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MEDEA (Cherubini) Madrid 2023 Enea Scala, Maria Agresta, Nancy Fabiola Herrera, Jongmin Park, Sara Blanch
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Médée or Medea (italian)
- Composer: Cherubini Luigi
- Libretto: François-Benoît Hoffman based on Euripides and Corneille Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Teatro Real, Madrid, Spain
- Recorded: October 4, 2023
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: Enea Scala, Maria Agresta, Nancy Fabiola Herrera, Jongmin Park, Sara Blanch, Mercedes Gancedo, Alexandra Urquiola, David Lagares
- Conductor: Ivor Bolton
- Orchestra: Orquesta Titular del Teatro Real
- Chorus: Coro Titular del Teatro Real
- Chorus Master: José Luis Basso
- Stage Director: Paco Azorín
- Stage Designer: Paco Azorín
- Costume Designer: Ana Garay
- Lighting Designer: Pedro Yagüe
Information about the Recording
- Published by: Teatro Real
- Date Published: 2023
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: yessubs, essubs
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
In tribute to Maria Callas (1923-2023) for the centenary of her birth
The season at Teatro Real opens with the masterpiece of the genius Cherubini. Tragic and captivating, Medea is known for the historic interpretations of Maria Callas, the artist to whom this production will be dedicated for the centenary of her birth. The long-awaited new stage direction by Paco Azorín together with the voices of Maria Agresta, Saioa Hernández and Nancy Fabiola Herrera, will explore dramatic aspects of the script, such as vicarious violence or abandonment.
The immolation of Medea in the temple, burned by the avenging fury of the flames, constitutes one of the most overwhelming and visionary moments in the history of opera. This was recognized by Wagner – a self-confessed admirer of this work – when he replicated it at the close of his monumental Twilight of the Gods, and this was also recognized by Maria Callas, who with her unmatched dramatic talent turned this almost forgotten title into one of the most personal milestones of his career.
Cherubini’s genius reigned in republican France in the 1790s and made a deep impression on the young Beethoven, although, at the turn of the century, his name fell behind those of Spontini and Rossini, and he gained fame as moody and conservative author. Noble and majestic like a sculpture by Canova or a fresco by David, but internally shaken by the overwhelming personality of its protagonist, the opera Medée offers unsuspected possibilities of scenic and dramatic development in accordance with “the harmonic ravings, the barbaric transitions and the exaggerated chromaticism.” » which – according to an early critic of the work – treasures its score.