The Palau de les Arts premieres La vida breve by Manuel de Falla and Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni
23.03.2010
The breakout tenor Jorge de León accomplishes the feat of performing the lead roles in both of these productions
Valencia (March 23, 2010) – The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía hosted the dress rehearsal last night of Manuel de Falla's La vida breve and Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana. A superb double bill with Giancarlo del Monaco as stage director and Lorin Maazel conducting the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana.
The prestigious director Giancarlo del Monaco, son of the celebrated tenor Mario del Monaco, will direct these two works. Del Monaco boasts a prolific résumé with productions at the world's leading opera houses, including those in New York, Vienna, Milan, Paris, Buenos Aires, Venice, Los Angeles, Berlin, Munich, Tel Aviv, Oslo, Budapest, Washington, Zurich, Barcelona, and Madrid, among others, in addition to an extensive career as an arts administrator and educator.
La vida breve is considered the quintessential Spanish opera. For the production premiering this Thursday, Del Monaco offers a new interpretation of Falla's classic from a psychodrama perspective, "stripping away at traditional clichés to enhance its dramatic elements."
Soprano Cristina Gallardo-Domâs and tenor Jorge de León take on the leading roles in this new production. The Chilean diva is one of the most outstanding voices on the current operatic scene, while the young singer from Tenerife has risen to prominence in the music world following his recent and successful performance as Andrea Chénier at the Teatro Real in Madrid.
This is also the first time in his career that Lorin Maazel, musical director of the Palau de les Arts, has tackled Manuel de Falla's score.
The Valencian cultural center is presenting a joint program of Pietro Mascagni's La vida breve and Cavalleria rusticana, the latter arriving in a production from Madrid's Teatro Real, also directed by Giancarlo del Monaco. Cavalleria rusticana features a cast led by Moscow-born soprano Anna Smirnova and Tenerife-born tenor Jorge de León, who will thus undertake the feat of performing the demanding roles of Paco and Turiddu in a single operatic performance.
La vida breve and Cavalleria rusticana will premiere next Thursday, March 25. The Valencian cultural center will offer performances of these two productions on the 28th of this month and on April 3, 11, 17, 22, and 25.
