La Ópera Al Alcance De Todos
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#TuHacesABAO The opera season returns in style with new titles and impressive premieres ABAO BILBAO OPERA, THE MAIN OPERATIC REFERENCE OF BILBAO, TAKES THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS CULTURAL NORMALITY • A private initiative committed to quality culture • The artistic activity grows with new premieres and titles that are now part of the catalogue of the association • The flagship project Tutto Verdi comes to an end with a premiere in Bilbao and an Opera XXI Award 2019 production • Major internationally renowned figures star in a top quality season • BBVA Foundation collaborates with ABAO’s cultural creation as the main sponsor of the season Bilbao, 3 June, 2020. The 69th Season of ABAO Bilbao Opera is starting next 24 October with new projects and activities as well as an ever-growing programme with new titles and social and cultural events. This private initiative, the main operatic and artistic reference of Bilbao, confirms its commitment to top quality culture. With extreme caution due to the current circumstances derived from the health pandemic, ABAO is reopening its doors and presenting an intense, exciting and varied proposal full of surprises to be carried out in compliance with all necessary safety measures without compromising artistic quality. In this regard, the Association is working with public institutions as well as lyric theatre organizations to find the most appropriate solutions so as to enable the normal development of the opera season in a manner that is totally compatible with health and safety. Euskalduna Bilbao is currently in the process of obtaining the appropriate certification to prove that it is a safe space. The traditional collaboration between both institutions will contribute to the success of the season and to promote the image of Bizkaia as a cultural point of reference. At the same time, the Association is also preparing alternatives to deal with possible eventualities or limitations so as to guarantee the right of the members, the sponsors and the general public to safely attend the performances. MAIN LANDMARKS OF THE NEW SEASON • ABAO Bilbao Opera and BBVA Foundation, the main sponsor of the season, contribute to promoting operatic excellence and culture and bringing top quality performances to the public. • The new season will bring major titles of the operatic repertoire, such as L’Elisir d’Amore and Tosca, works which are barely known in Spain, such as Alzira, less frequent titles, such as Samson et Dalila, and a gem yet to be discovered by the public from Bilbao: Il turco in Italia. José María Olabarri 2-4, 48001 Bilbao Phone 944 355 100 [email protected] www.abao.org #TuHacesABAO • Among the scheduled operas and shows there is 1 world premiere, 5 premieres in Bilbao, 2 ABAO co-productions and 6 new titles which will become part of the ABAO Bilbao Opera repertoire over its 67 years of history. • 3 of the five productions which are presented in the general season are national premieres. • A total of 43 performances are offered: 26 in the general season in Euskalduna Bilbao and 17 for children and youth in the Abao Txiki season in Arriaga Theatre, with an expected attendance of 70,500 spectators. • The premiere in Bilbao of Alzira is an ABAO Bilbao Opera coproduction with the Grand National Theatre of Peru and the Opera Royal de Wallonie-Liège which has been awarded the Opera XXI Award 2019 to the Best Latin American Opera Production. • The flagship project Tutto Verdi comes to an end with the staging of title number 30 of the Verdi catalogue as well as a Grand Concerto to close the programme. • Five major conductors visit the new season: Christophe Rousset, Daniel Oren, Renato Palumbo, Oliver Díaz and Yves Abel who will lead the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa, the Euskadiko Orkestra Sinfonikoa and the Coro de Opera de Bilbao, which enlarge their repertoire and consolidate the artistic renown of ABAO’s regular collaborators. • 11 singers make their debut together with top singers who have successfully performed in the main opera theatres in the world such as: Ainhoa Arteta, Teodor Ilincai, Paolo Bordogna, Sabina Puértolas, Ekaterina Semenchuck, Joel Prieto and Elena Sancho Pereg. • ABAO TXIKI offers 4 productions in different formats for different ages, which are all performed for the first time in Bilbao. Three of the shows will have school sessions with the participation of 2,700 young students from 34 education centres, restating ABAO’s commitment to education and to bringing opera to children and young people. • At Abao Txiki we are holding the Beethoven year with the world premiere of: El viaje de Ludi (Ludi’s Journey). A new production of ABAO Bilbao Opera devised to bring the music of the German composer to the younger ones in an iconic year. • More than 400 free activities are offered, including didactic talks, workshops, symposia or conference cycles which are expected to reach 41,400 beneficiaries. • The Gazteam programme is reinforced with activities and financial incentives for people under 25 and under 30 to attend any performance on the best seats available at a flat rate of 25 and 30 Euros. • The “Opera y +” programme in Cruces Hospital for patients, relatives and healthcare personnel in the nephrology, paediatrics, neonatology and oncology areas becomes consolidated with activities dealing with opera as an integrating and therapeutic vehicle, sponsored by Repsol Foundation and Petronor with the collaboration of Obra Social LaCaixa José María Olabarri 2-4, 48001 Bilbao Phone 944 355 100 [email protected] www.abao.org #TuHacesABAO 69 OPERA SEASON The new season brings a top quality programme which includes five major titles of the history of opera reflecting a trip of mixed feelings through music. Rossini, Verdi, Saint-Saëns, Donizetti and Puccini bring to Bilbao two repertoire titles, L’elisir d’amore and Tosca, a less frequent opera, Samson et Dalila as well as two premieres, Il turco in Italia and Alzira, the latter of which closes the flagship project of the Association, Tutto Verdi. A new season in which eleven singers, a music director and a stage director make their debut and which features five major international conductors in the pit leading the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa, the Euskadiko Orkestra Sinfonikoa and the Coro de Opera de Bilbao, together with outstanding performers who have successfully performed in the main opera theatres in the world. The BBVA Foundation, whose differential feature is the promotion of scientific knowledge and cultural creation, is collaborating with ABAO Bilbao Opera as the main sponsor of the season. Gioachino Rossini IL TURCO IN ITALIA 24, 27, 30 October and 2 November 2020 • Premiered in ABAO Bilbao Opera • The main roles are played by Paolo Bordogna, Sabina Puértolas, Renato Girolam and Juan José de León • On the stage, a fresh, intelligent and colourful production by Emilio Sagi, recreating the Neapolitan universe of the 60s • In the pit, the renowned harpsichordist and conductor Christophe Rousset, leading the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa To open the season, the premiere in Bilbao of Il turco in Italia by Gioachino Rossini, one of the best rated operas of this composer with a story of courtship, charm, entanglements and lots of fun. Rossini’s comic opera satirizes the different forms of viewing society and tells about the misadventures of Selim, a Turkish prince who is eager to find new pleasures in Italy. The cast includes the baritone Paolo Bordogna, a real specialist in comic roles, the soprano from Navarre Sabina Puértolas, “Sagi’s Fiorella”, with an intense acting and singing performance, the debut of the baritone Renato Girolami and the tenor Juan José de León. As for the music, the French conductor and harpsichordist Christophe Rousset, who is well acquainted with this repertoire and one of the most active conductors at present, leads the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa in a score full of alluring moments, high melodic inspiration and rich textures. On the stage, a visually appealing production by Emilio Sagi, which takes the action to the Naples of the 50s and the 60s. An extraordinarily fresh, modern and lively theatrical proposal, set in a populous Neapolitan street which lacks no detail. Assembled by Daniel Bianco, it shows large buildings, squares, clothes lines, trams and scooters, in an accurate costumbrist recreation full of light and colour. José María Olabarri 2-4, 48001 Bilbao Phone 944 355 100 [email protected] www.abao.org #TuHacesABAO Giuseppe Verdi ALZIRA 21, 24, 27 and 30 November 2020 • Premiered in ABAO Bilbao Opera • Alzira, last title of the Tutto Verdi project • Sergio Escobar and Juan Jesús Rodríguez in the leading • In the music direction, the debut of Daniel Oren, artistic director of the Giuseppe Verdi Theatre of Salerno • Coproduction of ABAO Bilbao Opera, Opera XXI Award 2019 to the Best Latin American Production November brings the premiere of Alzira, one of the least known operas by Giuseppe Verdi, with which ABAO Bilbao Opera concludes the flagship project Tutto Verdi. This project began in 2006 and has brought to Bilbao 30 titles from the Verdi catalogue, conference cycles, recordings and publications, within a cultural programme which has lasted 15 years and is unprecedented in the world. This ethnic opera is inspired in Voltaire’s work ‘Alzira and the Americans’ and contains all the seeds which would subsequently make the genius from Busseto famous. Finding a story which deals with the Peru and the time of the Conquest in the world’s most popular and most performed composer adds an extra bonus to an epic work involving conquerors and oppressed, together with a devastating love triangle. The leadings are the tenor Sergio Escobar, who recently successfully replaced Roberto Alagna in Verdi’s Don Carlo in Paris, as well as the ever safe baritone Juan Jesús Rodríguez.