Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Toronto, 4 November 2014…VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert begins the 2014-2015 Season with a single performance of Manuel de Falla’s emotionally charged opera, LA VIDA BREVE, on Sunday, November 30 at 2:30 pm at the St. Lawrence Centre. The Consul General of Spain, Don Pablo Ruiz-Jarabo honours OIC with his presence.
The renowned Isabel Bayrakdarian stars in this unblinking look at Spanish society and the corrosive strictures of cultural barriers. Ms. Bayrakdarian returns to the VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert stage following triumphs at the world’s greatest opera houses including the Met, Covent Garden and Salzburg. “We’re thrilled that Isabel can join us for de Falla’s gripping Spanish opera”, says General Director Guillermo Silva-Marin, “especially as she began her career on our stage as a member of the OIC Chorus…Welcome back Isabel!” Joining her as the duplicitous Paco will be Mexican-Canadian tenor Ernesto Ramirez who recently triumphed at Bellas Artes in Mexico City in Verdi’s REQUIEM. One of the most famous scenes in the opera calls for a bravura dancer and VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert welcomes Esmeralda Enrique to the stage for an electrifying performance of ‘La Danza’. Originally from Andalusia, Canadian José Hernández is our Music Director and leads the performance from the piano with Robert Cooper conducting the VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert Chorus. Rounding out the cast are Marco Petracchi, Sarah Hicks, and Domenico Sanfilippo with a special appearance by Guillermo Silva-Marin as the Cantaor.
LA VIDA BREVE was written in 1904, winning the one act opera competition sponsored by the Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid. However the work had to wait until 1913 for the World Premiere in Nice. De Falla collaborated with the zarzuela librettist Fernandez Shaw on this youthful work that contrasts violent passions with a detailed musical depiction of the sights and sounds of Granada. Interestingly this empathy is reminiscent of Charpentier’s musical painting of Paris in LOUISE, a work VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert presents on Sunday, March 29, 2015.
The story line is swift and unrelenting in its pace. Paco, a rich playboy has seduced the gypsy Salud, though she fears her happiness will be short-lived. Her fears are well founded as Paco is betrothed to a girl of his own social class. Following a searing aria in which she longs for death, Salud denounces Paco in front of his wealthy wedding guests and dies at his feet. De Falla’s music is bold, dramatic and brimming with the exuberance of youth, qualities that were later diminished by the advent of the First World War and the Spanish Civil War.
DON’T MISS THE POST PERFORMANCE RECEPTION WITH SPECIAL GUEST, DON RUIZ JARABO, CONSUL GENERAL OF SPAIN AND JOSEFINA TORRE, PRESIDENT OF CLUB HISPANO. JOIN THE CAST AND FRIENDS FOR A SALUTE TO OUR NEXT DECADE BRINGING OPERATIC RARITIES TO TORONTO.
Opera in Concert is supported by the Jackman Foundation, Nancy’s Very Own Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council. Single tickets are available from the St. Lawrence Centre’s Jane Mallett Theatre Box Office, 27 Front St. East, by phone – 416-366-7723 or 1-800-708-6754 – or online at www.stlc.com. The theatre is wheelchair accessible and close to public transit and municipal parking. All performances are on Sunday afternoons at the St. Lawrence Centre at 2:30pm.
Photo: Isabel Bayrakdarian.
2014-11-04
Toronto: Isabel Bayrakdarian stars in Opera in Concert's "La Vida breve" November 30