Melodramma tragico in three acts
Libreto by Salvatore Cammarano
based upon the theatre play Kabale und Liebe by Friedrich von Schiller
Premiere: 8 December 1849
Teatro di San Carlo, Naples
Intrigue when love is not enoughFriedrich Schiller premiered his drama Kabale und Liebe (Intrigue and Love) on 13 April 1784, a few years before the outbreak of the French Revolution. Like so many philosophically inspired works from the Age of Enlightenment – and this is certainly one of them - Schiller's drama denounces the paralysing power of the class system of the old order, which prohibited any acceptable legal relationship between members of different social classes. Its young main characters see their own attempt at marriage fail in the face of their parents' firm refusal: the nobleman is defending his long-standing social rights; while Luisa's father does not act in line with the times to help Luisa in her groundbreaking relationship, thus proving the outdated ideas of the old order right. The unhappy end of these lovers greatly interested Giuseppe Verdi at a time in his life when bourgeois drama – life as experienced by ordinary people – was replacing historical drama and the Risorgimento. Not all social injustices were killed off by the revolutionary guillotine: class barriers continued - and continue - to survive.
A new production by Luisa Miller and the first opera conducted at Les Arts by its brand new Principal Music Director, Sir Mark Elder, and also by the acclaimed Buenos Aires director Valentina Carrasco. Her staging brings out the cruel and manipulative psychological background of family relationships, set in a traditional doll factory. The demanding vocal sextet features Italian tenor Freddie De Tommaso as Rodolfo and brings together artists with well-established careers in Valencia, such as Federica Lombardi (Così fan tutte, La bohème), Alex Esposito (Anna Bolena, Les contes d'Hoffmann) and Gianluca Buratto (Don Giovanni), alongside emerging voices, including Argentine baritone Germán Alcántara, a regular presence in the Covent Garden seasons, and mezzo-soprano Maria Barakova, acclaimed at the Metropolitan and the Vienna State Opera.
Creative Team
Conductor
Sir Mark Elder
Stage Director
Valentina Carrasco
Set Designer
Carles Berga
Costume Designer
Luciana Gutman
Lighting Designer
Antonio Castro
Cast
Miller
Germán Alcántara
Luisa
Federica Lombardi
Il conte di Walter
Alex Esposito
Rodolfo
Freddie De Tommaso
Federica
Maria Barakova
Wurm
Gianluca Buratto
Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana
Chorus Master Jordi Blanch Tordera
Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana
A new production from Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía,in co-production with Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
