The Palau de les Arts premieres its first baroque opera tomorrow, with Handel's Orlando.

15.02.2008

The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía premieres tomorrow, Saturday, February 16, Orlando by Georg Friedrich Händel, an opera with which the Valencian coliseum makes its first foray into the baroque repertoire.
Orlando is a Royal Opera House Covent Garden production, where it received unanimous critical acclaim at its premiere. The Palau de les Arts will present this opera on February 21, 23, 26, 29, and March 2.

The production features stage direction by Francisco Negrín, one of the most creative professionals in the world of theater. Musical direction is by the Spanish composer Eduardo López Banzo, a leading figure in the revival of Baroque musical heritage in Spain.

Regarding the staging, the director explained that the intention of the production is "to use the conventions of Baroque opera and make them understandable and entertaining for a modern audience, since Baroque operas were the musicals of their time." To achieve this, they will use a rotating mechanism that allows for rapid scene changes, as was common in the period, as well as 18th-century costumes, "but the staging and direction of the actors are typical of modern theater," he clarified.

“The modern theater acting style,” he added, “can explore all the layers of the Baroque through a more stylized and poetic framework provided by the set design, and it blends very well with the formality of the music.”

Negrín explained that the opera is based on a passage in which the knight Orlando falls in love with Princess Angelica and changes his nature. In his opinion, the libretto “is very modern, it almost seems like a New Age personal growth theme,” as is the music, which possesses “a pulse and rhythm that disappeared from the classical repertoire in the 19th century.” Furthermore, working on Orlando has been for him “a liberating challenge and a marvel.” In this regard, he noted that operas of this era have very clear ideas and there is nothing specifically visual, “which allows me to be more of a creator and not just a performer.”

For his part, musical director Eduardo López Banzo highlighted his work with the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana "to try to recover a style and a way of playing that helps baroque music reach the listener much more."

López Banzo also stated that performing Baroque music requires considering many factors, such as its ability to move contemporary audiences just as deeply as it did 18th-century audiences. To this end, he has brought specialists from Al Ayre Español to the Palau de les Arts, he reported.

López Banzo emphasized that the experience has gone very well "because it is an excellent group that learns a lot; it is a real luxury for Valencia to have an orchestra like this."

On the other hand, he referred to "the freedom of improvisation that Baroque music allows," "which does not happen in the music of the 19th and 20th centuries, in which composers tie down every last note."

Renowned Baroque repertoire

Orlando describes the adventures of the knight Orlando and the madness that consumes him due to his unrequited love for Angelica, Queen of Cathay. The libretto is based on the libretto of L'Orlando, ovvero La gelosa pazzia, by Carlo Sigismondo Capece, and set to music by Domenico Scarlatti in 1717. The libretto of both operas is based on the epic poem Orlando furioso (1532), by Ludovico Ariosto.

This production boasts a cast of renowned singers specializing in the Baroque repertoire. Countertenor Bejun Mehta will reprise his role as the Romantic hero following his success at Covent Garden. Liubov Petrova, who made her Covent Garden debut as Luisa in *The Betrothal in the Monastery*, will portray Angelica, Queen of Cathay. Valencian singer Silvia Tro Santafé as Medoro, Camilla Tilling as Dorinda, and Christian Senn as Zoroaster complete the cast.

Orlando will be performed on February 16, 21, 23, 26, 29 and March 2. Tickets can be purchased online at www.lesarts.com, by phone at 961 975 900, or at the Palau de les Arts box office Monday through Friday from 12 noon to 8:30 pm.