The 24/25 season of Zarzuela Theater will premiere on October 9 with ‘Marina’ and with a program for the first time under the direction of Isamay Benavente that includes names such as the orchestra director Alondra de la Parra the actor Juan Echanove or the soprano Sabina Puertolas.
Benavente has advanced during the presentation his “manifest intention” to continue with the line of work that has been carried out in recent years, but also seeking to “considerably expand” the radius of artistic and social action of the historic coliseum of the Plazuela de Teresa Berganza.
“I want to bet on the new while demonstrating my respect for the past.to the history of the genre, to the people who made it grow, to the directors who have preceded me and to the wonderful productions that have become symbols of how we should do things,” he noted.
The titles of the new season include the small genre (‘El bateo’, ‘La revoltosa’ or ‘La Gran Vía’), large zarzuela (‘La del manojo de Rosas’ or ‘La tabernera del puerto’), opera (‘Marina’, ‘Patagonia’ or ‘Domitila’), magazine (‘Pharaoh’s Court’), or tune (‘Comic’).
Precisely this last show (dedicated to some of the artists who at their time – 18th century – were unique, transgressive and brave) “defines in itself one of the main lines” of this new stage: that of “to give the deserved, necessary and so often and long overlooked visibility to women as artists and creators.
There will be a series of Chamber Musical Theater, with ‘Domitila’ by João Guilherme Ripper, the opera ‘Patagonia’ by Sebastián Errázuriz and ‘La Gran Vía’ by Federico Chueca and Joaquín Valverde, represented as usual by a group of young singers from the Zarza project.
In dance, the National Dance Company will revive the successful ‘La Sylphide’, and the National Ballet of Spain will present ‘Afanador’, based on photographs about Andalusia and flamenco by Colombian Ruven Afanador. Also taking to the stage will be ‘Nocturna’, a collaboration between the choreographer and dancer Rafaela Carrasco and the playwright Álvaro Tato, and ‘Comedy without a title’, which delves into the work that Federico García Lorca was working on when he was murdered.
In the concerts, four of them have the title ‘Memory and Forgetfulness’ as a background argument – with Pasión Vega, among other artists -, another four are offered under the heading ‘So much to celebrate’, four more have as their premise the intimate ‘Voice and soul’ seal, three investigate the value of the musical, cultural and social connection between the two shores linked by the motto ‘Crossing the Atlantic’; and two shows that host ‘With nocturnality and without treachery’ in the “rogue hour.”