A month in the Opera
“Opera” is not a simple Metro station in Madrid. One just needs to look around in order to notice how the walls are full of music, and not just underground but also in the restaurants and cafeterías of the area. And it is because everything revolves around the iconic Teatro Real, the building that saw music flowing through its walls for 200 years already.
The “Opera Uncovered” workshop on staging and opera production was taught by Alejandra González, freelance set designer assistant; and organized by Marta Villegas, coordinator of the Education Department. Teatro Real offers this kind of workshops for almost every opera released. However, this one was done in English as it was specially targeted at IE students.
“I loved theatre since I was a child, but I was raised in a small city where there was no opera,” Alejandra said. “When I finished the Architecture degree, I did not know what to specialize in and I decided to apply my degree to theatre. Especially, I saw Teatro Real as a very human and friendly space and I worked as a set designer assistant here for some time.”
Through the workshop, we learnt about the process of the production of an opera from the inside. We saw the mechanisms of the stage, met some members of the artistic team, had the opportunity to see choir and orchestra rehearsals and even visited the tailoring rooms! We worked on Kurt Weill’s Street Scene, that tells a series of intertwined stories in a neighbourhood of New York’s Lower East Side in the 40s.
“I think Street Scene is a very interesting play for a few reasons. First, it is not often represented but it was written by a great composer [Kurt Weill]. I also think this production was very respectful with the libretto, something that frequent spectators miss in many occasions.” Alejandra expressed.
“This play really helps to hook people that do not know opera so much because the music is wonderful and the play is very dynamic. It is a luxury to see something like this in Madrid because it brings the best of Broadway to the opera; they are very good artists and the story can attract any kind of audience.”
Actually, finding different audiences is one of the challenges that opera faces nowadays. The fact that it is often considered as something “old” or “boring” makes it hard for theatres to attract a younger public to the plays.
“In Teatro Real, we started to catch younger audiences by lowering prices, with discounts and special days in which operas were explained to the assistants; later, we introduced courses such as La Universidad a Escena.” Marta Villegas mentioned.
“The good thing is that when people do these courses, they learn so much about the opera world that they already feel as part of the theatre. It is beautiful to understand it from the inside. You end up enjoying it much more.”
“Many people go to the opera and maybe they do not like the one they saw, so they never come back again. I think this is very sad because when it comes to cinema, for example, we do not stop going just because we did not like a certain movie,” Alejandra added.
“I firmly believe there is always something you can enjoy from the opera, being the music, the costumes, or even the environment. In my case, I was not that interested in opera in the first place, but once I discovered it, I did not want to leave it, and I think that if someone makes you understand what you are listening and seeing, everything can be much more enjoyable.”
Hopefully, this kind of workshops will inspire more people to discover the magical world behind the theatre curtains. I have to say that this workshop completely changed my perspective and that I would live this amazing experience any other time. As a matter of fact, Verdi’s Aida premiered already and will be on stage until March 25 with its respective courses. You do not have a plan for your days in Madrid? Come to the opera, it is the new sexy! ;)
All the photography credit goes to Egor Kas.
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