SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, March 14. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Symphony Hall of the Tenerife Auditorium will host on March 22, 24 and 26, at 6:30 p.m., the premiere in Spain of the opera ‘Florencia en el Amazonas’, by the Mexican composer Daniel Catán. The functions of this title were presented by the Councilor for Culture of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Enrique Arriaga, the conductor Pedro Halffter and the stage director Chía Patiño.
The counselor explained that with this bet Ópera de Tenerife is introduced to Latin American compositions. “After an extensive tour of the opera houses of America and with only two premieres in Europe, Germany and Switzerland, this title is now being premiered in Spain, signed by the Mexican writer Marcela Fuentes-Berain, who will attend the premiere in Tenerife, and drinks from the magical realism of his friend Gabriel García Márquez; an inspiration that will dot the entire scene,” Arriaga assured.
Pedro Halffter, who will conduct the Tenerife Symphony, thanked the Cabildo and Ópera de Tenerife for once again having his baton. “I feel a bit Canarian because of my connection with this land, to which I come a lot for Ópera de Tenerife and for the Canarian International Music Festival”, he explained. The teacher shared that he himself was in charge of the musical direction of the Swiss version of ‘Florencia en el Amazonas’. “It is an extraordinary opera, of exuberant beauty and with an epic score, reminiscent of the magical sounds of the jungle.”
Chía Patiño was “extremely grateful for the invitation she received from Ópera de Tenerife to direct the premiere of a Latin American title”. Regarding the connection with magical realism, she explained that reality “is more magical than one can imagine.” “In this staging we have brought the magical elements of reality to the stage and focused on the human part,” she added. For this reason, the Ecuadorian director assured that they did not want to have video resources: “We have been using this resource too much in many aspects of our lives for two years, so we bet on tangible elements such as puppets, which bring another flavor to the scene” .
Sandra López, an American soprano with a Cuban father and an Ecuadorian mother who will play Florencia, acknowledged that she feels “grateful and honored to be here with this great role, with great human and poetic nudity.” The singer highlighted “how fragile Florencia is, that she is going through a moment of crisis in her life and she has to rediscover herself.” “The public is going to feel identified with some of the characters, who live different moments of life,” the soloist concluded.
The tenor from Tenerife, Airam Hernández, emphasized “the twinning that we Canarians have always felt with Latin America, and it is something that is going to be experienced intensely in this opera”. As for his character, Arcadio, the captain’s nephew, explained that he is “a young man from the village with a conquered mentality and the people of Tenerife will perfectly understand that feeling, as well as many of the winks that are shown in the opera “.
As for the cast, soprano Sandra López and tenor Airam Hernández are joined by Brazilian soprano Lina Mendes, who will play Rosalba, a journalist who writes about Grimaldi. The Spanish baritones José Julián Frontal and Àngel Òdena will play Álvaro, Paula’s partner, and Riolobo, a mysterious being from the jungle, respectively; American mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala will play Paula, and Mexican bass Alejandro López will play the role of the ship’s captain.
Patiño completes his team with the American set designer Izmir Ickbal, the Brazilian costume designer Felype de Lima, the American lighting designer Erin Fleming and the Spanish puppet designer and director Alejandra Prieto.
Patiño’s bet is based on a concept of a deconstructed boat, wild nature, some fantasy and, as a novelty, butterfly and bird puppets are included in the scene, among other elements, which will help the dreamlike narration and will be the responsibility of the puppeteers, a team of local manipulators led by Alejandra Prieto. For part of the props, the Fernando Estévez School of Art and Superior Design has collaborated. The scenery has been carried out in the Scenic Training Workshop of Auditorio de Tenerife.
The Tenerife Opera Choir, directed by Carmen Cruz, will be present at the performance, always integrated into the plot, which begins in the port of Leticia, in Colombia, bound for Manaus, in Brazil.
ABOUT THE OPERA.
This opera by Catán, a lover of the bel canto melody that brought his passion and originality to the genre, had its world premiere in 1996 as a commission from the Houston Grand Opera. This opera in Spanish tells of Florencia Grimaldi, a diva who returns to her town, where her love for a butterfly hunter, Cristóbal Ribeiro da Silva, blossomed. She left everything behind for his career and now she returns in search of the long-awaited reunion.
The story begins at the beginning of the 20th century in the port of Leticia, Colombia, from where this long journey starts down the Amazon River to Manaus, in Brazil. This destination contains in itself one of the most hyperbolic fantastic stories -and real- of Latin America, linked to the opera: that of the construction of a theater in the middle of the jungle.
All those who are going to travel on this ship, El Dorado, share the same dream: listening to the diva Florencia Grimaldi on her return to her homeland. The ship sets sail and, with it, this journey of love and longing where each character will discover her inner journey and the true magic of the Amazon will reveal all her secrets.
Tickets can be purchased up to fifteen minutes before the start of each performance on the website www.auditoriodetenerife.com, at the box office from Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and by telephone by calling 902 317 327 at the same time. The purchase of tickets implies acceptance of the measures implemented by the cultural center of the Cabildo to deal with COVID-19, such as the correct use of the mask.
