The maestro Iván Fischer’s aim is for the audience of ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ to leave the performance “having learnt Mozart’s lesson well, which is to know how to forgive and not to stay full of tension”
The stage director Emilio Sagi explains that his realistic production is conceived “so that all the emotions come to the surface”
The maestro Iván Fischer returns to the Teatro Pérez Galdós with the Budapest Festival Orchestra following his enormous success at the helm of the same orchestra in Cosí fan tutte. The production of The Marriage of Figaro was made possible due to the participation of the Royal Theatre in Madrid, the Teatro Pérez Galdós Canary Islands’ Foundation and the Bilbao Association of Friends of Opera. For Fischer, The Marriage of Figaro is “similar to nearly all of Mozart’s operas and tackles the theme of forgiveness as being one of the most important”. For this reason, Fischer wished to emphasize this point when combining all the efforts carried out on the stage. Fischer stated, “We want the public to leave the performance having learnt Mozart’s lesson well, which is to know how to forgive and not to stay full of tension”.
Iván Fischer, together with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, founded by him 25 years ago, represents one of the novelties of this production in the Teatro Pérez Galdós. The premiere in the Royal Theatre in Madrid last July relied on a different orchestra and artistic cast. On this occasion, and as was already stated in the press conference that took place on Thursday 19th November in the Teatro Pérez Galdós, the main characters are to be performed by Dominique Labelle (Countess of Almaviva), Ekaterina Siurina (Susana), Markus Werba (Count of Almaviva), Marco Vinco (Figaro), Katherina Kammerloher (Cherubino), and Robert Lloyd (Don Bartolo). Furthermore, the soprano Elisandra Melián will make her debut in her city in the role of Barbarina. Most of the actors were present at the press conference.
Both Fischer, and Emilio Sagi, the stage director, praised the international cast for the quality of their voices and their dramatic talent. This appraisal was likewise stated by the managing director of the Teatro Pérez Galdós Canary Islands’ Foundation, Juan Cambreleng.
Emilio Sagi received special appreciation from Cambreleng, as he was the artistic director in the Royal Theatre at the same time as Cambreleng was at the helm of the Madrid coliseum. He wished to remember his debut in the Pérez Galdós many years ago, when the current director of the Teatro Pérez Galdós was a director of the Canary Islands’ Friends of the Opera and invited him to take part in the production of Werther, by Massenet. This was to be the beginning of a close relationship between the public and the critics of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, to whom he wished to express his appreciation.
Emilio Sagi explained that his production has avoided any modern conceptions, tending more to scenic minimalism because he is of the opinion that this specific opera has been conceived “so that all emotions come to the surface”. For this reason the production is “as realistic as possible, combining the image of Seville with all its particular eroticism and the vibrancy of the Spanish woman, key factors in the opera”.
This conception has been created by Daniel Bianco, the stage designer and Renata Schussheim in charge of wardrobe design, and Eduardo Bravo in charge of lighting. The public will be see many fresh flowers on stage, as well as real water in the garden fountain, Sevillian tiles on the ground and they will even be able to smell orange blossom in the air.
All the work conceived by Sagi has been reproduced on the stage of the Teatro Pérez Galdós under the supervision of his assistant, Curro Carreres.
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