The Councillor of European Funds, University and Culture, Miquel Company, and the manager of the Orquesta Sinfónica Illes Balears, Pere Malondra, today presented L’arxiduc, the first opera produced by the Govern de les Illes Balears with music by composer Antoni Parera Fons, a libretto by writer Carme Riera, musical direction by Pablo Mielgo and stage direction by Paco Azorín, at a press conference.

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The opera will premiere at Palma’s Teatre Principal with two performances on the 25th and 27th of November at 8 pm, and it narrates the life of a historical figure: Archduke Ludwig Salvator, the Austrian aristocrat who lived in Mallorca in the last third of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century.

The company stressed, “the importance of a cultural project that was begun during the last legislature and that has materialised thanks to the commitment of the Government and two great cultural personalities of the Balearic Islands, Antoni Parera Fons and Carme Riera, with a work that is connected to Mallorca and at the same time internationalises it”.

L’arxiduc, with the Symphony Orchestra in the pit, features a cast that includes tenor David Alegret (young Archduke); baritone José Antonio López (old Archduke); mezzo-soprano María José Montiel (Catalina Homar); baritone Pau Camero (Wlasidlaw Vyborny); baritone Joan Martin Royo (Emperor of Austria) and soprano María José Moreno (mother of the Archduke). All this, with stage direction by Paco Azorín and musical direction by Pablo Mielgo.

In addition, the councillor pointed out that the artistic and technical team also includes Balearic artists such as soprano Marisa Roca (Antonieta madre); tenors José Manuel Sánchez (Erwin Huber), Joan Lainez (Francesc Ferran) and Antoni Aragón (voices of the people); baritone Josep Miquel Ribot (voices of the people) and the Choir of the Teatre Principal de Palma.

Large orchestra

Antoni Parera Fons explained that musically, the work is a composition for large orchestra, and will probably also have smaller ensembles to better differentiate the sound planes and simultaneous tempos. “Musically, I have strictly followed the libretto by my friend Carme Riera, in which the light and dark of the archduke are presented. I have delved into the feelings and different atmospheres to achieve the most accurate description and evolution of the protagonist,” said Parera Fons.

“I am very happy to have composed an opera about such an attractive and cultured character who was so important in Mallorcan society. It has been a challenge to understand the silence and doubts of the archduke”, he added about a work divided into two acts and lasting two and a half hours.

Parera Fons also wanted to underline the involvement of the singers: “There is not a day that goes by without a singer calling me to ask me for musical and contextual questions. Some of the central characters are of great vocal and dramatic voltage”.

On the other hand, Carme Riera was very happy to work with her “great friend” Parera Fons, “one of the most important composers of monumental opera”. In the libretto, Riera wanted to capture the life and social relations of the archduke on his arrival in Mallorca. “That is why I have taken Die Balearen as a reference point, a masterpiece for learning about the society, economy and life of the Balearic Islands at that time, and which today continues to be a point of reference for scholars and historians”.

Riera recalled that Archduke Ludwig Salvator was an intellectual who was interested in the natural sciences and classical languages. “It is for this reason that the opera, as well as being written in Catalan (a language he learned during his stay on the Balearic Islands), is also written in Italian and German. We have considered that we have to try to make such an interesting character known not only in Mallorca but all over the world,” said Carme Riera.

Paco Azorín emphasised “the importance of creating a contemporary opera when only a dozen large-scale operas are premiered each year all over the world”. For this reason, he celebrated the fact that the Government of the Balearic Islands is producing work in its entirety that “will become part of the repertoire of contemporary operas”.

In this sense, Pablo Mielgo also highlighted the milestone of “a single institution and an orchestra putting a large-scale opera on stage”.

Trajectories

The composer Antoni Parera Fons is one of the most highly regarded record producers in Spain and has produced hundreds of recordings, with a large number of performers, orchestras and conductors, including productions for Josep Carreras, Jaume Aragall, Joan Pons, María Dolores Pradera, Antoni Ros Marbà, Josep Pons, Víctor Pablo Pérez, ONE, OBC, and many, many others. He has been awarded the 2016 National Music Prize by the Ministry of Culture.

For her part, the Mallorcan writer Carme Riera has a long academic, artistic and professional curriculum that has brought her great recognition in the Balearic Islands, nationally and internationally. In 2018, she received the Balearic Islands Government’s Gold Medal for her career as a member of the Royal Spanish Academy and a member of the Catalan literature movement written by women. Riera has received numerous awards for her works, including the Ramon Llull Prize (1989), the National Narrative Prize (1995) and the Sant Jordi Prize (2003). In November 2015 she received the prestigious Premio de las Letras Españolas.