From September to February , we can enjoy the new Oviedo Opera season, now in its 79th year. We've included all the details, schedules, performers, and more.
Sorrow: Kindertotenlieder/Suor Angelica
Kindertotenlieder
The 79th Oviedo Opera Season opens with the performance of Sorrow, which includes the Kindertotenlieder and Suor Angelica. Gustav Mahler's Songs for Dead Children were composed between 1901 and 1904. The texts accompanying the music are based on poems by Friedrich Rückert. The German poet wrote 428 poems in an attempt to cope with the deaths of two of his five children, aged 3 and 5, within a two-week period.
Sister Angelica
Like its predecessor, Suor Angelica premiered at the Teatro Campoamor, completing Giacomo Puccini's Il trittico. The drama of Sister Angelica is built upon a meticulous and carefully crafted depiction of life in the cloistered convents of late 17th-century Tuscany, which were self-contained worlds and functioned as such. The opera's protagonist is another tragic heroine from Puccini's universe.
Campoamor Theater
September 11, 19:30 PM.
September 13, 19:00 PM.
September 16, 19:30 PM.
September 19, 19:00 PM.
Maria Stuarda
G. Donizetti
This opera is part of the so-called Tudor Trilogy. The libretto is loosely based on Friedrich Schiller's *Mary Stuart* (1800), a work known in Italy through Andrea Maffei's translation. It premiered at La Scala in Milan in 1835. The action takes place at Fotheringay Castle, where Elizabeth I holds Mary Stuart captive. The Scottish queen's pride leads her to a terrible confrontation with Elizabeth, with fatal consequences. The political rivalry between the two queens, as well as Elizabeth's love for Leicester, who is in love with Mary Stuart, will bring about the death of our protagonist. This opera is a splendid example of Italian bel canto opera, from both a literary and musical perspective.
Campoamor Theater
October 09, 19:30 p.m.
October 11, 19:00 p.m.
October 14, 19:30 p.m.
October 17, 19:00 p.m.
Macbeth
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi's Macbeth premiered at the Teatro alla Pergola in Florence on May 14, 1847. Francesco Maria Piave's libretto faithfully adapts William Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name. The English bard's drama is considered a cursed work, yet one of his most accomplished and perfect tragedies. Shakespeare's play deals with the themes of ambition for power and fear. But above all, it deals with murder, a succession of crimes that plunges us all into a terrible nightmare.
Musically, Verdi's Macbeth is a work of art with moments of magnetic beauty. In his engagement with Shakespeare's universe, Verdi discovered new sonic worlds of a disconcerting modernity. The music of Macbeth reflects the drama's violence, its darkness, its nobility, and also its grandiose and palatial moments, as well as the terrifying world of the witches. Ultimately, the music of this opera reflects all the poetry and beauty of Shakespeare's work and the clear evolution of Verdi's timbral taste.
Campoamor Theater
November 13, 19:30 p.m.
November 15, 19:00 p.m.
November 18, 19:30 p.m.
November 20, 19:30 p.m.
November 21, 19:00 p.m.
Manon Lescaut
G. Puccini
This four-act opera, with a libretto by Domenico Oliva and Luigi Illica, underwent a very complicated development process due to Puccini's repeated doubts, which led to the involvement of Marco Praga, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Giulio Ricordi, Giuseppe Adami, and Puccini himself in the text. It premiered at the Teatro Regio in Turin on February 1, 1893. The libretto is based on Antoine François Prévost's work, Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut. The French abbot's drama offers a reflection on love, morality, and the society of the time, but with universal appeal. It is a story of fatal love that ends tragically with the death of the protagonist who gives the opera its title. Giacomo Puccini composed a moving work, with clear references to Richard Wagner's Tristan and Isolde, although, as Fedele d'Amico pointed out, it is all seen from a Mediterranean perspective. In this score, Puccini displays complete mastery of his art, combining drama, elegance, emotion, and musicality. From its premiere in Turin, the opera achieved overwhelming success.
Campoamor Theater
December 11, 19:30 p.m.
December 13, 19:00 p.m.
December 16, 19:30 p.m.
December 18, 19:30 p.m.
December 19, 19:00 p.m.
Così fan tutte
W. A. Mozart
Così fan tutte is the last comic opera composed by Mozart and also the last with a libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. The opera's title, "All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers," was the target of criticism throughout the 19th century for its immoral and scandalous content: from Beethoven to Wagner, the work was criticized. The central theme of Così fan tutte is fidelity, as two young lovers test the honesty of their respective ladies. Despite all this, some critics have a different view of the work: in Così there is no cynicism, frivolity, or amorality; rather, Mozart's opera speaks to the precariousness of feelings and the intrinsic weakness of human nature. From a musical point of view, the score is characterized by its timbral refinement, with the wind instruments taking center stage, and by its melodic beauty. The first performance of Così fan tutte took place at the Burgtheater in Vienna on January 26, 1790, and met with modest success. The opera was performed again the following summer and then disappeared from Viennese stages. The 20th century revived this masterpiece by Mozart, and today it is performed in opera houses all over the world.
Campoamor Theater
January 29, 19:30 p.m.
January 31, 19:00 p.m.
February 03st, 19:30 PM.
February 05st, 19:30 PM.
February 06st, 19:00 PM.
