José Manuel Zapata premieres Opérame. What the hell is opera? at the Palau de les Arts
28.03.2012
•Artists from the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo participate in the production, which features arrangements performed by musicians from Berklee College of Music
•Tickets for performances open to the general public are sold out except for the reserved capacity for sale on the day of the performance.
Valencia (March 28, 2012) – José Manuel Zapata premieres Opérame. What the hell is opera? this Friday, March 30, at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía.
This show for all audiences, in which the tenor from Granada humorously reveals the intricacies of the lyric genre, is being performed at the Teatre Martín i Soler until April 3rd.
Zapata is the creator and performer of Opérame. What the heck is opera?; “a sung story with a hilarious plot,” as the artist himself describes it. A group of musicians and singers accompanies him in his witty explanation of opera and the role of all those who work to bring it to life.
The production features the collaboration of artists from the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo and students from Berklee College of Music, who perform the fresh and modern musical arrangements they have created for this new production.
A wacky opera lab
José Manuel Zapata plays a mad scientist, the son of a tenor and a nuclear scientist. Frustrated by his inability to follow in his father's footsteps, this new incarnation of the Nutty Professor uses his knowledge to build robots capable of singing, something he himself has never been able to do. The doctor, however, is unaware that he possesses a second personality: that of an Italian tenor, who takes over in moments of inspiration to perform the most famous arias in operatic history.
In a relaxed tone, with comical twists, surprises and projections, Zapata intersperses gags with arias from the most well-known titles in the repertoire, such as Verdi's La Traviata, Rossini's La Cenerentola or Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann, in his accelerated course on the operatic world.
A self-produced show
Operate Me. What the Hell is Opera? is a self-produced show, directed by Allex Aguilera. The production features set design by Manuel Zuriaga, costumes by Carmen Jabaloyes, video creations by Miguel Bosch, and lighting by Antonio Castro. The set design, costumes, and props were all created by the Technical Team of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía.
José Manuel Zapata (Doctor Hans-Franz Tenor) leads the cast. Alongside him are singers from the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo: Brigitta Simon (Soprano 3000), Helen Kearns (Frau 4), Ramona Mirabela Castillo (Mezzo-sopra 2.0), Mario Cerdá and Jesús Álvarez (R Dor Tenor), and baritones Aldo Heo and Leonard Bernad (Baritron). Also participating is the Cor del Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo, conducted by Juan Luis Martínez.
Juan Francisco Padilla is the musical director and responsible for the musical arrangements for guitar, lute, and theorbo. He is accompanied in the pit by the following musicians: Carles Montfort (violin) and Andrés Márquez (percussion), from Berklee College of Music; Nesrine Belmokh (cello), from the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana; and José Jaime Hidalgo (piano), from the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo.
Tickets for family performances are sold out
The performances on March 30, April 2 and 3 are intended for the educational project of the Palau de les Arts, while the performances on March 31 and April 1 are open to the general public.
The Palau de les Arts has set a price of five euros for tickets for children up to twelve years old, and ten euros for adults. The Valencian arts center reports that tickets for these performances are sold out except for those reserved for sale on the day of the performance.
