The Canarian singers Yolanda Auyanet, Airam Hernández, and Gabriel Álvarez are among the protagonists of Verdi’s opera
Tenerife Opera has scheduled for March Giuseppe Verdi’s Giovanna d’Arco in an extraordinary production of Fondazione Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. Details on the show were announced earlier today (Tuesday 11 March) by the Island Minister of Culture and Museums of Tenerife, José Carlos Acha, José Luis Rivero, the Artistic Director of the Auditorio de Tenerife; the musical director, Lukasz Borowicz; the revival director, Emilio López, and the leading singers. The performances will take place in the Symphony Hall on the 25th, 27th, and 29th at 7.30 p.m.
Canarian soprano and 2024 winner of Spain’s National Music Award Yolanda Auyanet is Giovanna d’Arco (Joan of Arc) and Tenerife-based tenor Airam Hernández is King Charles VII. In the supporting roles, baritone Juan Jesús Rodríguez plays shepherd and Giovanna’s father Giacomo, bass Vazgen Gazaryan is English commander Talbot and tenor Gabriel Álvarez plays French officer Delil.
José Carlos Acha praised the ‘wonderful cast that have come together in this show, with talented Canarians such as the soprano Yolanda Auyanet as Joan of Arc and the tenor Airam Hernández as King Charles VII’. Speaking about the Saturday performance, the councillor added, ‘Our government has inaugurated the Lanzadera Ópera shuttle with two of Tenerife’s public busses to provide spectators with free transport from Adeje and Buenavista to the Auditorio de Tenerife’.
José Luis Rivero said, ‘This opera, which is set against a war between two European nations, premiered 180 years ago, and things aren’t much better today’. It seems we haven’t made much progress since then’. He added, ‘Five years ago, Lucrezia Borgia, also starring Yolanda Auyanet, had to be performed on this stage due to the pandemic. That delayed the premiere for several months, and we’re now very happy to have her here again this year’ Speaking anew about the Canarian cast, Rivero said, ‘We’re very pleased with Airam Hernández’s vital debut in this role, and Gabriel Álvarez is a young tenor from Gran Canaria who is making a name for himself’.
Conductor Lukasz Borowicz said, ‘It’s an honour to be here. This opera isn’t often performed for the simple reason that Verdi composed many operas, all of them quite good. Although his earliest works are ignored to some extent, Giovanna d’Arco is a masterpiece’. About the score, he said, ‘It’s very complex and fascinating, including the way in which the characters are presented. The orchestration is extremely advanced for 1840, with lovely solos for cello, flute, cor anglais and clarinet’.
Revival director Emilio López expressed his agreement with stage director Davide Livermore regarding the ‘showing of one of opera’s psychological dramas, in which the lyrics are at the service of the music’. He added, ‘It’s a highly visual production that features key elements such as ballet in the representation of the demons and angels in Joan of Arc’s head, and a chorus, which represents the villagers in this work, in the manner of a Greek chorus.’ López went on to give special thanks to the work of the International Dance Centre of Tenerife.
Yolanda Auyanet said she was very happy to be back at the Tenerife Opera this year, adding that the institution ‘is of great personal and professional importance to me’. This is the first time the soprano has taken on this role in a staged version. She added, ‘Unfortunately, this opera is seldom performed, but now our shows will give the public a wonderful opportunity to discover it. For me, it’s a tremendous satisfaction to play this part, especially with my fellow cast members, who really are the best thing that could happen to this and many other works’. She concluded by expressing her admiration of Verdi, saying, ‘He was able to turn everything he touched into theatre’.
Tenor Airam Hernández, speaking about his debut in this role, said, ‘It’s complicated, because, first, you have to work very hard with conductors who are perfectly at home with the repertoire, and then you have to add your personal touch’. He confessed, ‘Debuting in every role is a privilege, but I’m also a bit intimidated because my friends will be in the audience, along with the relatives of people I know, and I want to give the best possible performance”. He added, “The dramatic nature of Verdi’s work makes the character particularly complex’.
The Sinfónica de Tenerife will perform on this occasion under the leadership of Polish conductor Lukasz Borowicz, and the sixty voices of the Coro Titular Ópera de Tenerife-Intermezzo will be led by Miguel Ángel Arqued. Also appearing in this three-act opera are 20 ballerinas of International Dance Centre of Tenerife.
Davide Livermore is in charge of stage direction and choreography and has designed dark roads and an enormous moon to heighten the narration of the work. The performances in Tenerife will be overseen by revival director Emilio López. The production’s scenography and video were designed by the studios Giò Forma and D-Wok, respectively. Anna Verde is in charge of the wardrobe, and Antonio Castro is responsible for the lighting. Lastly, it must be observed that, although most of the production crew are from Italy, the set was designed by Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia.
This seventh opera of Verdi, which premiered at Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 15 February 1845, is set to a libretto by Temistocle Solera and is loosely based on the drama Die Jungfrau von Orleans by Friedrich von Schiller. The opera tells the story of Joan of Arc, a young French peasant girl in the 15th century who contributed to the coronation of Charles VII as king in his battle against the English invasion during the Hundred Years’ War.
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).
The tickets have a single price between 30 and 50 Euros, and just 10 Euros for audiences under 30 years of age. 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.