Davide Livermore begins his work as Intendant of the Palau de les Arts
24.01.2015
Valencia. Davide Livermore, from Turin, began his work today as Artistic Director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía.
Livermore concluded the day with the premiere of What Are Clouds ?, a concert-performance staged by the Turin-born director, with musical direction by Juan Luis Martínez and featuring the voices of artists from the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo, celebrating the anniversary of Mozart's birth. The premiere was attended by the Minister of Education, Culture and Sport, María José Catalá.
Stage director, set designer, costume and lighting designer, singer, dancer, actor, screenwriter and pedagogue are some of the facets that the new artistic director of the Palau de les Arts has developed in his 22-year career.
A career that has developed both in the main operatic stages of the continent such as La Scala in Milan and in small theaters, such as the Marenco di Ceva (Italy).
Livermore is also the artistic director of the Baretti Theatre in Turin, a position he has held since 2002, where he focuses on experimental musical theatre. A disciple of Carlo Majer, from whom he learned the power of theatre to reflect a city, he is a staunch advocate of public theatre and culture as a driver of social progress.
Plácido Domingo, who has also served as artistic director of the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo since 2013—a role he will combine with his new responsibilities at the Valencian arts center—has directed some of the most successful productions in the Palau de les Arts' short history, such as Puccini's La Bohème and Verdi's operas Otello and La forza del destino . He won his first Teatro Lírico Campoamor award, considered the "Goya" of opera, for the latter production.
Among their latest achievements, the debut of the Centre de Perfeccionament artists in Austria, at the Innsbruck Early Music Festival with Scarlatti's Narciso , as well as the premiere last December in Turin of Romancero gitano with actress Rossy de Palma and the singers of the Centre.
In March of this year, Livermore is directing the first major production at the Palau de les Arts for this season, Bellini's Norma , with Gustavo Gimeno on the podium and the diva Mariella Devia in the leading role.
For his artistic project at the helm of the Palau de les Arts, Davide Livermore is committed to continuing the work begun by Helga Schmidt to enhance the value of theater both in the city of Valencia and throughout the Valencian Community. In this regard, the Director has announced that he will initiate a dialogue with the city's leading theaters, among which he highlighted the Palau de la Música, and will also work to bring Palau productions to other theaters in the Valencian region.
Livermore advocates for consolidating the presence of the Valencian arts center in the international opera circuit, following the path laid out by Schmidt to exchange productions and carry out new co-productions for the sustainability of the artistic project.
The pillars of Livermore's artistic policy will remain on the stable bodies that currently work at the Palau de les Arts: the Ballet de la Generalitat, the Cor de la Generalitat and the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana as well as the artists of the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo.
A champion of the grand repertoire, the Turin native has expressed interest in including zarzuela, Baroque opera, and contemporary opera in the Palau de les Arts' program for the coming years. This program aims to enhance the activities of the Teatre Martín i Soler, with the goal of attracting new audiences to Valencian opera.
