The Lyrical Composition Workshop is a new project of the Theatro São Pedro that will present the operas El Presidente, by Gabriel Xavier and Lara Duarte, EnTre(CacOS), by Marina Figueira and Isabela Rossi and The Hunger of Dogs, by William Lentz and Carina Murias . The titles, created by young composers and librettists in this first edition of the project, will premiere on October 20.

Theatro São Pedro, an institution of the Government of the State of São Paulo and the Secretary of Culture and Creative Economy of the State, managed by Santa Marcelina Cultura, premieres, on October 20, three titles created by the young people selected for the first edition of the Lyrical Composition Workshop. The project aims to promote the composition of unpublished operatic works based on a training program, with teachers who are references in the genre.

In the first edition of the Workshop, three compositions and three librettists were selected through a call. The six program participants underwent training that included theoretical and practical activities with the aim of providing a perspective of opera in contemporary times and preparing them to discuss and think about the development of operatic language. The composers and librettists of the Lyrical Composition Workshop were free to choose the themes and stories they would work on.

The faculty of the Lyrical Composition Workshop was made up of Flo Menezes (composition), Alexandre Dal Farra and João Luiz Sampaio (dramaturgy and creation of librettos), in addition to the instrumentalists of the São Pedro Theater Orchestra and workshops with professional singers.

From October 20 to 23, the public will have the opportunity to see the three titles created in the same program: El Presidente, Entre (CAcOs) and The Hunger of the Dogs. Composer Gabriel Xavier and librettist Lara Duarte sign the first opera to go on stage at Theatro Sâo Pedro: El Presidente.

Lara Duarte says that the desire to experiment with operatic language was what guided her creation. “I wanted to experience this structure, the idea of ​​the sung word, the possibility of having different characters singing at the same time and being able to alternate arias with other moments where the flow of the narrative is different,” says the librettist. Composer Gabriel Xavier explains that he created a baroque passacaglia that is based on a repetitive sequence.

Then, it will be the turn of EnTre (CacOS), by the composer Marina Figueira and with a libretto by Isabela Rossi. The librettist sought to create “something that was a symptom of our time from figures that bordered on the fantastic or escaped an immediate reference to reality.” In this sense, the libretto arose from multiple references, ranging from the Greek philosopher Diogenes the Cynic to the fable, including fieldwork.

From this plot, the composer Marina Figueira musically structured the opera in two interspersed acts. The work moves between the atonal and the tonal, passing through different aesthetics, ranging from a jazzy to a serialist sound.

The title The Hunger of the Dogs, by composer William Lentz and librettist Carina Murias, was chosen to close the show. The idea of ​​creating the script came from the news related to hunger. The music of The Hunger of the Dogs is characterized by the simultaneity of events, the density of which varies between scenes. Composer William Lentz explains that: “In general, the score presents the serious character related to the theme of the opera and, as the work progresses, different moods transform the dynamics of the ensemble according to the directionality of the musical movement and the axes that define the form of the work”.

The show has the musical direction of Leonardo Labrada, who will lead the Orchestra of the Theatro São Pedro, stage direction by Alexandre Dal Farra, scenery by Fernando Passetti, costumes by Awa Guimarães, lighting by Nicolas Caratori and make-up by Ti Camargo. The cast will include the singers Manuela Freua (soprano), Laiana Oliveira (soprano) and Marcelo Ferreira (baritone).