Les Arts' co-production 'La damnation de Faust' has been named the best musical show of 2017 in Italy

The Palau de les Arts co-production with the Rome Opera of Berlioz's 'La damnation de Faust' has been named the best show of 2017 by Italian music critics.

The committee of the XXXVII edition of the Franco Abbiati Awards, granted by the National Association of Italian Critics, chose Damiano Michieletto's production, with musical direction by Daniele Gatti, as deserving of this distinction last April.

The Franco Abbiati Awards are considered one of the most prestigious accolades in European opera. Established in 1981, the awards are currently supported by the Italian Ministry of Culture and the Presidential Board of Trustees of the Italian Republic. The jury comprises the most influential music journalists in Italy.

This is the second time a Les Arts production has received these awards. In 2007, the production of Wagner's 'The Ring of the Nibelung', staged by La Fura dels Baus and co-produced with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, received the award for best set design, costumes, and video.

'La damnation de Faust' is the final production of the 2017-2018 season, which Les Arts will premiere on June 20. Roberto Abbado, after his successful performances of 'Lucia di Lammermoor' at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, returns to the podium of the Valencian opera house's Main Hall.

The principal conductor of the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana leads a cast of prominent Spanish performers: the Canarian tenor Celso Albelo (Faust), the Burgos-born bass Rubén Amoretti (Méphistophélès), and the Valencian mezzo-soprano Silvia Tro Santafé (Marguerite). The Valencian opera house has scheduled additional performances of this symphonic-theatrical work on June 23, 26, and 29, as well as July 1.