Baritone Carlos Álvarez headlines a concert dedicated to zarzuela at the Palau de les Arts
28.12.2011
Jordi Bernàcer from Alcoy takes the helm of the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana
Valencia (28-12-11). Baritone Carlos Álvarez will headline a zarzuela concert on Sunday, January 15, at 7:00 p.m. at the Auditori of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía. Cristina Faus, from Valencia, and the Catalan tenor Albert Montserrat will join the singer from Málaga and the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana for this performance, conducted by Jordi Bernàcer.
The evening's program features preludes, romances, and duets from some of the most popular works of this quintessential Spanish genre. On the music stand are scores from zarzuelas such as Chapí's * El puñao de rosas* , Moreno Torroba's * Luisa Fernanda* , Bretón 's *La verbena de la Paloma* , Sorozábal 's *La del manojo de rosas*, and José Serrano's *La Dolorosa *.
Carlos Álvarez (Málaga, 1966) is considered one of the leading figures in Spanish opera. With an extensive career that includes performances in Vienna, New York, Salzburg, Milan, and Paris, the baritone from Málaga is a favorite of conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Lorin Maazel, Seiji Ozawa, and Fabio Luisi in the Verdi repertoire. Among other distinctions, Carlos Álvarez has received the National Music Prize and the Kammersänger Award from the Vienna State Opera, as well as two Grammy Awards for his recordings of Albéniz's Merlin and Verdi's Falstaff . The baritone is also one of the major figures in the operatic scene who has participated in the Palau de les Arts' operatic program since its inauguration. Álvarez sang under the direction of Lorin Maazel in Simon Boccanegra , Don Carlo , and Carmen , and has given two zarzuela concerts. Recently, the baritone participated in the concert opera Ariadne auf Naxos under the direction of Sir Andrew Davis, which the Palau de les Arts programmed in mid-December.
Cristina Faus, from Valencia, currently performing in the production of Rossini's La Cenerentola , provides the female voice for this concert. The mezzo-soprano from Benisanó has performed in most of Spain's most prestigious theaters and concert halls. She has also sung on international stages such as the Rossini Festival in Pesaro and La Fenice in Venice. Her operatic repertoire includes major works from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods. She has worked with conductors of the caliber of Lorin Maazel, Roberto Abbado, Alberto Zedda, and Enrique García Asensio.
Tenor Albert Montserrat completes the trio of soloists in this zarzuela program. The Barcelona native boasts performances in Spain's leading theaters, as well as a distinguished career in Germany. He has sung in various zarzuelas at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, including works such as * La tabernera del puerto *, *Bohemios *, *La Bruja* , and *Los diamantes de la Corona *.
On the podium of the Auditori, for the first time, was Jordi Bernàcer (Alcoy, 1976), from Valencia. The young conductor made his debut last season at the Palau de les Arts with Massenet's Manon. He has been an assistant to conductors of the caliber of Lorin Maazel, Patrick Fournillier, Frédéric Chaslin, and Dmitri Jurowski, among others, and has conducted a significant number of Spanish and international orchestras. Bernàcer also collaborates regularly with the Palau de les Arts and the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.
Tickets for this concert have a single price of 35 euros, a price on which the Palau de les Arts has opened a promotion associated with its program A space for all audiences, through which both group purchases and those made individually by season ticket holders, holders of the Carnet Jove, retirees and pensioners and other groups that are part of the program, will benefit from a 35% discount on the purchase of tickets that are processed directly through the Box Offices of the Palau de les Arts .
