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The
first Seville International Music Festival will include,
in addition to the featured performance of Carmen,
orchestral concerts, recitals and flamenco shows with star
performers. Executive Producers of Carmen will
be OOS-Opera
on Original Site, Inc., and Michael Ecker, the same
executive producer who presented Puccini's Turandot in the
Forbidden City in Beijing, in September 1998, conducted
by Zubin Mehta and directed by Zhang Yimou. Turandot in
the Forbidden City was acclaimed internationally as the
biggest and most successful production ever of an opera
in its original setting.
1st
& 2nd Act: Plaza de España
3rd Act: Parque de Maria Luisa
4th Act: Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza
(Bullring)
Sevilla’s
First International Music Festival announced for September
2004
The opera Carmen by
Georges Bizet will be produced in its original settings
Lorin
Maazel joins forces with Carlos
Saura
The
Mayor of the City of Seville, Spain, Mr. Alfredo Sánchez
Monteseirín, and Michael
Ecker, President of OOS - Opera on Original Site, Inc.
have announced today that the first Sevilla International
Music Festival will take place from September 2 to 12, 2004.
The highlight of the festival will be the production of
Bizet’s opera Carmen in its originally
conceived setting.
The
internationally acclaimed American conductor Lorin
Maazel and the Oscar-winning Spanish movie director
Carlos
Saura will join forces to present this unique production
of the most popular opera in the world. The cast will include
a never before seen selection of some of the world’s currently
most popular opera singers, such as (in alphabetical order)
Ildar
Abdrazakov, Olga
Borodina, Denyce
Graves, Montserrat Martí, Nicola Rossi-Giordano, Neil
Shicoff, and others, and the Philharmonia
Orchestra London.
Additional
highlights of the first Sevilla International Music Festival
will include performances by prestigious orchestras such
as the New
York Philharmonic with Sir
Colin Davis, the Russian
National Orchestra with Mikhail
Pletnev and soloist recitals by interpreters such as
Mstislav
Rostropovitch, and Maxim
Vengerov. Top flamenco groups will also appear within
the framework of the Festival.
Carlos Saura will be joined by the Oscar-winning lighting designer Vittorio
Storaro, Gerardo
Vera will design the costumes and Rafael Palmeros will
sign for the sets.
The
Japanese international award-winning lighting designer Motoko
Ishii will be responsible for the lighting of the public
festival spaces and the sound designer of the Vienna State
Opera and Bregenzer Festspiele, Prof. Wolfgang Fritz will
be a guarantor of highest acoustical standards.
The
Mayor of the City of Seville, Mr. Monteseirín, welcomes
the international opera, flamenco and music lovers to Sevilla
– a city, which, like no other, has been the inspiration
for the setting of over 100 operas over the centuries (Carmen,
Fidelio, Don Giovanni, Barber of Seville, Marriage of Figaro,
Forza del Destino, etc.)
OOS – Opera on Original Site, Inc. produced Puccini’s masterpiece Turandot
in the Forbidden City, Beijing, China in September 1998
with Zubin
Mehta and the Chinese film director Zhang
Yimou. That production was deemed as the biggest and
most successful production of an opera in its original setting
ever.
The
following sites have plenty of information, including tickets,
package deals and all the stuff behind the production.
Thanks
to Antonio Doblas for contributing to the above information.
He's an official tour guide here in Sevilla and an expert
on all the sites and culture. Check out his two Carmen tours
below or visit his website
for more information:
Tour
1: Maestranza
Bullring - Santa Cruz Quarter - Royal Alcazar
The first tour will visit the Maestranza Arena, where Carmen
was killed by the soldier Don José. Next is a walk
to the Santa Cruz Quarter, former jewish section of Seville
with narrow streets and wonderful patios. Finally a visit
to the Royal Alcazar, the moorish palace and royal residence
from the XIV century. (more
information)
Tour
2: Spanish
Square - Tobacco Factory - Cathedral and Giralda Tower
Second option, including the famous Spanish Square (Plaza
de España ) where the first and second acts for Carmen
in Seville will take place. The tour continues with
a visit to the former Tobacco Factory, where Carmen worked.
It is now the main building of the University of Sevilla
(closed on Sundays). Finally a there's a guided tour inside
the Cathedral and Giralda Tower, third largest church in
the christian world and final resting place of Christopher
Columbus. (more
information) |
