One more year, the spirit and objective of the Artistic Commission created by the Canarian Friends of Zarzuela, the Las Palmas Symphony Orchestra and the Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra, is to provide functions that attract the attention of new audiences and bring them closer to this stage musical genre of great tradition in Spain.
Thus, this new season begins on October 2, with the popular zarzuela La Revoltosa, which will be in charge of opening the curtain at the Cuyás Theater. This well-known lyrical sainete from the 19th century will feature a cast of ten great artists on stage, led by two soloists with great operatic projection on the national and international scene.: Canarian soprano Abenauara Graffigna and the Zaragoza baritone Isaac Galán. The Las Palmas Symphony Orchestra, conducted on this occasion by one of the most successful conductors of his generation, Daniel Gil de Tejada, will be in charge of musically interpreting this work composed by the teacher Ruperto Chapí at the end of the 19th century. A zarzuela that is a faithful reflection of the social atmospheres that were breathed in the neighborhood patios of Madrid in those years. The composer Ruperto Chapí creates, with La Revoltosa, a captivating symphonic work, with a score in which the cultured and the popular go hand in hand as never before.
Luisa Fernanda, by Federico Moreno Torroba, will be the second montage in the program
The stage direction, this time, will be in charge by Carlos Crooke; with the collaboration of Carlos Santos, in charge of the set design; and from Ibán Negrín, in lighting work.
The second performance of the Canary Islands Zarzuela Season will take place on October 16, also on the Cuyás stage. On this occasion, the public will be able to enjoy another of the most popular zarzuelas, Luisa Fernanda, a lyrical comedy in three acts written by the composer Federico Moreno Torroba at the beginning of the 20th century. Luisa Fernanda is considered one of the best zarzuelas of all time, set in 1868, which recreates a love story during a troubled time between the daughter of a former palace clerk and a humble young military man.
The cast of this zarzuela in Cuyás will be led by the soprano from Malaga Berna Perles, one of the most attractive voices on the current national lyrical scene; and the Madrid baritone José Julián Frontal, Multifaceted artist who has starred in an intense artistic career in the most important theaters in Spain. Along with them, the zarzuela will be interpreted musically by the Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of director Rafael Sánchez-Araña, a revelation of classical music in the Canary Islands after his successful international career in recent years.
In this popular zarzuela, the stage direction will be in charge of Antonio Torres; and the scenery and lighting, by Carlos Santos and Jacinto Cabrera.
Sánchez-Araña will also conduct the Symphony Orchestra in the Lyric Gala that will close the XXIX Zarzuela Season of the Canary Islands, and that will be held on October 22 and 23 in Gran Canaria and, for the first time, in Tenerife, thanks to the support and collaboration of the Department of Culture and Celebrations of the City Council of La Laguna.
Under the title Aires de Zarzuela, the Symphonic Orchestra will offer the public of the Cuyas and Leal Theaters a repertoire, in concert version, lasting one hour, highlighting some of the most significant and successful pieces of this Spanish stage musical genre: Por el smoke is known …? of Doña Francisquita; Prelude to La verbena de la Paloma; or Pretty Madrileña from La del manojo de rosas, among others. Together with the Orchestra, three of the most consolidated soloists in the world of zarzuelas will take the stage: the soprano Carmen Solís, the tenor Francisco Corujo and the baritone Borja Quiza.
The Philharmonic and Symphonic orchestras will be directed by Rafael Sánchez-Araña
This new Zarzuela de Canarias Season, which has a total budget of 162,000 euros thanks to the support of the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, the Vice-Ministry of Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands and the National Institute of Arts Scenic and Music, will once again bear in mind, as it did last year, the sanitary measures recommended for capacity in closed cultural spaces. In this sense, the composition of the orchestras will be minimally reduced to about 30 musicians, in order to respect the safety distances required during symphonic performance.
Tickets are sold at the box offices of the Cuyás Theater and the Leal Theater from the month of September.
