Ainadamar Arrives at Met Opera, New Publication Available
This fall, the Metropolitan Opera presents Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar in an acclaimed dance-centric production by director and choreographer Deborah Colker. A new piano-vocal score of the opera is now available from Boosey & Hawkes.
Composer Osvaldo Golijov and librettist David Henry Hwang’s GRAMMY–winning opera, Ainadamar, is presented at the Metropolitan Opera (company premiere) in New York on October 15-November 9. Brazilian director and choreographer Deborah Colker, known for her work with Cirque du Soleil and for choreographing the 2016 Rio Olympics opening ceremony, directs this production that blends flamenco, dance, projections, and poetry. Sopranos Angel Blue, Gabriella Reyes, and Elena Villalón, mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack, and renowned flamenco singer Alfredo Tejada are led by conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya.
The production—co-produced by the Metropolitan Opera, Scottish Opera, Detroit Opera, and Welsh National Opera—has earned rave reviews over the last two years as it has toured the world. Colker’s production will also be presented at Los Angeles Opera, conducted by Lina González-Granados (April 26-May 18).
Aligning with the production at the Met Opera, Boosey & Hawkes has released a new piano-vocal reduction score of Golijov’s celebrated opera. The piano reduction was created by pianist, composer, and conductor Arturo Rodríguez. The piano-vocal arrangement for the aria “Desde mi ventana” (from Imagen I: Mariana) was created by Stephen Prutsman.
The new publication is available for purchase here:
> New Ainadamar Piano-Vocal Edition
Sung in Spanish to a libretto translated by its composer, Ainadamar—literally “Fountain of Tears”—dramatizes the life and work of poet-playwright Federico García Lorca, whose socialist politics and homosexuality led to his violent assassination by Fascist forces at the start the Spanish Civil War.
Lorca’s story emerges through the memories of Catalan actress Margarita Xirgu, Lorca’s muse, sung in the Met Opera’s production by soprano Angel Blue (soprano Gabriella Reyes performs the role on October 30). Lorca himself makes a dreamlike appearance, sung as a trouser role by mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack. Soprano Elena Villalón takes on the role of Nuria, a student to whom Xirgu reminisces about her memories of Lorca. Conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya leads Golijov’s flamenco- and rumba-infused score, and flamenco singer Alfredo Tejada is Ramón Ruiz Alonso, the Falangist politician who arranged Lorca’s execution.
Along with Colker, the creative team also includes set and costume designer Jon Bausor, lighting designer Paul Keogan, projection designer Tal Rosner, and flamenco choreographer Antonio Najarro, along with sound designer Mark Grey.
> Further information on Work: Ainadamar
Photo: Courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera
