The Palau de les Arts premieres Una cosa rara by Valencian Vicente Martín i Soler

• Francisco Negrín, one of the most innovative directors on the scene, is staging this opera, the second by the composer to be performed at the Valencian arts center
• Soprano Ofelia Sala and tenor Joel Prieto lead the cast of this new production, musically directed by Ottavio Dantone and Sergio Alapont.

Valencia (04-02-10). The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía premieres this Sunday, February 7th at the Teatre Martín i Soler, Una cosa rara, the second opera by Valencian composer Vicente Martín i Soler that it has performed since its inauguration.

The recovery and dissemination of Vicente Martín i Soler is one of the priorities of the Valencian arts center, which with this new production fulfills its commitment to offer one of his works in every season, as Helga Schmidt recalled.

This is also the second work by the Valencian composer that the Palau de les Arts will release in high definition through the Unitel label, following the release of L'arbore di Diana. But this will not be the only initiative to promote the composer's operas beyond Valencia. As Helga Schmidt pointed out, Valery Gergiev, director of the Mariinsky Theatre, will include these two works in the repertoire of the St. Petersburg opera house, in addition to the agreement signed with La Fenice Theatre in Venice for their performance at the Malibran Theatre in the Italian city. Furthermore, Plácido Domingo himself has expressed interest in including them among the titles that the Los Angeles Opera will offer in the upcoming seasons.

Francisco Negrín, who has already achieved notable success at the Palau de les Arts for his Orlando by Handel and the zarzuela La corte de Faraón by Vicente Lleó, is the author of the staging of this work, the best known of the Valencian composer, a contemporary of Mozart, with whom he rivaled in popularity in 18th-century Vienna.

Negrín, who made a historicist version of A Strange Thing in Stockholm, proposes on this occasion a modern and fun reading with elements of the 'reality show' and films like The Truman Show, maintaining the parameters of the baroque in the functioning of the show.

Francisco Negrín has pointed out that it is perhaps "the best of Lorenzo Da Ponte's librettos," and "in fact, it was the most popular opera of the time, eclipsing Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, and consolidating a trend, the trend of Una cosa rara."

Ottavio Dantone, who has conducted other works by Martín i Soler at the Palau de les Arts, such as the concert version of L'isola del piacere and the oratorio Philistaei a Jonatha Dispersi, which inaugurated the Teatre Martín i Soler in June 2008, takes the reins of the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana in this new production. Sergio Alapont, from Valencia, will conduct the performances on February 18 and 21.

For Ottavio Dantone, Una cosa rara is the best reflection of the musical luminosity of the era and the most representative composition of the years of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

A Strange Thing premiered on November 17, 1786, at the Court Theatre in Vienna to undeniable public and critical acclaim, which spread to theatres in London, Naples, Paris, Lisbon, and St. Petersburg, among others. Its staged premiere in Valencia took place two centuries later, at the Teatro Principal in 1992.

The libretto is by Lorenzo Da Ponte, with whom Mozart collaborated on some of his most celebrated operas: Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, and Così fan tutte. In fact, the popularity of Martín i Soler's opera led the Austrian composer to include the Valencian composer's theme, 'O quanto un si bel giubilo,' in his own opera Don Giovanni.

The action of Una cosa rara takes place in a village in the Sierra Morena mountains and tells the story of Prince Juan's (Queen Isabel's son) attempts to win the heart of the beautiful mountain girl Lilla, whose love for the shepherd Lubino remains unwavering despite the prince's advances. Hence the subtitle of Una cosa rara: 'Ossia Bellezza ed onestà' (meaning 'mere beauty and honesty').

The cast of Una cosa rara is headed by Ofelia Sala, a Valencian soprano with an international career and a regular performer at major opera houses such as the Metropolitan Opera in New York and La Scala in Milan. The soprano brings to life a “bucolic and very funny Queen Isabella,” as she has described it. This is her second appearance in the repertoire of Vicente Martín i Soler at the Palau de les Arts, where she sang the title role in L'arbore di Diana last season.

Alongside Ofelia Sala, tenor Joel Prieto sings the role of Prince Juan, marking his second operatic collaboration with the Valencian composer after L'arbore di Diana. Prieto's performance as Ferrando in Mozart's Così fan tutte last season earned him unanimous critical acclaim.

Soprano María Hinojosa (Lilla) and bass Sávio Sperandio (Lisargo) join the cast of Una cosa rara, which also includes singers from the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo: Javier Tomé (Corrado), Maite Alberola (Ghita), Isaac Galán (Lubino) and Lluís Martínez-Agudo (Tita).

The Palau de les Arts has also scheduled performances of this work by Martín i Soler on the 10th, 12th, 14th, and 21st of this month. Those interested can purchase tickets through the website www.lesarts.com; by phone at 961 975 900, Monday to Friday, from 12:30 to 6:00 p.m.; at the Palau de les Arts box office, Monday to Friday from 12:00 to 8:00 p.m.; or through Servientrada and Servicam.

Dramatized readings and educational performance for young people

As part of the didactic project for the 2009-2010 season, the Valencian arts center has scheduled a didactic performance of Una cosa rara for February 18th, with the aim of bringing the work of the famous Valencian composer closer to the youngest audiences.

In a phase prior to their visit to the emblematic Calatrava building to attend the performance, the students analyze in their centers with their teachers and with the help of a didactic guide provided by the Departament de Dramatúrgia, Publicacions i Educació del Palau de les Arts, the music, the text and the work of the composer.

Also, simultaneously with the performances of Una cosa rara, the Palau de les Arts has again scheduled the dramatized readings of Così fan tutte, Mozart's famous opera with a libretto also by Lorenzo Da Ponte, on February 17, 18 and 19.

This is a free adaptation of the text by Lorenzo Da Ponte, directed by the Valencian Andrés Poveda, which allows one to enjoy the literary quality of the work that represented the third and last collaboration between the librettist and official poet of the court of Emperor Joseph II and the Austrian composer.