The Colón opera season has some attraction

As you probably know, 2005 was a difficult year at the Colón, with two strikes and a change of command in the middle of the season. Tito Capobianco had the dual role of General and Artistic Director; he was replaced by Leandro Iglesias as Director General, and by an artistic team led by Marcelo Lombardero, who kept for himself the operatic programming. He tried to fulfill the Capobianco programming for 2005 but due to labor trouble one opera was left unperformed: Puccini’s “Turandot”. The parting Director had chosen interesting operas for 2006 but as there were no contracts Lombardero’s hands were free to reprogram as he saw fit; in the occurrence not one of Capobianco’s choices was taken over. A pity, for there were valuable premieres: Mozart’s “Mitridate”, Henze’s “L’upupa”, Villalobos’ “Yerma”, Monteverdi’s “Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria” ; and revivals such as Ginastera’s “Don Rodrigo” and Wagner’s “Siegfried”. Practical and financial considerations as well as Lombardero’s taste determined his elections. And also the decision the authorities took: the Colón will close on October 1 for a prolonged 540-day period to reform the stage and the main hall. There will be no Summer season and the subscription series will start early, at the very beginning of Autumn. And in a controversial move, “Turandot” will be offered at the Luna Park in October to compensate the 2005 subscribers. I will now give the facts of the season with some comments. I disagree with the interruption of Wagner’s “Ring”; after the 2005 “Walkyrie” we all expected “Siegfried” this year. True enough, there was a stumbling block in 2007: there’s no theatre other than the Colón to give “The Twilight of the Gods”; but anyway that year will have to be programmed unconventionally for there are plenty of pieces with similar problems; special solutions will have to be found due to “force majeure”, but no such thing applies to 2006. To start, a “bread and butter” title, Puccini’s “La Boheme”, with a double cast: Nancy Gustafson / Olga Makarina; María José Siri / Eliana Bayón; Massimiliano Pisapia/ John Matz; Gustavo Gibert / Hernán Iturralde; Leonardo Estevez / Alejandro Meerapfel; Carlos Esquivel / Nahuel Di Pierro; Gui Gallardo / Juan Barrile. The conductor will be Stefan Lano, Musical Director of the Colón Orchestra; producing team: Willy Landin, Toto Egurza and Daniela Taiana. March 2l to April 1. New names: the two Mimis and Matz. A welcome revival will be Verdi’s “O vespri siciliani”, the Italian version of a middle-period French “grand’opéra” of Meyerbeerian proportions, not seen here since 1970. Debuts of Marquita Lister, Sergei Murzaev (Luis Gaeta will be his alternate) and Andrea Papi ; the cast will also include Carlos Duarte, Ariel Cazes and Ricardo Yost. Mario Perusso will conduct, the producer will be Eric Vigié (debut, he hails from Geneva) and he teams with Enrique Bordolini (stage designer) and Imme Moeller (costumes). May 9 to 18. Mozart will be represented by “Cosí fan tutte” with an all-River Plate double cast: Virginia Tola / Carla Filipcic Holm, Adriana Mastrángelo / Mariana Rewerski, Graciela Oddone / Virginia Savastano, Raúl Giménez / Carlos Ullán, Hernán Iturralde (no alternate), Víctor Torres / Omar Carrión. Tola and Giménez are big stars and she is coming back after several years of absence due to unpaid fees owed her by the Colón (now the matter is settled). The production and conductor come from Santiago de Chile: German producer Michael Hampe, Ramón López (stage designs) and Germán Droguetti (costumes) ; Rodolfo Fischer will hold the baton. May 30 to June 9. A major event will be the revival of Britten’s splendid “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, only seen here in 1962. In co-production with the Nice Opera, Paul Emile Fourny and Louis Désiré will make their debut, and so will conductor Arthur Fagen. The cast will feature Franco Fagioli as Oberon, Pamela Coburn as Tytania and Gary Tushaw as Puck; Gaeta, Rewerski, Oddone, Gibert, Alejandra Malvino and Luciano Garay complete it. June 27 to July 4. Then, we shall have an interesting Stravinsky triple bill combining opera and ballet. The ballets will be “Les Noces” and “Petrushka” in the Oscar Araiz choreographies; the opera will bring us the long awaited revival of “Le Rossignol”, absent for almost 60 years. Singers: Laura Rizzo / Eleonora Sancho , Virginia Correa Dupuy / Mastrángelo, Elisabeth Canis / Susanna Moncayo, Enrique Folger, Carrión / Estévez, Di Pierro / Mario De Salvo, Esquivel / Sergio Gómez. Conductor, Francisco Rettig; Araiz, producer and choreographer; Egurza,stage designs; Renata Schussheim, costumes. July 18 to 30. An important premiere will be seen from August 22 to September 1 : Ernst Krenek’s “Jonny spielt auf”, a big success of 1927. Lano will conduct and Lombardero will produce. With the exception of Cynthia Makris (alternating with Correa Dupuy) the cast will be local : Carlos Bengolea, Garay, Torres, Patricia González, Iturralde and Ricardo Cassinelli. August 22 to September 1. The final offering at the Colón is a splendid idea: the original complete version of Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” (first time here). Lano conducts and the producing team is made up of Mario Pontiggia, Diego Siliano and Luciana Gutman. I have no space for the complete cast, I will only mention the debut of Anatoly Kotscherga and the return visit of Mijail Kit. Gustavo López Manzitti and Duarte will alternate as Dimitri. October 17 to 28. 11/02/2006 para el Buenos Aires Herald