-2020 pass holders, who have a preferential period until 31 May. June 7 marks the opening of the period for people wishing to join the Opera Club, while individual tickets will go on sale on July 7.

Prices of the Opera Club pass start at 100 Euros and it provides a 20 percent discount on the cost of tickets. Pass holders who get a new member to join the club will have an additional 10 percent discount. There is also a discounted pass for members of large families (-30%) and the offer continues for young people under the age of 30, who can enjoy the five products -all of them, except the chamber and family operas- for 20 Euros, that is to say, four Euros per title.