The Gran Teatre del Liceu has designed one of the most ambitious and attractive proposals of recent times, with top-level artists and a transversal, deeply humanistic vision, articulated around the notion of paradise and highlighting the possibility of healing through art: "To project art and opera as paradise is to speak of the need to protect oneself from so much desolation. The Liceu, a place to take refuge from shipwreck and seek the ideal," can be read on its website. It is not a mere slogan, with romantic reminiscences. Culture has the dual capacity to shelter, to make our habitat more comfortable, and also to question beliefs and foster critical reflection. Faced with the awareness of one's own fragility and with the rise of populism in the so-called post-truth era, both potentialities prove to be paramount.
In the season corresponding to the Liceu's 175th anniversary, a high-flying proposal has been configured, both for the participants and for the programmed works. Víctor García de Gomar, artistic director, elaborated in the telematic presentation on the thaumaturgical role of art, which can also be read in the substantial digital volume ---the season's book--- through the acronymic spelling of the word PARADIS. With prologues by Ramón Andrés and another by Alex Ross, as well as by the leaders Salvador Alemany (We remain standing and convinced) and Valentí Oviedo (The strength of the Liceu), and also by Josep Pons, the musical director (With a spirit of overcoming) represents a generous compendium of cultural activities, not only operatic, that will unfold in a season that promises to be memorable.
Precisely Josep Pons will open the season directing Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos, a novel co-production of the Liceu with a luxury cast, which features the invaluable participation of Swedish soprano Iréne Theorin. A globally revered star, who left the Liceu audience astonished by her performances in the Tristan und Isolde of the 2017/2018 season, with the staging by Alex Ollé, from La Fura dels Baus, who in the present season is listed as resident artist and will be in charge of the staging of Claude Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande. Other great names in creativity and contemporary arts, who will contribute to this return to paradise with a critical eye and aesthetic commitment, are the painters William Kentridge and Antonio López, the poet Ane Carson, the photographers Jordi Bernadó and Cristina de Middel, and the thinker ---already mentioned--- Ramón Andrés.
Víctor García de Gomar, artistic director, elaborated in the telematic presentation on the thaumaturgical role of artIn strictly musical terms, it is worth highlighting the glorious operatic trilogy conceived by the Mozart/Da Ponte duo, whose mischief unfolds in the form of intricate plots, of timeless lucidity. Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Cosí fan tutte will be conducted by Mark Minkowski.One of the specialists in the interpretation of 18th-century music with period criteria and author of reference recordings ---such as Haydn's London symphonies--- that accredit him as an outstanding orchestrator of amorous intrigues. The gallant character, the fine psychology of the characters, and the celebration of life that Mozart's scores convey beyond the century of composition, as if approaching our era in terms of sensibility.
In fact, the season's programming is extremely balanced in chronological criteria. Contemporary works are well represented by titles such as Benjamin Britten's War Requiem with an admirable cast, which includes the participation of Matthias Goerne, Tatiana Pavloskaya, and Mark Padmore, under the musical direction of Josep Pons. Alban Berg's Wozzeck will once again feature Matthias Goerne, with stage direction by William Kentridge. Many incentives converge in such an atypical and hopeful season. Other great names in opera, such as Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczala, Sonia Yoncheva, or Javier Camarena will enjoy stellar performances, in unique recitals but also ---in Camarena's case--- to sing the role of Tamino in The Magic Flute ---Fourth Mozartian opera programmed in the same season!--- in which the wonderful Nuria Rial can also be heard.
Nor can we fail to mention other essential performances. Verdi's Rigoletto, for example, is one of them. A joint production of the Liceu and the Teatro Real, which will feature the performance of Olga Peretyatko and Christopher Maltman. Or Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades, starring Sonda Radvanovsky. And, already in concert version, the programming of the scarcely known Orpheus by Georg Philipp Telemann stands out, under the direction of a reference in the direction of baroque and classical pieces, much appreciated by the Barcelona public, such as René Jacobs. And, also in concert version, another authority like William Christie, leading his ensemble Les Arts Florissants, will perform the rarely programmed Partenope, by Georg Friedrich Händel.
Even more essential names ---of international first level--- at the forefront, in this case, of capital works ---more well-known--- that will move spectators, are those of Gustavo Dudamel, who will conduct Berlioz's evocative Symphonie fantastique, leading the Orchestra of the Paris National Opera, in a fruitful exchange that will take the Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, conducted by Josep Pons, to the Opéra de la Bastille, to perform Béla Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle, starring Sir Bryn Terfel. In the symphonic chapter, another name to keep in mind is Jordi Savall, who will provide powerful and vibrant readings of Beethoven's eighth and ninth symphonies.
There are many incentives that converge in such an atypical and hopeful seasonAlso with period interpretive criteria and an internationally acclaimed career, the Madrigalsof Monteverdi by Rinaldo Alessandrini and his Concerto Italiano will transport the listener to the baroque world that saw the birth of the stage performance known today as opera. The plurality of musically concerted affections will also give rise to stage performances in dance format. From a flamenco show with elements of transgression inFrom Scheherazade to Me, Carmenof María Pagés and the dramaturgy of El Arbi El Harti to another as classic asThe Nutcracker, with the Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse. In addition,Franz Schubert's Winterreise will be evoked in its lyrical fragility by the Ballet Preljocaj as a journey through the main human concerns, the frozen desert of a desolation that ---returning to that motto as a slogan--- leads us to long for a return to paradise, and which the artist Antonio López will also work on in a very different context ---the former penitentiary La Modelo--- with the intervention of the baritone Benjamin Appl.
One of the words most recurrently used by Victor García de Gomar in the presentation of the 2021/22 season ---along with the notion of "Paradise"--- was "longing." Although romantically it can be read as Sehnsucht ---the search for something intangible or unattainable or "desire of desire"--- the truth is that in our recent era the term reveals the need for a very specific tranquility of spirit or spiritual health. The dream of an ancestral fullness, retroactively sensed, is not only part of a mythical worldview. The Gran Teatre del Liceu enhances with this return to paradise the healing power of catharsis, the opening of parallel worlds through artistic creation, which enables the purging of harmful humors and helps to regain confidence in the human being. "Paradise awaits you," more than a commercial slogan, makes explicit the tendency towards light that prospers from the transitory and didactic experience of shadows, with a new consciousness.
Add The New Barcelona Post as your preferred Google source for free
Stay informed with the latest news.
