The opera proposal combines traditional repertoire titles with contemporary, chamber and Spanish language titles

The subscriptions are available from 88 euros and there is a special offer for the audience under 30 years of age for 20 euros.

The Island Council of Tenerife has presented its 2023-2024 Opera season The opera programme of the Auditorio de Tenerife is formed by seven titles, which mix the traditional repertoire and renew the commitment to contemporary, chamber and Spanish language titles. The Tenerife Symphony Orchestra will continue as the travelling companion of all the titles that require an orchestra.

The offer is made up of the newly created opera María Moliner by Antoni Parera Fons (October), Manon by Jules Massenet (November), the concert version of Samson et Dalila by Camille Saint-Saëns (December), the Chamber Opera Trouble in Tahiti by Leonard Bernstein (January), Rusalka by Antonín Dvořák (March), the family opera L’enfant et les sortilèges (The Child and the Spells) by Maurice Ravel (April) and the opera gala Verdi singular (Unique Verdi) by Giuseppe Verdi (June). Also, it will be mediation activities with shows by Ramón Gener throughout the season and opera performances by the tenor José Bros (September) and with the tenor Airam Hernández (April), with one show at the Auditorio de Tenerife and another two in venues in the north and south of the island.

 

 

The season will get underway on 17, 19 and 21 October with María Moliner, a Madrid production of the Teatro de la Zarzuela which premiered in 2016, by Antoni Parera Fons, winner of the National Music Award. This documentary opera in two acts and ten scenes with a libretto by Lucía Vilanova recounts the life of María Moliner, a lexicographer who performed the feat of singlehandedly producing a dictionary in her home whose strength showed up the academy members (Dictionary of the use of Spanish, 1966), a publication that this show pays tribute to. The musical direction will be by Víctor Pablo Pérez, honorary conductor of the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra. On the other hand, Paco Azorín is responsible for the stage direction and stage design of this work starring the mezzo-soprano María José Montiel.

On 21, 23 and 25 November, Manon by Jules Massenet will take place, it is a co-production between the Municipal Theatre of Santiago-National Opera of Chile, the Opera of Oviedo, and the Opera of Tenerife. With musical direction by Christopher Franklin, and stage direction by Emilio Sagi, the soprano Sabina Puértolas will be transformed into Manon, as she did in November 2022, at the première of this proposal at the Municipal Theatre of Santiago. She is a very young character who swings between love at first sight and sexual compulsion with her desire for wealth: she regrets her infidelities; she punishes herself in the last act and does not even realise that she is a victim of the system.

The concert version of Samson et Dalila, by Camille Saint-Saëns, will be performed in the Symphony Hall on 9 December. José Miguel Pérez-Sierra will conduct the Symphony Orchestra and the choir which will participate in this title. The Tenerife tenor Jorge de León, recently awarded the Talía Award, will play Samson and the mezzo-soprano Yulia Matochkina will play Delilah. This opera, premièred in Germany in 1877, is based on a Bible story from the Old Testament, in which Samson is a judge endowed with superhuman spiritual and human strength, and the key to his strength lies in his hair. His enemies instruct Delilah to discover his secret in order to defeat him.

The chamber proposal for this season is Trouble in Tahiti, by the composer Leonard Bernstein (West Side Story), who also wrote the libretto. The musical direction will be provided by Francis Hernández of Tenerife and, the stage direction is by Siscu Ruiz, an artist from Sabadell based in Lanzarote. This opera in one act and seven scenes, premièred in 1952 in Massachusetts, is set in a rich American suburb and tells the story of the disillusionment of Dinah with her husband Sam, who is more interested in his career and distractions than in his family. It can be enjoyed at the Chamber Hall on 20, 21, 27 and 28 January.

Rusalka, by Antonín Dvořák, premièred in 1901, is coming to the Auditorium of Tenerife on 5, 7 and 9 March with an in-house production. Paul Daniel will conduct the Symphony Orchestra and André Heller-Lopes will provide the stage direction. It involves a libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil, loosely based on the fairy tale Undine (1811) by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué and inspired by The Little Mermaid (1837) by Hans Christian Andersen and other European tales. The soprano Ángeles Blancas will play Rusalka, a water nymph who asks a witch to be turned into a human in order to be with the prince who she has fallen in love with, despite the fact that this means losing her voice. The tragic ending to the opera differs from other versions of the same story, which have been sugar-coated for children.

The Family Opera proposal for this season is L’enfant et les sortilèges (The Child and the Spells) by Maurice Ravel. It will be a production by the Opera of Lyon, in collaboration with the L'Auditori of Barcelona and in co-production with the Théâtre de la Croix-Rousse, which can be enjoyed on 20 and 21 April, with a session held beforehand for school pupils from the island. Jordi Francés will take charge of stage direction and James Bonas will provide stage direction. The story is based in a country house in Normandy, home to a rebellious child who is scolded by his mother for not doing his homework. Then, the child destroys his room and mistreats the animals in it, causing them all to come to life.

The season concludes with a very special opera gala: Verdi singular (Unique Verdi). It will be a single show on 22 June in the Symphony Hall with the Tenerife tenor Celso Albelo as the star of the evening. The programme includes arias from different operas by Giuseppe Verdi, a composer who is beloved by the public and the most represented at the Opera of Tenerife, which will listen to less well-known creations by the Italian genius. The orchestra conductor Óliver Díaz will lead the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, accompanied by a choir group.

Members of the Opera Club for the 2022-2023 season can now renew their subscription up until the 25th, although if they wish to change their current conditions, they must do so between 27 April and 4 May. The period for new subscription holders begins on 9 May. Subscripion holders for the Opera of Tenerife not only have a guaranteed seat during the season with a 20% discount, but they also enjoy benefits such as discounts on the Auditorio’s own programming, in the shop and guided visits, as well as personalised treatment and the chance to attend exclusive events. All the information about the season and passes can be found on www.operadetenerife.com.

The Opera 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).