The Palau de les Arts presents the IV Mediterrani Festival under the motto “Amor is llibertat”

• Zubin Mehta conducts the new production of Puccini's Tosca, the revival of Beethoven's Fidelio, and Mahler's Third Symphony.
• The arts center brings together Georges Prêtre and La Fura dels Baus in the concert-show 'Roman Trilogy'
• Plácido Domingo conducts singers from the Centre de Perfeccionament in a tribute to Gian Carlo Menotti

Valencia (5-17-11).- The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía has presented the IV Mediterrani Festival, which is celebrated from May 28 to June 26 under the motto “Amor és llibertat”.

Love and freedom, as explained by Mayor Helga Schmidt, will be the subject of debate and reflection in an edition full of quotes, commemorations and events that have as their main reference two operatic titles that catalyze this motto, Tosca by Puccini and Fidelio by Beethoven.

“Love,” Helga Schmidt pointed out, “is the force that fuels the yearning for freedom of Floria Tosca and Leonora in disguise in Fidelio, two emblematic characters of opera and portraits of rebellion against unscrupulous power. Both Beethoven and Puccini masterfully portray these yearnings for freedom and justice through their musical universe.”

A premise with which the Palau de les Arts pays tribute in turn to the current situation in other regions of the Mediterranean, as explained by Zubin Mehta, President of this event.

“As part of the Mediterranean, we cannot forget what is happening not far from here. And we dedicate “Amor és llibertat” to them, to those people on other shores of the Mediterranean who fight to defend freedom and love,” the maestro pointed out.

Tosca is a new production from the Valencian arts center in collaboration with the Fondazione Festival Puccini, the Opéra di Monte-Carlo, and the Teatro Regio di Torino. The Monegasque director Jean-Louis Grinda is responsible for the staging of this work. Zubin Mehta leads the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, conducting a cast headed by Ukrainian soprano Oksana Dyka as Tosca. Dyka returns to the cultural center following her acclaimed performance as Cio-cio-san in Madama Butterfly under the baton of Lorin Maazel.

Argentine tenor Marcelo Álvarez (Cavadossi) returns to the lineup of this musical event after his success in 2010 with Carmen . Álvarez will sing the role of Cavaradossi, except for the performance on June 13, which will be sung by Jorge de León from Tenerife and will be broadcast to more than 50 European cities as part of the Viva Europa event, as well as being projected in the Plaza de la Virgen in Valencia.

The renowned Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel makes his debut at the Palau de les Arts in the role of Scarpia. Mika Kares (Angelotti), Emilio Sánchez (Spoletta), Fabio Previati (Sacristan), Aldo Heo (Sciarrone), and Gianluca Buratto (Jailer) complete the cast of this production, which will have six performances on May 28 and 31 and June 4, 7, 10, and 13.

The acclaimed production of Beethoven's Fidelio, which opened the Palau de les Arts' inaugural season, will be the second operatic title of the Festival. Pier'Alli's staging returns to Valencia after its successful DVD run. Maestro Mehta once again conducts the work with which he made his debut in the pit of the Valencian arts center.

This time, American soprano Jennifer Wilson sings the role of Leonore; Canadian Lance Ryan and German Peter Seiffert alternate in the role of Florestan. Wilson, Ryan, and Seiffert are well-known to Valencian audiences for their acclaimed performances as Brünnhilde and Siegfried in the Palau de les Arts production of Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle. Seiffert also sang the role of Florestan at the arts center's inauguration in 2006. Danish tenor Stephen Milling, another of the great voices of the Valencian Ring Cycle, sings the role of Rocco. Yevgeny Nikitin (Don Pizarro) and Sandra Trattnigg (Marzelline) complete the cast of Fidelio. Beethoven's only opera will be performed on June 5, 8, 11, 22, and 26.

Georges Prêtre and La Fura dels Baus

This fourth edition of the Festival del Mediterrani also brings together La Fura dels Baus and the veteran maestro Georges Prêtre in a concert show, 'Trilogia romana' which will be programmed on June 17, 18 and 19.

Prêtre, leading the OCV, presents the three works that comprise this trilogy by Ottorino Respighi: Feste romane, Fontane di Roma, and Pini di Roma. The performance of the Italian composer's work is enhanced by video creations from French filmmaker and photographer Emmanuel Carlier. Carlus Padrissa directs this production, which will later travel to Rome under the direction of Maestro Prêtre.

Tributes to Mahler and Liszt

The Festival's symphonic program is rounded out by Gustav Mahler's Third Symphony, conducted by Mehta on June 12th to commemorate the centenary of the composer's death. The Bombay-born conductor and the Palau de les Arts' resident orchestra will repeat this same concert on June 24th as the opening performance of the Granada International Festival of Music and Dance.

Another date that the IV Mediterranean Festival will commemorate is the bicentenary of Ferenc Liszt's birth. On June 20, 21, and 23, twelve pianists from Valencia or with close ties to the Valencian Community will undertake the remarkable feat of performing the complete piano works of Liszt's magnum opus, Years of Pilgrimage. These recitals will also be enhanced by sung performances and readings of the poems and writings that inspired the great Hungarian composer.

Recitals, educational activities, cinema and theatre

Among the wide range of activities, the recital 'Word is Music', taking place on June 15th with Andrés Poveda as reciter and playwright and Xavier Torres on piano, offers the world premiere of Javier Costa Císcar's work, Where Oblivion Dwells. The evening's program is rounded out with works by Albéniz, Ravel, and Schubert.

A film series entitled “Of Love and Freedom”, dramatized readings, lectures, meetings, round tables and educational activities aimed at young people complete the varied offering of the Festival del Mediterrani, which also includes the exhibition 'The Musical Angels of the Cathedral of Valencia'.

OCV tour with Zubin Mehta

The President of the Festival del Mediterrani, Zubin Mehta, announced during the presentation of this event that he will travel with the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana to the Ravenna and Armonie d'Arte festivals this summer with a program consisting of Don Quixote and Ein Heldenleben by Richard Strauss.

Mehta praised the excellence of the Palau de les Arts' resident orchestra. As he himself explained, his performance with the OCV of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen was "the culmination of his professional life." This acclaimed Palau de les Arts production, staged by La Fura dels Baus, will return to Valencia in 2013, Mehta noted, as part of the Wagner Year celebrations.

The Bombay conductor, as announced by Helga Schmidt, will take over the musical direction of Mozart's Don Giovanni next season in Jonathan Miller's production, which could not be seen in 2006 due to technical problems.

Plácido Domingo pays tribute to Menotti

Plácido Domingo will bring the artistic activity of the Palau de les Arts to a close with the musical direction of The Telephone and Amelia al ballo by Gian Carlo Menotti at the Martín i Soler Theatre of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía on July 13 and 14.

The tenor will conduct singers from his training centers in Valencia, Los Angeles, and Washington in this double bill, which pays tribute to Gian Carlo Menotti on the centenary of his birth. Both productions are directed by Jean-Louis Grinda of Monaco.