Barihunks Markus Werba and Mattia Olivieri are alternating the role of Alphonse XI in the original French language version of Donizetti's La Favorite at the Liceu Opera House in Barcelona. The French version differs in various melodic parts than the more commonly performed Italian version La Favorita, and also has a revised finale by the composer.
Mattia Olivieri, Stephen Costello and Eve-Maud Hubeaux, trio from La Favorite:
Mattia Olivieri performs the revised ending of La Favorite:
La Favorite, which premiered at the Académie Royale de Musique
in Paris on December 2, 1840 is one of the most important works in
Donizetti’s French period. The opera is the second work in the genre composed after Les Martyrs and before Dom Sébastien, roi de Portugal, and was a huge success with Paris audiences.
The story revolves around a love triangle involving the King of Castile,
Alfonso XI, his mistress ('the favorite') Leonora, and her lover
Fernando. The story unfolds against the background of the Moorish
invasions of Spain and power struggles between church and state.
You can click HERE to watch Mattia Olivieri performing the same role at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in April of this year on OperaVision.
Werba performs the role on July 22 and Olivieri on July 24. Tickets are available online.
Barihunk Robin Adams is singing Luca Francesconi's two-person opera Quartett along with soprano Allison Cook a the Liceu Opera Barcelona. The opera is a re-reading of Heiner Müller's play based on Les liaisons dangereuses and reflects on the decadence of certain classes of society.
The libretto revolves around two ex-lovers who get caught up in a game of seduction that can only end in death. The Marquise de Merteuil challenges the Viscomte de Valmont to seduce her niece Cécile, who is a virgin, but he opts instead to lead Madame de Tourvel, a faithful wife, astray.
Francesconi’s score calls for a massive sound design, and demands two distinct orchestras – one of which is pre-recorded and electronically treated, the sound sent flying over the heads of the audiences.
The composer once said of this piece, "Don’t dare to come if you can't accept that you need to analyse what
you do and who you are. This piece is violent, it’s sex, it’s blasphemy,
it’s the absence of mercy. The only two characters in the opera are the
definition of cynical, they have made a pact that they don’t have to
love any more. Love and sentiment are banned, the only thing that’s left
and that matters is a kind of chess game with people's souls and
bodies. So don’t come if you have problems in your relationship, you
might discover something you might not want to! But do dare to come if
you can face the reality of how dried up your heart is, how little space
there is in your feelings for anything that doesn’t come from being
self-defensive, from being totally scared by the world. We are prisoners
of our fears. That’s the real last message of this piece, that we can
no longer hide our problems – and that we shouldn’t."
The opera runs through March 3rd and tickets are available online.
