The Barber of Seville

There's no better way to spend a summer night than enjoying some open air opera, even more so from the very elegant surroundings of the Sabatini Gardens located next to the Royal Palace. Ópera Cómica, one of Madrid's oldest opera companies will be performing the classic, The Barber of Seville in what should be a very delightful performance. The production runs from 18th-27th August and ticket prices start at 15€. They can be bought at entradas.com or at the venue box office.

Veranos de la Villa- summer concerts

Every summer the city hall puts on a series on concerts known as the Veranos de la Villa, which takes places across different spaces across the city and attracts artists from different styles of music and dance from all corners of the globe. There will be many events taking place- far too many to list here, but here are a few picks:

29/6- 10/7 Swan Lake on ice (El lago de los cisnes) at the Sabatini Gardens. It may be scorching hot, but this performance on ice looks great for the family. It's performed by the Imperial Ice Stars, a famous ice skating performance company, who have toured the world with this production. In case you're wondering whether the ice will melt, the performance takes place in a specially constructed theatre.

6/7 Lila Downs in concert at the Escenario de Puerta del Ángel. Lila Downs is an internationlly acclaimed Mexican folk singer, who rose to fame after the release of the film Frida, which featured her music. Well worth going to see as she has an incredibly powerful voice.

7/7 Miguel Poveda in concert at the Escenario de Puerta del Ángel. One of Spain's best loved contemporary flamenco stars, yet still performs in a very traditional way. Don't miss it if you want to see some real flamenco!

13/7 Camilo & Tomatito in concert at the Escenario de Puerta del Ángel. Camilo is a jazz musican from the Domincan Republic and Tomatito is one of Spain's best flamenco performers. Here they come together to perform an interesting concert of flamenco-jazz with a touch of latino.

13/7- 24/7 Agua, Azucarcillos y Aguadiente- La Verbena de la Paloma at the Sabatini Gardens. The Sabatini Gardens, next to the Royal Palace are the perfect place to catch a traditional zarzuela on a balmy summer night.

28/7 Afrocubism in concert at the Escenario de Puerta del Ángel. Afrocubism is a project between the Cuban legends the Buena Vista Social Club and a group of musicans from Mali, mixing latino and African styles. It certainly looks an interesting mix!

18/8- 28/8 The Barber of Sevilla at the Sabatini Gardens. Enjoy one of the world's best loved operas in the magical setting of the Royal Palace. It should be unforgettable.

There are many more events including flamenco, world music, opera and dance performances and to see the full programme to buy tickets, visit the Veranos de la Villa website (unfortunately all in Spanish).

Mayca Teba in El Temperamento de Carmen

If you are going to be in Seville next Tuesday, Mayca Teba, a renowned Spanish sorpano will be giving a recital together with pianist Sergio Montero and guitarrist Tino van der Sman at the Iglesia de los Terceros. Teba is an international performer, having performed all over the world and recently with Plácido Domingo in Quatar. She also performs zarzuela around the world as well as in her native Spain. The event is sponsored by EMASESA 1011 Cultural

 

Date: Tuesday 22nd February 2011

Where: Iglesia de los Terceros, Calle Sol s/n in Seville

Time: 8pm, free entry until venue is full

Plácido Domingo's 70th Birthday Concerts

Spanish opera great Plácido Domingo will be giving a series of concerts alongside other international opera singers at the Teatro Real, Madrid to celebrate his 70th birthday this month. The performances take place on the 20th, 21st, 23rd, 25th and 27th of January and tickets start at 40€ from Entradas.com

Audiovisual Opera

The Teatros del Canal present an interesting twist on opera where the relation between the arts and our lifestyles is portrayed through modern opera and audiovisual material in the form of a triptych. The performance is on 5th November.

Address: Teatros del Canal, Cea Bermúndez 1, (Metro Canal)
Website (Spanish only)

Zarzuela- a guide

A zarzuela performance

Zarzuela is a type of opera which orginates in Spain and has been performed since the 17th century. It sometimes includes elements of dance and other types of song and is accompanied by an orchestra. The genre can be divided into two distinct periods; baroque (the earliest form) and romantic which dates from the mid 19th centry up to modern times. The name zarzuela comes from the Palacio de Zarzuela, a residence of the King of Spain and where it was first perfomed in the 1650s.

A poster for Vives's Doña Francisquita

Early pieces were influenced greatly by classical mythology and religion, whilst in the 18th century it became more influenced by Italian operatic styles and more traditional styles fell out of fashion. By the 19th century, zarzuelas became rather like costume dramas and told the tale of every day life as well as containing lots of popular slang and colloquialisms. As many people could not afford the cost of the theatre, smaller variety theatres sprang up so working class people too could enjoy perfomances. The popularity of zarzuela continued into the 20th centry, with significant figures such as Catalan born Amadeo Vives emerging. However with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil war in 1936, the genre began to decline rapidly and very little has been composed since then. It was perhaps the emergence of recordings by international opera stars such as Placido Domingo which saved zarzuela from extinction. The genre has also been exported to other Spanish speaking countries, notably Cuba and Mexico where performance styles have been mixed with local culture. Likewise the Basque Country and Catalonia have their own versions. Zarzuela is still popularly enjoyed today amongst Spanish people and tourists will find plenty of places to see a show. We recommend:

El Teatro de la Zarzuela (dedicated to the genre)

Teatros del Canal (they include various performances in their varied programme of productios)

Zarzuela.net (contains zarzuela listings)

Famous zarzuela pieces:

El Golfo de la Sirenas- Calderón de la Barca (one of the earliest pieces)

Pan y Toros- Francisco Barbieri

El Juramento- Joaquín Gaztambide

La Gran Vía- Federico Chueca

El Barberillo de Lavapiés- Francisco Barbier

Los Claveles- José Serrano

Bohemios- Amadeo Vives

Doña Francisquita- Amadeo Vives

El Huesped del Sevillano- Jacinto Guerrero

If you are still interested in the genre, we have written up the story and history of El Barberillo de Lavapiés. Click to visit.

Here's a video of Spanish soprano star Mayca Teba, who has perfomed globally and alongside greats such as Plácido Domingo, singing Dúo Pero Capitan from the zarzuela La Canción del Olvido. To hear more of Mayca's music, visit www.maycateba.com