LA CASA DE BERNARDA ALBA

 

LA CASA DE BERNARDA ALBA

[The House of Bernarda Alba] 
Opera in three acts by Miquel Ortega with a libretto by Julio Ramos based on the tragedy by the same written by Federico Garcia Lorca.
The version for chamber orchestra was premiered on the 10th of November 2018 at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid. 

Musical production Teatro Cervantes de Malaga
Stage production Teatro Cervantes de Malaga and Teatro Villamarta de Jerez de la Frontera

Nancy Fabiola Herrera   Bernarda           
Carmen Romeu   Adela                
Luis Cansino   Poncia               
Carol Garcia   Martirio            
Ana Häsler   Amelia             
Belen Elvira   Magdalena       
Berna Perles   Angustias         
Milagros Martin   Maid                  
Helena Dueñas  Maria Josefa 

Chamber Orchestra of the Malaga Symphony Orchestra
Malaga Opera Choir

Stage director Francisco Javier Hernandez
Chorus director Salvador Vazquez
Conductor Miquel Ortega  

1.40 h (w/out intermission)
 Hand programme (ESP) 

“My memory is not that good as to recall when I first felt fascination for Federico Garcia Lorca in general and for Bernarda in particular. I remember going to high school when I was 15 or 16 with a copy of La casa de Bernarda Alba edited by Castalia Didáctica, which together with the play included a lengthy analysis of the text.
Years later, at the end of the eighties, I asked my librettist Julio Ramos to write an adapted libretto of Bernarda to convert it into an opera. It was not until 1991 that I started composing the music. Since this was not something that had been commissioned, but rather a project of my own, it took a long time to write the music, which I did not finish until 1999, plus the orchestration, on which I worked until 2006. Initially I wanted to make a version for chamber orchestra, and then, when Román Calleja and Sorin Melinte offered me the possibility of a premiere at the Brasov Opera Theatre (Romania), I opted for a symphony orchestra. The world premiere was at the end of 2007 and the premiere in Spain was at the International Festivals of Santander and Peralada in 2009. At the request of the pianist Rubén Fernández Aguirre and of Daniel Bianco, the Director of the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, I made a new version for chamber orchestra, my original idea, which was premiered at the end of 2018 at the Madrid theatre. The music is the same, the only difference is the type of orchestra, together with the fact that in this case the role of Poncia is performed by a baritone instead of a mezzosoprano, which was Daniel Bianco’s idea. Obviously all options are possible: I have not withdrawn the version for symphony orchestra, and it is possible to have the role of Poncia performed once again by a mezzosoprano. Here at the cherished Teatro Cervantes of my city of residence we will hear the chamber orchestra version with a baritone performing the role of Poncia.”  Miquel Ortega  Musical composer and conductor                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                            

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