Repertoire: Opera and Opra

OPERA AND OPRA

Included in the Opera with Opra theater are productions born out of the awareness of wanting to juxtapose puppet theater with opera. This highly personal encounter draws its essence from the centuries-old relationship in which the history of melodrama intertwines with that of puppetry. The extreme synthesis of reality and the exaltation of the spectacular element unite these two very different yet similar ways of conceiving theater, with continuous exchanges of repertoire. What persists in these performances is not the grandeur of the stage apparatus, nor the mere imitation of opera, even in its most refined form, as seen in the case of the Salzburg puppets. What prevails is the emotional force of the narrative, the epic significance of the characters from melodrama, improbable yet vivid, on par with the puppets. This is not about staging opera in miniature or substituting puppets for singers. Rather, it’s the convergence of two theatrical languages—popular and courtly simultaneously—that meet and converse. These are autonomous performances that, in essence, do not betray the spirit of the great composers nor that of puppet opera. Instead, it’s as if distant roots are reconnected by discovering themselves as kindred.

On stage, the music and the characters of melodrama mingle, interpenetrating, from the paladins to the Saracens, from the puppets in pageboys to the fighters, to the “oprante,” the engine of the entire action.

REPERTOIRE

Introduction

Classic

Special evenings

Shows for the big stage

Opera

The Cunto