Of all the Spanish operas of the repertoire, from 'Carmen' to 'L'elisir d'amore', none has been introduced as much in the spirit of our country as 'Don Carlo'. Giuseppe Verdi's work , created around Friedrich Schiller's piece 'Don Carlos, Infant Von Spanien' (1787), was released in Paris in 1867. However, the assembly with which the Royal Theater opens its season on Wednesday 2019-2020 is practically something unprecedented in our country, since it is the version of Modena (1886), the last of which Verdi performed and that respects the integrity of the five acts (usually the version of four is mounted) of this story set in the court of Carlos I and Felipe II .

Royal presence at the opening of the season

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The first representation of 'Don Carlo', which opens the program for this season of the Royal Theater, will have an interesting situation: the presence of Felipe VI and Doña Letizia, who will occupy the royal box of the Madrid Coliseum to contemplate this story of love and intrigue in the Spanish court.

A good metaphor for the spirit defended by those responsible for the Real in the presentation of these 12 operas: to offer titles outside the horizon of expectations and the comfort zone of the spectators.

Thus, Joan Matabosch, artistic director of the theater, explained during the presentation of this show that, "the use of historical figures" does not mean that 'Don Carlo' is an excuse to be locked in the past and forget the present. "It has nothing to do with history. It is a metaphor in which characters are being used to talk about things that concern us."

In this same direction would be the recovery of 'Achille in Sciro', composed by Francesco Corselli for the 18th century Spanish court, or 'The passenger', by Mieczyslaw Weinberg, a Polish Jew fled from the Nazis and then marginalized in the USSR.

But that does not mean that there are great classics of popular applause. There is 'El pirata', by Bellini, played by Javier Camarena. Or 'La Valquiria', second title of the Wagnerian tetralogy directed by Pablo Heras-Casado in Madrid. And, above all, the production of 'La Traviata' that will occupy the Madrid Coliseum at the end of the season and in which Plácido Domingo will give life to Giorgio Germont. A highly anticipated presence after accusations of sexual harassment against the singer and that the Royal has ratified as a way to support him.

In the aforementioned presentation, Gregorio Marañón, president of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Theater, said that, of the 60 million euros in his budget, 29% come from private sponsorship, 23% from the public and the rest of the box office.

With a musical direction by Nicola Luisotti and stage by David McVicar , this 'Don Carlo' has a triple cast, among which Ainoha Arteta stands out as Elisabetta de Valois. The Gipuzkoan soprano returns to the Real after the controversy over the accusations of sexual harassment against Plácido Domingo (before which she came out in her defense) and after the Madrid Coliseum ratified her support for the tenor converted into baritone: "We are living a moment in the society in which it sells more scabrous or mysterious news than the cultural or that the good news, in general. The media always want the flashy headline, although who is understood in opera or music thinks that those other things are trivial, " regrets Arteta. "Shows like this are not done overnight and take a long time to prepare, to give themselves entirely to the public," he explains. "To this we must add that, unfortunately, we are in a country where this type of anecdotes sell a lot. It makes me very sad."

Even so, he believes that the situation is worse on the other side of the Atlantic, where the accusations come from: "What is happening in the United States seems to me, sincerely, a witch hunt . I love that country very much, because I trained there, but I find it obscenity that a man may have I don't know how many guns and automatic weapons in his house, and that it is a problem that a man is a flirt. He is hypocritical, "he says. "With this I do not defend an abuser, who I have never considered Placido to be. But that he is a man who likes women and is a flirt, of course. And I have said it, but it does not happen. If they had discovered him weapons, absolutely nothing would have happened , "he says.

As for her role, Arteta points out that, "emotionally, Elisabetta is a very interesting character: she is the daughter of Catalina de Médici, she comes from the French court and, in this version of five acts, I appreciate a substantial change. Because in the first [the one that is usually suppressed], which is situated in Fontainebleau, she is in her country, while later she is already the queen in the court of Philip II in Spain. "

"It's a delicious role , " emphasizes the singer. "I love history, although we know that it is a fiction within reality. And that's why I like to study it, read biographies, even watch movies, series and documentaries in which they talked about it."

A role that distances itself from the last ones in which Arteta has shone, although this is an incentive. "You can't sing Elisabetta as you sing Butterfly or Tosca . Because it has nothing to do with it," he says. "I always say that Verdi sings like Mozart. He plays a lot with triplets of eighth and sixteenth notes or eighth notes followed by sixteenth notes, which are completely different. This characterizes a lot the rhythm and the way of singing."

"On a vocal level," he continues, "it is a tremendously complex role if you have to do it right. A soprano who has to have the tessellation from the most serious to the acute. We don't reach a do, but we have to have the roof much higher, to be able to do it comfortably.

The first time he faced the role was eight years ago - "because I have not done these things until 45" - and then remember one thing his teacher told him: that one of Elisabetta's most difficult things was his serious . "In the aria 'Tu che le vanità', which is hard, the most difficult thing is the end, having to plant the voice down there. But not only Elisabetta: all the characters have to have serious insurance."

Then there is the historical question, which many defend that it should be separated from such a work. "I can't disassociate it," assumes Arteta. "First, because I am Spanish and because I have seen the Escorial. Historically, we have a wonderful heritage there. And, in addition, it is our duty to give it life with all the feeling, " he defends. "With its more and less, it was a glorious empire . In that sense, it should be respected and delved there historically. And, honestly, I think that in this case it delves deeper into music than production."

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