With a total of 6 opera titles, Teatro del Bicentenario Roberto Plasencia Saldaña is set for the 6th of June at the 1st Online Opera Festival, via the Facebook fanpage of the theater and the TV4 television series. Among the productions there are owns show by theater, co-productions and participation of a production of Teatro del Bicentenario de San Juan, Argentina.

 

 

Within the framework of the 10 years of life of Teatro del Bicentenario Roberto Plasencia Saldaña of the Cultural Forum Guanajuato, and derived from the transformation in cultural consumption and the possibility of witnessing through digital and television platforms the artistic work of the venue, it is that born Online Opera Festival is, whose main premise is to become a platform that serves as a space for the dissemination of lyrical arts, showing a selection of own and invited operatic productions.

 

PROGRAMME

Saturday 20 June, 8 pm: Il Trovatore, by Giuseppe Verdi

Sunday June 21, 6 pm: Tosca, by Giacomo Puccini.

Connect to Online Opera Festival – Teatro del Bicentenario

 

In this first edition of the festival, which will take place from June 06 to 21, and whose frequency will be annual, the venue will present 6 operatic productions high-quality: La Traviata, by Giuseppe Verdi; Carmen, by Georges Bizet; Il Trovatore, by Giuseppe Verdi, all productions of Teatro del Bicentenario Roberto Plasencia Saldaña. Additionally, the public will be able to enjoy Le docteur Miracle, by Georges Bizet, opera for children, by Torre de viento producciones; Die Zauberflöte, by WA Mozart, a production by Teatro del Bicentenario de San Juan, Argentina; and Tosca, by Giacomo Puccini, a co-production by the Bicentennial Theater Roberto Plasencia Saldaña, the State Institute of Culture of Guanajuato and the Symphony Orchestra of the University From guanajuato.

 

The online opera festival seeks to bring the population closer to artistic manifestations that can be enjoyed remotely anywhere in Latin America, therefore, every weekend through the theater’s fanpage (Facebook), and in alliance with the Unit de Televisión de Guanajuato TV4 will broadcast simultaneously, on open television on channel 4.1 and on social networks of television and theater, the opera productions and which will be available for free.

 

Accompanying the productions, in the week prior to them we will be able to know aspects that happen behind the scenes, as well as interviews and talks with the cast of some of the operas and that will be published on the theater’s social networks.

 

The Festival will start on Saturday June 06 at 8:00 p.m. with the opera La Traviata, by Giuseppe Verdi, a Verdian work that stands out for its realistic nature: in Paris in the second half of the 19th century, Violetta Valéry evokes the last stage of his life now extinct, caught between his courtesan status and the love that, for the first time, appears in his life. A staging that exalts life and human virtues such as compassion, loyalty and sacrifice for others, as opposed to a society that makes judgments.

 

Presented live in March 2018 at Teatro del Bicentenario Roberto Plasencia Saldaña, the cast is made up of Jaquelina Livieri, playing Violetta Valéry; Leonardo Sánchez, as Alfredo Germont; Rodolfo Giugliani, playing Giorgio Germont and Frida Portillo McNally, as Flora Bervoix; under the stage direction of Luis Martín Solís and the musical direction of Ramón Shade, accompanied by the Camerata de Coahuila and the Bicentennial Theater Choir.

 

The next day, Sunday June 7 at 6:00 p.m. you can enjoy the opera Die Zauberflöte BY Mozart, a production of Teatro del Bicentenario de San Juan, Argentina, in a completely Spanish version, without subtitles. 

 

During the show we will see the story of Tamino a prince of Egypt who has lost his way in a forest, near the Temple of the Queen of the Night, who has a daughter, Pamina, who is in the possession of Sarastro. Tamino, because of a portrait that is shown to him, falls in love with Pamina and leaves to rescue her, with the help of a magic flute given by the Queen of the Night, and accompanied by Papageno.

 

On Saturday June 13 at 8:00 p.m. an exciting story will arrive: Carmen, opera in four acts, with music by Georges Bizet, libretto by Ludovic Halévy and Henri Meilhac, based on the novel of the same name by Prosper Mérimée.

 

Amidst a vortex of emotions is Carmen, the liberal, the cigarette, the gypsy, the smuggler; with something of fortune telling and profuse in charms that will unload on the soldier Don José … fate will take care of the rest. One of the most represented operas of all time and iconic work of the French repertoire, recreated in an atmosphere that mixes gypsy airs with Spaniards and the ‘fiesta brava’.

 

This production of Teatro del Bicentenario Roberto Plasencia Saldaña, presented in August 2017, has the participation of Alessandra Volpe, playing Carmen; José Manuel Chú, as Don José; Armando Piña, playing Escamillo; Marcela Chacón, as Micaela; under the stage direction of Mauricio García Lozano, and the musical direction of José Areán, accompanied by the Orchestra and Choir of the Bicentennial Theater, and by the Children’s Choir of Valle de Señora.

 

On Sunday June 14 at 1:00 p.m., the little ones of the house will be able to enjoy the children’s opera Le docteur Miracle, by Georges Bizet, where Captain Silvio and Laurette (daughter of the Mayor of Padua) are in love. Her father is against the marriage, so the young man is forced to enter the mayor’s house using different costumes. The military disguises himself as Pasquin, a new servant who is in charge of preparing lunch and serving an inedible omelette. The mayor fears that he has been poisoned by Pasquin and makes them call Doctor Milagro – who is Silvio again in disguise – who will “save” Laurette’s father, in the midst of a fun denouement. 

 

Presented in April 2018, its cast was formed by Penélope Luna as Laurette; Itia Domínguez playing Véronique; Andrés Carrillo as Captain Silvio, Pasquin and Doctor Milagro and Armando Gama playing Le Podestat, under the stage direction of Valeria Palomino and the musical direction of Jesús Almanza, accompanied by the Symphonic Camerata of the Celaya Conservatory.

 

The last weekend of the festival, we will see, on Saturday, June 20 at 8:00 p.m. the opera El Trovador, by Giuseppe Verdi, a story of hate that wins over love. A gypsy is accused of having bewitched the son of a count. Being burned for it, she begins a legacy of revenge through her daughter Azucena, who kidnaps one of the count’s two sons with the intention of burning him and detonating the battle, since the town is divided between the struggle for power, while the Count of Urgel tries to overthrow the king. Manrico, the troubadour, fights with the duke against the Count of Luna, who remains faithful to the monarch. Their love for a woman and jealousy drive them to face each other, faced with Leonora’s dilemma when having to choose one of them. 

 

This production of Teatro del Bicentenario Roberto Plasencia Saldaña of August 2018 has a cast made up of Andeka Gorrotxategi, playing Manrico “the troubadour”; María Katzarava, as Leonora; Jorge Lagunes, playing the Count of Luna and Belem Rodríguez, as Azucena; under the stage direction of Ruby Tagle and the musical direction of José Areán, accompanied by the Aguascalientes Symphony Orchestra and the Bicentennial Theater Choir, conducted by Jaime Castro.

 

The last online performance of this festival will be on Sunday, June 21 at 6:00 p.m., with the opera Tosca, by Giacomo Puccini divided into three acts, with music by Giacomo Puccini and libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on the drama “La Tosca”, by Victorien Sardou. The idyll of lovers Floria Tosca and Mario Cavaradossi tries to survive amid the oppression and political turmoil of Mussolini’s Italy. They try to help Angelotti, a political prisoner who has escaped from prison. However, they are all discovered by the dark police chief, Baron Scarpia, giving rise to a dramatic outcome.

 

Presented in November 2019, this operatic production of Teatro del Bicentenario Roberto Plasencia Saldaña had the participation of Eugenia Garza, playing Floria Tosca; Adrian Xhema, as Mario Cavaradossi; Genaro Sulvarán, playing Baron Scarpia and Charles Oppenheim, as the Sacristan, under the stage direction of Enrique Singer, the musical direction of Roberto Beltrán-Zavala, accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra of the University of Guanajuato (OSUG), the Choir of the Bicentennial Theater and Children’s Choir of the Valle de Señora.

 

An opera festival that can be seen and enjoyed on television in the state of Guanajuato, as well as on public television systems in the country and in Latin America, will also be available for Ibero-American opera houses grouped in OLA, Ópera Latinoamérica, non-profit organization of which Teatro del Bicentenario Roberto Plasencia Saldaña is an active member.