La Fura dels Baus wins the prestigious Italian Abbiati prize for the Palau de les Arts productions Das Reingold and Die Walküre

27.04.2008

La Fura dels Baus has won the prestigious Italian music critics' award "Franco Abbiati" in its 27th edition in the category of best set design and costumes for the Palau de les Arts productions, Das Reingold (The Rhine Gold) and Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) which closed the Valencian theater's program last season.
These awards, whose decision was announced this week at the prestigious Amici della Scala association in Milan, are considered one of the most important awards in international opera and are listed by experts as the "Oscars" of opera.

The jury, composed of Italy's most prestigious music critics, praised in its verdict, "the futuristic, visionary and hyper-technological stage design of La Fura dels Baus, which in turn respects the classical reading of Wagner."

In this new edition, which awards the operatic year 2007, a total of nine awards have been given, among which the following stand out, in addition to the aforementioned, the award to Tristan und Isolde of La Scala in Milan as best lyric production; the award for best soloist to violinist Leonidas Kavakos and the award to Svetla Vassileva as best singer.

In its ruling, the jury considers that Fura's vision achieves "a Wagner that balances science fiction with poetry and that is realized in constant movements on stage, sophisticated videos, costumes close to cartoons and a surreal stage machinery."

Last March, the Palau de les Arts already won the award for best production for Das Rheingold and Die Walküre (the first two operas of Wagner's tetralogy) at the prestigious Teatro Campoamor Lyric Awards in Oviedo, which received more than 250 applications.

The awards ceremony for the 27th edition of the Franco Abbiati Awards will take place on May 25th at the Donizetti Theatre in Bergamo, and will be attended by the most important personalities in the Italian opera and cultural scene.

With this award, the Valencian coliseum sees its successful first season, which has received recognition from numerous national and international publications, once again recognized.

Das Reingold (The Rhine Gold) and Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) is a co-production of the Palau de les Arts and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

The third installment of Wagner's Ring Cycle, Siegfried, with musical direction by Zubin Mehta and stage direction by La Fura dels Baus, will be performed at the Palau de les Arts on June 10, 14, 17 and 22 as part of the First Festival del Mediterrani.