The second edition of the Bottega d’Opera, the project of the Escuela Superior de Música de Catalunya (Esmuc) that allows its students to have professional experience in the world of opera, will offer Il filosofo di campagna, a work by Galuppi with a libretto by Goldoni, premiered in 1754. But in the Wolf-Ferrari version.
The tandem formed by two aces of the stage and musical direction in Catalonia, Sergi Belbel and Dani Espasa, has been in charge of captaining the students of the Gran Conjunt de la Esmuc dedicated to opera production, so that on the 13th, 15th and 16th in May they present the opera in L’Auditori (Room 4), the Teatre de Sarrià and the Sala Tallers del TNC, respectively.
“The students immediately grasped the pre-revolutionary power of Goldoni’s work”, Belbel celebrates, emphasizing that it is “a work that vindicates physical and carnal love, inciting for the spectator”. “We have played with elements of the time in a mischievous but not rude way, from sensuality”, indicates the scenic director, who explains that he has taken Bob Wilson and Pina Bausch as references for some gestures executed by the performers.
For his part, Espasa emphasizes that the version made by Wolf-Ferrari at the beginning of the 20th century was chosen because it reduces the three original acts to one. Likewise, the musical director states that it is “one of the first times that the students can make an almost professional production”, although “the orchestra has to be totally flexible, since we work with a cast of singers with very different voices”.
The general director of Esmuc, Núria Sempere, points out that this Bottega d’Opera – which joins the rest of the Grans Conjunts program – celebrates the end of the pandemic, “with the center wanting to meet different facets and styles , and inviting people of great quality”. The Big Bang, under the direction of Lluís Vidal, will open the performances of the Grans Conjunts this Thursday, May 12, with a concert with pieces by Mintzer, Potter, Jones or King Cole at L’Auditori (Room 2).
After the performances of Il filosofo di campagna, the series will continue with the Esmuc Ensemble. On Saturday June 4 at L’Auditori (Room 1), the group will present a project directed by Lucía Fumero, focused on the relationship between contemporary creation and popular contemporary musical culture by the British independent rock group Radiohead.
The Gran Conjunt Flamenco will perform on Thursday, June 9, under the direction of guitarist Alfredo Lagos, at L’Auditori (Room 4), while the Gran Conjunt Cobla, directed by Mar Timón, will perform the following day, June 10, at the same place. Finally, the Camerata Casals will be in charge of closing this program on Saturday, June 11, with a repertoire centered on Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48.
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