That in this veristic melodrama of rivalries, politics, thwarted passions and brutal outcome the words “honour” or “revenge” are never once said gives an idea of Puccini’s intentions to transcend and renew the framework of Italian melodrama as well as the Verismo style. Proof of this is the almost cinematographic pace of the dramatic action, the abundance of leitmotiv examples and the massive orchestration which reaches its heights in scenes like the «Te Deum» or the interrogation scene. Under the iron hand of sinister Scarpia, the lovers Tosca and Cavaradossi are unable to raise their voices except to express discouragement and defeat, portrayed as victims. They are fully-fledged creations of a century which witnessed the birth of the modern totalitarian state, mass destruction and genocide. First seen at the Teatro Costanzi of Rome in 1900, to this day Tosca is one of the most popular and incombustible of operas. Suitable for all tastes, it comes to the stage of the Teatro Real in the production of Paco Azorín, which premiered at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. This is a vibrant and explicit version, set on a revolving stage accompanied by video projections.

Les contes fantastiques d'Hoffmann, a play by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré produced at the Théâtre Odeon in Paris in 1851, was seen by Offenbach. It was then performed as an opera, at the piano and with cuts, at the composer's house in 1879, who died in 1880, leaving it unfinished. Ernest Giraud (1837-1892) undertook its orchestration and added recitatives. It was first performed at the Opéra Comique in Paris on 10 February 1881, without Giulietta's act. Eugenio Zanetti's present production introduces a film crew, preparing to film a biography of Hoffmann. These characters will intervene several times in the action.

The Gran Teatro Nacional del Ministerio de Cultura presents Alzira by Giuseppe Verdi, a work set in the viceroyalty of Peru. This opera is the first major international co-production of the Gran Teatro Nacional del Perú, the Asociación Bilbaína de Amigos de la Ópera (ABAO) of Spain and Opera Royal de Wallonie-Liége of Belgium.

The staging was premiered two years ago, as part of the celebrations for the Bicentenary of our independence, and has a libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, inspired by Voltaire's famous novel "Alzira and the Americans". The creative team was in charge of the Peruvian regista Jean Pierre Gamarra, who was in charge of the stage direction, and the Spanish maestro Oliver Díaz was responsible for the musical direction.

Alzira is a tragedy starring Argentinian soprano Jaquelina Livieri (Alzira), Peruvian tenor Juan Antonio de Dompablo (Zamoro) and baritone Jorge Tello (Guzmán), accompanied by outstanding soloists from the Peruvian National Choir and the National Symphony Orchestra. This production was recognised this year with the Ópera XXI award in the category "Best New Latin American Production" by the Asociación de Teatros, Festivales y Temporadas Estables de Ópera de España (Association of Theatres, Festivals and Stable Opera Seasons of Spain).

The story begins on a plain by the river Rímac, with Indians under the command of "Otumbo" holding the old Spanish governor "Álvaro" prisoner. The Inca "Zamoro" arrives on the scene and orders his release, even though he was kidnapped and tortured on the orders of the tyrant "Guzmán" (son of "Álvaro") so that the people would think he was dead. "Zamoro" learns that his beloved "Alzira" is held captive in the capital with her father "Ataliba" and rallies the scattered villages to resist the invading forces, turning the story into a harangue of the struggle for freedom.

In a contemporary re-reading, this version of the play allows for a dialogue between the history of viceregal Peru and the 1920s. Thus, in the background, a period of conflict between the aristocratic government and the native peoples is presented in an abstract space that represents the desecrated and violated land. It also projects the combat between Europeans in America and the American owner of the invaded territory, the incessant struggle for power and the tragic fate of a woman subjected to a political and social system guided by ambitious and obsessive men.

An inventor is visited by a man at the centre of the Earth who asks her to build a machine that can move forever. More than science fiction, the opera Moto-continuo, by composer Piero Schlochauer, is about something deeper.

With a libretto by Beatriz Porto, Isabela Pretti and Piero himself, Moto-continuo is a one-act opera, about 30 minutes long, written for wind quintet (flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon), tympani and two percussionists, and features the Amazonas Philharmonic, with soloists Juliana Taino (mezzo-soprano) and Erick Souza (baritone).

A perpetual motion, which gives its name to the work, is a hypothetical machine that would use the energy of its own movement indefinitely. An impossible machine, since its idea violates the laws of thermodynamics. "The invention itself, perpetual motion, was one of the last ideas to be discussed. The impulses and anxieties of the characters on stage came first and were the guiding elements in the construction of the narrative," notes the composer. Piero stresses that the entire opera is structured in an uninterrupted dialogue between the inventor and the man who visits her. Despite giving the impression of science fiction that could have come out of one of French writer Jules Verne's books, Piero ensures that the focus of the work is elsewhere

"The real crux of the matter is the dynamic between the two in this eternal search for meaning, which is unknown. The text itself, in the words spoken and sung, is not even that metaphorical: the dialogues could be said by anyone. But the conception of the ensemble gives room for many different readings and interpretations, which always provides a rich experience for the audience," he emphasises.

About the production and the chosen soloists, the composer reveals that the audience can expect an "impeccable" event. "Juliana Taino and Erick Souza read the material beautifully, realising and giving a dimension to the characters far beyond the surface, and with beautiful voices. All the equipment scaled by FAO was impeccable, the direction by William Pereira, the performance by the Amazonas Philharmonic, the set design by Giorgia Massetani, built from the existing structure of the Catavento Museum.

Comedy of errors set in Seville, Spain, where Fígaro and Susana - servants of Count Almaviva - are about to be united in marriage. Before giving his permission for the marriage, the Count plans to seduce Susana, exercising the abolished "right of pernada". The loving couple, in collusion with the grieving Countess Almaviva, prepare to prevent this at all costs. Meanwhile, the Count himself discovers that the page boy Cherubino is trying to flirt with his wife, a fact that arouses his fury against the young man. And, in turn, Marcelina and Bartolo will do their utmost to ensure that Figaro fulfils an ancient contract that obliges him to marry her, much to the Count's delight. The general imbroglio in the palace of Almaviva will escalate until it reaches a climax in the resolution of which a series of unexpected events will intervene.

The story of the servant girl magically transformed into a princess is found in the traditional stories of ancient Greece, the Tang dynasty of China, Arabian Nights, as well in the fairytales of Perrault, the Brothers Grimm and –as we all know – Walt Disney. However, in none of these - as far as we know - is there the Hamlet-like question we hear in La Cenerentola:  ≪.Am I prince or a cauliflower? ≫. In effect, a century and a half  of commedia dell’arte  tradition and another of opera buffa  had not elapsed in vain for this dramma giocoso  exceeded all expectations of its time –the opera  reached Constantinople, Buenos Aires, Calcutta and Sydney only a few decades after its premiere in Rome – and its popularity continues to captivate audiences today. 

On this occasion, the light-hearted and lively production by Stefan Herheim adds an unexpected ingredient to an exciting mix of humour and fantasy because the composer himself makes an appearance and demonstrates how, in reality, true magic is found in the human voice. 

Bieito's interpretation of Wagner‘s Lohengrin deals with love, hate, jealousy and hope, but above all with man‘s imperative need to believe in something. To visualise these two contrasting worlds, Bieito creates two settings on stage: the world of fairy tales (the forest) and reality (the court room). According to Bieito, fairy tales are as relevant today as they once were and are not only fables we tell our children, but a necessity in adulthood as they mirror life itself by offering both good and bad. 

Los elementos is explicitly presented as a "harmonic opera in the Italian style", in which the best tradition of Hispanic verse converges with Italian musical novelties, materialised in the use of violins and the alternation of recitatives and arias. These stylistic features were then understood as synonymous with modernity, something that would not escape its first listeners either. The staging of this new production brings these allegorical codes to the present, while maintaining the emblematic world of baroque opera, with the original results typical of the splendour of this golden age of Spanish music.

Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi premiered at the Metropolitan Opera New York in 1918. The third piece of his Il trittico is a comic opera after an episode in Dante’s Divine Commedy –the playful-amusing depiction of a shrewd glutton – that soon became a great success with the public. Its musical language is surely the boldest and most modern of the Trittico. This masterpiece of Italian Opera Buffa will be staged by none less than Woody Allen, whose mordacity and twisted sense of humor will make it truly special.

An opera where the prima donna is a baritone? Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali is an excessively long and daunting title for an opera of such unrestrained delight. That is likely what German film director Helmut Käutner thought when he renamed it Viva la mamma in the famous 1969 adaptation for the rococo Cuvilliés theatre in Munich, changing the history of this work forever. First seen in Naples in 1827, this farce of a “theatre within a theatre” narrates the mishaps of a second-rate opera company as it stages the great serious drama Romolo ed Ersilia in a provincial theatre. The unbearable tensions between the two lead singers are finally resolved with the decisive intervention of one of their mothers. The co-production by Ópera de Lyon shared with the Grand Theâtre de Genève and Teatro Real is brought to life by Laurent Pelly, a tireless champion of Donizettis comedies, as one recalls from his production of La fille du régiment which we enjoyed some seasons ago.

*Title only available in Spain

One of the world`s leading stage directors, Nikolaus Lehnhoff has presented an outstanding new production of Giuseppe Verdi's popular opera Rigoletto. With international stars like Juan Diego Flórez and Diana Damrau and directed by the new chief conductor Fabio Luisi, this opera production demonstrates a convincing and highly qualified musical standard. A wonderfully timeless event, which took place in the marvellous atmosphere of Dresden’s Semperoper.

Peter Sellars, Teodor Currentzis, Ekaterina Scherbachenko and Dominique Blanc tell us about the work carried out until reaching the premiere of this production: An extraordinary double programme with two works which “represent an ideal of beauty, poetry and hope”. 

Iolanta and Perséphone tell stories of transformation; two dramas laden with symbolism which take a path from light to darkness and back again, where there is always a shadow of one’s self behind each person. Peter Sellars tells the story using a single setting with very intense, abstract visual images where everything changes, as in Russian symbolist drama.

Coproduction with Televisión Española (TVE)