The Palau de les Arts is preparing an audiovisual show for the concert opera The Castle of Duke Bluebeard, by Bartók

< Henrik Nánási, musical director of the Komische Oper in Berlin, opens the symphonic season at the Auditori with this opera in concert
< Hungarian bass Gábor Bretz and Russian mezzo-soprano Elena Zhidkova play Duke Bluebeard and Judith
The program also includes Bartók's Divertimento for String Orchestra

Valencia. The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía will present a concert of Bartók's opera Bluebeard's Castle , scheduled for November 7th in the Auditori, accompanied by an audiovisual show.

Henrik Nánási is the musical director of the first concert of the subscription season at the Valencian arts center, whose program also includes Divertimento for string orchestra by the Hungarian composer. This is the first time Maestro Nánási has conducted the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana.

Henrik Nánási (Pécs, 1975), the Hungarian conductor and music director of the Komische Oper Berlin, is one of the most promising conductors on the continent. In 2013, he made his debut at London's Covent Garden with Puccini's Turandot , and last summer he conducted Bizet's Carmen at the Verona Arena. He has also worked with the opera houses of Dresden, Bavaria, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Monte Carlo, and Zurich, among others.

Davide Livermore proposes an audiovisual installation for Béla Bartók's opera, featuring projections by Miguel Bosch and produced by the technical team of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía. The video creation intertwines the pictorial symbolism of Gustav Klimt with the psychological elements that permeate Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle .

Gábor Bretz sings Bluebeard. The Hungarian bass is one of the leading interpreters of this Bartók opera, having sung under the baton of conductors such as Edward Gardner, Valery Gergiev, and Daniel Harding, in theaters like La Scala in Milan, and with ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. His credits include performances at London's Covent Garden, La Scala in Milan, and the Salzburg Festival.

Elena Zhidkova sings the role of Judith. The Petersburg-born mezzo-soprano has performed at prestigious festivals such as Bayreuth, Edinburgh, and the Salzburg Easter Festival. Throughout her career, she has sung for conductors such as Claudio Abbado and Nikolas Harnoncourt. She recently recorded Bluebeard's Castle with Valery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra.

Bluebeard's Castle is the only opera composed by Béla Bartók. The libretto is by the poet Béla Balázs, based on the fairy tale Bluebeard by Charles Perrault. Bartók achieved great success at the premiere of this work on May 24, 1918, in Budapest.