El Juez
| Opera dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Judge (The Lost Children) |
| Original title: | El Juez (Los niños perdidos) |
| Shape: | Opera in four acts |
| Original language: | Spanish |
| Music: | Christian Kolonovits |
| Libretto : | Angelika Messner |
| Premiere: | April 26, 2014 |
| Place of premiere: | Bilbao , Arriaga Theater |
| Playing time: | approx. 2 ½ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Spain during the Franco dictatorship (1939-1975) |
| people | |
El Juez (subtitle: Los niños perdidos , German The Judge - The Lost Children ) is an opera in four acts by the Austrian composer Christian Kolonovits . The libretto is by Angelika Messner . The title role of the judge Federico Ribas was written especially for José Carreras , who celebrated his comeback with this role in April 2014 after several years of abstinence from the opera stage.
action
The opera deals with the drama of stolen children during the Franco dictatorship in Spain (1939–1975). Tens of thousands of children from parents who were not loyal to the line were torn from their families, taken to monasteries and similar institutions and brought up there according to the regime's ideas. Names were changed, the children were lost to these families. The Roman Catholic Church, which was involved in the action, refused to open its archives to determine the true identity of the lost children .
At his mother's deathbed, songwriter Alberto García learns of the existence of a kidnapped brother who was believed to be lost. In search of this he tells in the song El pañuelo de seda ( The silk scarf ) how the child was taken from its mother by a nun and taken to a convent. After a television interview, he not only won over the journalist Paula, but also the population, who had suffered similar fates, and thus started a movement against the silence of the church and politics. They demand the opening of the monastery archives, where the kidnappings are to be documented.
Dr. Felix Morales, Vice President of the Secret Service, is one of the masterminds behind the re-education campaign. He forces the judge Federico Ribas to sign a decree prohibiting the opening of the monastery archives and thus preventing inspection. Ribas signs the decree, although he grew up in a monastery and feels sympathy for the demands of the population. Through the mediation of the journalist Paula, he meets with Alberto and does research on his own identity. Morales continues his intrigues, Alberto is accused of child abduction. Alberto is shot before he dies in Paula's arms when he learns that Federico is his brother.
Work history
In 2009, José Carreras asked Christian Kolonovits to think about an opera. With the story of the lost children, the librettist Angelika Messner found a suitable material based on a BBC documentary, as Carreras and his family had to flee from the Franco regime. In addition, for Kolonovits, working on the opera was a reappraisal of his own childhood after he grew up in a boarding school and got to know the strict Catholic upbringing. Kolonovits had already worked several times with the librettist Angelika Messner, including the 2009 children's opera Antonia and the Tearing Devil . The libretto was first written in German and translated into Spanish by Adan Kovacics. The libretto began in 2010, and work on it took about half a year. Kolonovits was busy composing his opera for around two years. Christian Kolonovits retired to Venice for creative work and returned to Vienna after six weeks to write down the ideas he had collected. Stylistically, the opera consists of various elements, from pop music to folk music to the influence of Puccini and twelve-tone music. The compositions were completed in October 2013, followed by the instrumentation. The creation of the work was shown in the television documentary An Opera for José Carreras .
Josep Carreras (Federico Ribas, judge), Sabina Puértolas (Paula, journalist), José Luis Sola (Alberto Garcís), Maria José Suàrez (María, first nun) and Itziar sang at the premiere on April 26, 2014 in the Arriaga Theater in Bilbao de Unda (second nun), Manel Esteve (Paco, cameraman), Ana Ibarra (abbess), Milagros Martin (old woman), Carlo Colombara (Morales) and Alberto Núñez, Giorgi Meladze, José Manuel Díaz, Mikel Zabala (four men) . The Orquesta Sinfónica de Bizkaia played under the musical direction of David Giménez , and Gerardo Carbajo was the conductor of Coro Rossini . The production was by Emilio Sagi, the set by Daniel Bianco, Pepa Ojanguren was responsible for the costumes and Eduardo Bravo was responsible for the lighting.
Further performances took place in August 2014 at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl , at the beginning of 2015 in the Mariinski Theater in Saint Petersburg and in July 2016 in the Theater an der Wien , each with José Carreras in the title role.
Web links
- El Juez on the Arriaga Theater website
- Video trailer of the opera on YouTube
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Die Welt: José Carreras celebrates a dream comeback . Article dated April 27, 2014, accessed July 4, 2016.
- ^ Theater an der Wien: El Juez (Los niños perdidos) . Retrieved July 4, 2016.
- ↑ derStandard.at - Opera "El Juez": Ghosts of the Past . Article dated July 3, 2016, accessed July 4, 2016.
- ^ Kurier: Christian Kolonovits: An opera for José Carreras . Article dated April 27, 2014, accessed July 4, 2016.
- ↑ The Lost Children of Spain: José Carreras' Return to the Opera Stage ( Memento of July 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved July 4, 2016.
- ↑ Kleine Zeitung: Kolonovits performs “El Juez” in Vienna . Article dated June 28, 2016, accessed July 4, 2016.
- ^ Kurier: The making of an opera: Carreras' "El Juez" on TV . Article dated January 6, 2016, accessed July 4, 2016.
- ↑ Ópera EL JUEZ (Los niños perdidos) ( Memento of July 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved July 4, 2016.
- ^ Tyrolean Festival Erl: In conversation with Christian Kolonovits ( Memento from July 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). Article dated April 29, 2014, accessed July 4, 2016.
- ^ Mariinsky Theater: El Juez (Los Niños Perdidos) . Retrieved July 4, 2016.
- ↑ The new marker: Theater an der Wien - Christian Kolonovits - El Juez . Retrieved July 4, 2016.
- ^ Theater an der Wien: El Juez . Retrieved July 4, 2016.
- ^ FAZ: José Carreras in Vienna - Between Church and Secret Service . Article dated July 4, 2016, accessed July 4, 2016.