Les Arts adds 10 new titles to its operatic repertoire in a journey through 417 years of music history
27.05.2024
2024-2025 Season
- With Willy Decker, Robert Carsen, Àlex Ollé, Vincent Huguet and Moshe Leiser & Patrice Caurier on stage, and Gaffigan, Jacobs, Christie, Gimeno, Elder, Hengelbrock, Minasi and García Alarcón on the podium
- Anna Netrebko, Asmik Grigorian, Charles Castronovo make their debut and Juan Diego Flórez, Lissete Oropesa, Joyce DiDonato, Sondra Radvanovsky, Michael Fabiano, Ekaterina Semenchuk and Piotr Becza?a return
Valencia (May 27, 2024). The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía adds 10 new titles to its operatic repertoire in its 19th season, a journey through 417 years of music history, from Monteverdi's 'L'Orfeo' (1607) to the London premiere of Francisco Coll's 'City Without Sleep' (2024).
The regional secretary for Culture and Sport, Paula Añó, presided today over the press conference presentation of the 2024-2025 Season of the Valencian arts center, accompanied by the president of the Board of Trustees of Les Arts, Pablo Font de Mora, and its artistic director, Jesús Iglesias Noriega.
Añó highlighted "Les Arts' most ambitious commitment to date," which brings together leading figures in the field in a diverse offering that consolidates Valencia and the Valencian Community as a leading cultural hub.
“This is what the 2024-2025 season at Les Arts will be like: 11 opera and zarzuela shows, five dance performances, seven powerful symphonic programs, five evenings of 'Lied', three concerts by the greatest divas, five Baroque sessions, five representatives of the most current Valencian music, six nights with the best flamenco and a rich offering for everyone,” Añó pointed out.
For his part, the president of the board of trustees, Pablo Font de Mora, thanked the Valencian Government and, specifically, the First Vice-Presidency and Ministry of Culture, for their support of the project that civil society launched for Les Arts in 2018. He noted that the project's results, not only in terms of artistic achievements but also in terms of audience numbers, visibility, sponsorship acquisition, patronage, and overall acceptance, are "as our guiding principle for this season, 'Redemptio,' states, the best way to give back to the Valencian people everything they contribute to Les Arts."
In this regard, Iglesias Noriega pointed out that, in line with the term 'Redemptio', Les Arts is advocating, once again, to start its season outside its home venue, with a tour by the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana (OCV), which, with its director James Gaffigan, will visit on August 30 at the Pollença Festival.
Days later, on September 5, the OCV, with Javier Perianes, will perform at the Soria Autumn Music Festival. And finally, the Les Arts resident orchestra and James Gaffigan will headline concerts in Llíria and Cullera (September 13 and 14), as a prelude to the Open House on September 15, which marks the start of activities in the Calatrava building.
Les Arts és Òpera's nineteenth season includes eleven titles representing virtually all operatic periods and styles, all linked by the leitmotif of redemption. Thus, in Manon and Il trovatore, the loss of earthly life signifies the culmination of a particular ambition or the expiation of a life of guilt. Redemption through death is also present in The Golden Stool, The Flying Dutchman, and Dialogues des Carmélites.
Orpheus redeems his impatience by losing Eurydice, and Bajazet—in 'Tamerlane'—pays for his ambition with his death, granting his daughter freedom. Isabella I—in 'Robert Devereux'—redeems herself in life by accepting her misfortunes for the sake of her Empire, and the protagonists of 'L'heure espagnole' and 'Gianni Schicchi' comically atone for their excesses, deceptions, and greed before the public.
A particular case is 'Cabaré Pierrot', a double bill featuring 'Ein Lichtstrahl' and 'Pierrot lunaire', a spectacle blending the humor of the former with the mystical avant-garde of Schoenberg, which points to a tragic redemption of the West. In a similar vein of redemption, 'Les Arts és Sarsuela' presents the refreshing 'La verbena de la Paloma', where the redemption of popular sins seems never entirely absolved in a lyrical farce always open to new possible endings.
Lisette Oropesa, Marina Monzó, Charles Castronovo, Piero Pretti, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Artur Ruci?ski, Elena Stikhina, Nicholas Brownlee, Franz-Josef Selig, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Eve-Maud Hubeaux, Iván Ayón Rivas, Doris Soffel, Ambrogio Maestri, Eleonora Buratto, Silvia Tro Santafé and Ismael Jordi are some of the voices that will appear this opera season.
On the podium alongside James Gaffigan, expert maestros lead the program, including Maurizio Benini, Leonardo García Alarcón, Riccardo Minasi, René Jacobs, Michele Spotti, and Francesco Lanzillotta, whose work will be complemented on stage by respected creators such as Willy Decker, Robert Carsen, Àlex Ollé, Vincent Huguet, Moshe Leiser & Patrice Caurier, and Jetske Mijnssen. For zarzuela, specialist José Miguel Pérez Sierra returns, with Nuria Castejón directing.
In the symphonic chapter, the conductors most appreciated by the Valencian public return with exuberant programs with the great romantic and late-romantic repertoire as their emblem: Sir Mark Elder, Gustavo Gimeno, Antonello Manacorda, Thomas Hengelbrock and James Gaffigan, principal conductor of the OCV.
For its part, Les Arts és Dansa hosts five shows featuring the finest classical ballet, contemporary dance and flamenco, presented by Lucía Lacarra, Sara Baras, Asun Noales, María Pagés and the Ballets de Monte-Carlo.
Five unmissable events are featured in the Lied cycle, including the debuts of Asmik Grigorian and Michael Volle, as well as the highly anticipated return of Simon Keenlyside, Joyce DiDonato, and Michael Fabiano, in his Lieder debut. Meanwhile, 'Les Arts és Grans Veus' will host the first Valencian performance by the quintessential diva, Anna Netrebko, headlining an impressive lineup that also includes Juan Diego Flórez, Piotr Beczačay, and Sondra Radvanovsky.
The well-established 'Les Arts és Barroc i Música Antiga' dazzles with an unbeatable trio featuring René Jacobs, William Christie and Leonardo García Alarcón, in a cycle that, thanks to the collaboration with the National Center for Musical Diffusion, will also bring together the most respected Spaniards in this repertoire: Los Elementos, by Alberto Miguélez Rouco, the soprano Núria Rial, the sopranist Samuel Mariño and the Valencian Mediterrània Consort.
For its part, Les Arts will be showcasing the diverse expressions of the voice, featuring luminaries such as José Mercé, Israel Fernández, Mayte Martín, Antonio Reyes, and Jesús Méndez, El Pele and Reyes Carrasco in flamenco, as well as Marisa Monte in Brazilian music. Meanwhile, the Valencian music scene will be represented by La Habitación Roja, Doña Manteca, La Plata, Novembre Elèctric, and Andreu Valor.
