Due to the breach of a pact with the devil, each and every member of this family that sets foot on a stage is destined to cause the destruction of the theater and, on its scale, to repeat the end of the world.
This is the premise of “Opera Real”, the first entirely Portuguese opera produced by ESMAE, which the Coliseu presents this Thursday, June 22, at 9 pm.
With a libretto by Jorge Louraço Figueira, music by Telmo Marques, Eugénio Amorim, Carlos Azevedo, and Dimitris Andrikopoulos, artistic direction by António Salgado and staging by António Durães, this opera is divided into four acts or four “short stories” around notable events. In each act, the Theater is destroyed: in Act I, in 1755, by an earthquake; in II, in 1866, by a fire; in III, in 1977, for its transformation into a cinema; and in IV, in 2088, for its transformation into a refugee camp.
“Opera Real” has as its guiding thread the melodramatic plot that opposes two branches of the same family, on the one hand, the Ricci, a lineage of singers, and on the other the Enxovia, a clan of actors. With time jumps of exactly 111 years between each act, we follow the destinies of the members of this great family and get lost in the labyrinth of kinship and catastrophic blood ties of the falling clan.
In this show, which brings together theatre, music, history, and video mapping, in collaboration with ESMAD, “two families and four different musical languages are placed face to face at the service of a unique dramaturgical invention, experiencing a relationship with the theatrical scene, placing music in space, in narratives that span 333 years of stories and events, starting in 1755 and ending in 2088, which reflect, through the libretto and musical breathing, the evolution of these families, of these specific theatrical practices and the spaces that contain these practices and the successive revolutions to which they were subjected over this time”, explains director António Durães.
Designed to bring together undergraduate, master, and postgraduate students in theatre, music, and opera at ESMAE on the same stage, the Coliseu once again associates with the Academy and future lyrical and symphonic talents to present a history of different eras and customs, of encounters and disagreements. If it’s not over now, the world will end right away, as many times as it takes.
Tickets cost between €10 and €22.50 and are available at Coliseu Porto Ageas, Ticketline, and the usual places. Discounts: 50% students, 25% over 65s and families (+3), 20% Friends of the Coliseum, and Porto Card holders.
Always confirm with the concert hall or promoter the conditions of access, confirmation of the date or time, tickets place of sale, price, and availability.
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