García Lorca enters the Metropolitan Opera in New York with “Ainadamar” | World

The life and death of the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca enters the Metropolitan Opera Theater in New York starting this Tuesday, with “Ainadamar“, the same opera by the Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov, for won two Grammy Awards in 2007.

Made in 2003, “Ainadamar”, “Fountain of Tears” in Arabic, referring to the place where the poet was murdered by fascists in 1936 at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and the relationship with the actress and Catalan theater Director Margarita Xirgú.

The memories of Lorca’s muse and friend focus this opera in three scenes in Spanish in which the awakening of “Mariana Pineda”, one of the Andalusian writer’s great devotions, as a tribute to freedom, transcends 90 minutes of work.

But these dreams were soon cut short by the chaos and repression brought by Ramón Ruiz Alonso, the Falangist who arrested the poet and led to his execution on August 19, 1936 .

Golijov, who was born in La Plata (Argentina) 63 years ago, believes that his work “feels like he belongs to the MET and can sit at the table with the great people.”

In addition to this is the production of the Brazilian choreographer Deborah Colker, who realized that this opera “can be danced from beginning to end”, as well as the “geological rhythms of the work”, its “lyricism and rhythmic vitality” .

– New items –

This is the first opera directed by Colker, who has arranged it for the first performance in Scotland in 2022.

In it, dance receives the same prominence and drama as the story or the music itself, a mix of styles that combine traditional operatic language with electronic sounds and rhythms such as rumba and flamenco.

This petite Brazilian full of energy has made the main characters like Angel Blue, the African-American soprano who plays the main character Margarita, take physical risks.

Basically, it’s a story told by women. Even Lorca is played by Argentine-born mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack.

“I’m completely outside the world of opera,” justifies Colker, who considers himself “a little different” from traditional directors who do things “within the rules.”

Colker has already been commissioned by the fifty-year-old institution in New York to direct another opera in Spanish, “Frida y Diego”, scheduled for 2026.

Mack, who has already performed Lorca in 2022, recognizes that this work “is a challenge because there are many elements that are not necessarily present in a more traditional opera.”

In Golijov’s work you have to “deal with the sound effects and time everything and time the dance,” which requires “a different level of attention and concentration to make everything make it fit,” he explains to AFP.

– Strain –

The most tense moments, such as Lorca’s death, are set to messages from the radio of the time: “Whoever is not with us is against us”, “For everyone who kills us, we will kill ten people” or “Long live the death”.

With a libretto by David Henry Hwang, “Ainadamar” is a new attempt by the New York bel canto temple to attract new audiences and renew attendance.

Golijov performed “Ainadamar” as a tribute to his favorite composer in his youth in 2003 and in 2007 he won two Grammy Awards for best opera recording and best contemporary classical composition.

This is the second opera in Spanish that the Met Ópera offers in its programs for the second consecutive season, after “Florencia en el Amazonas” by the Mexican composer Daniel Catán.

This season, the Met will also present other contemporary productions, such as “Grounded,” which deals with the ethical dilemma and psychological cost of war, Jake Heggie’s “Moby-Dick” and “Antony and Cleopatra , with John Adams also as new productions of “Aida” (Verdi) and “Salomé” (Strauss).

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