The Palau de les Arts opens the 2010-2011 Season concert series with two evenings dedicated to Spanish music

• Plácido Domingo sells out tickets for the zarzuela program directed by López Cobos on November 21
• Mezzo-soprano María José Montiel will replace baritone Carlos Álvarez in the concert on November 27th, conducted by Pérez Sierra.

Valencia (5.11.10).- The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía opens the 2010-2011 Season concert series with two evenings dedicated to Spanish music.

Plácido Domingo stars alongside Argentine soprano Virginia Tola in a zarzuela special directed by Jesús López Cobos on November 21. Domingo and Tola have shared the stage in Europe, Asia, and the United States. On this occasion, they will perform arias and duets from some of the most popular works of the Spanish lyric genre, such as Luisa Fernanda and Maravilla by Moreno Torroba, Gigantes y cabezudos by Fernández Caballero, and La canción del olvido by Serrano, among others.

Jesús López Cobos, in his debut as conductor of the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, will also lead orchestral excerpts from zarzuela classics such as La boda de Luis Alonso de Giménez and El bateo de Chueca. This first evening dedicated to Spanish music will also feature Manuel de Falla's 'Danza ritual de fuego' from El amor brujo.

Tickets for this concert have been sold out since the beginning of October, with the exception of five percent of the venue's capacity, which is reserved for sale on the day of the show.

Spanish Night II

José Miguel Pérez Sierra, deputy director of the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo, will lead the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana in 'Noche española II', the second gala dedicated to Spanish music programmed by the Palau de les Arts on November 27 in the Auditori.

The Sevillian soprano Rocío Ignacio, the Madrid-born mezzo-soprano María José Montiel and the Tenerife-born tenor Jorge de León, as soloists, offer fragments of Don Gil de Alcalá and El gato montés by Penella, La Marchenera and La Chulapona by Moreno Torroba; and El rey que rabió by Chapí, among other compositions.

The Palau de les Arts announces that baritone Carlos Álvarez will not be participating in this concert. Despite his best efforts to be in Valencia, the singer has been forced to cancel his appearance due to health reasons. Álvarez had expressed his excitement about returning to the Palau de les Arts and performing for the Valencian audience.