DONIZETTI LATIN REMIX

Presentation

The project takes as a starting point the forthcoming release of the critical edition of Donizetti’s La fille du régiment, a masterpiece in the history of musical theater.

La fille du régiment is considered the first operetta ever: it is a work in French that starts from the "farsa napoletana" genre, in which Donizetti, for the first time, creates an international style with bright melodic lines, combining – as an ante-litteram crossover – the brilliance of the singing Italian opera with the rhythm and the sparkling orchestration of the French “air de salon”.
Although the subject is light and with a happy ending, the work deals with delicate issues such as: eradication from home, enlisting in the army, the clash between a “high” and a popular culture, exile and independence and courage in supporting personal choices. With this title Donizetti addresses, in short, the feminine condition of his time.

From these reflections comes the project for a Donizetti Latin Remix, in which to combine the idea of the Cuban revolution with that of the revolution embodied by Marie, the opera’s main character, the “fille du regiment” precisely. The new dramaturgical setting is developed in collaboration with the young Cuban director, Luis Ernesto Doñas: the Swiss world of Donizetti’s opera becomes the world of the Cuban revolution, and Marie a “pasionaria” of the Cuban revolutionary army.
The show, therefore, focus on women and revolution, bringing up Donizetti’s many other belcanto heroines who were real revolutionaries, such as Elizabeth I Queen of England, Mary Stuart, Lucy of Lammermoor, Maria Padilla, Norina, Maria de Rudenz, Lucrezia Borgia, Paolina... Just as the history of that part of central America has led to great changes and revolutions into the world, Donizetti’s theatrical works have deeply shaken the world of opera, bringing it to levels that are essential for its successors, first of all Giuseppe Verdi.

Artistic Team

Luis Ernesto Doñas will be joined by the following artistic team:

Martica Minipunto: texts. Actress and writer, she is active in the field of performance and performing arts. In his works he is inspired by multiple suggestions to create hybrid performances between the performance and the gloomy prose. An artist with multiple expressive resources, she is best known in the off-limits of the Cuban theater with performances such as "El maquinista no leyò el manual del maquinista", "Museologia radical", "Nueve".

May Reguera: photographer. Reguera is an actress, model and photographer, with a creative spirit of innovative iconographic power. He has many personal exhibitions, his photographs shape a style with strong colors, a language that has allowed him to collaborate with designers such as Vargas, Guevara, Pavel and Guido, and with Mayvuc Delgado who has curated his latest exhibitions.

Morena Son: Cuban music ensemble. The feminine weekly Morena Son, established in Santiago de Cuba, is today one of the most interesting realities in the field of traditional Cuban music. The ensemble gives life to a very successful musical fusion, as shown by the numerous tours in South America, Italy, England, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and France.

PAUZA: DJ Set. She is the first female duo of Cuban electronic music, born in 2012. The two musicians, Paula Fernández and Zahira Sánchez have several record productions, their style combines the traditional sounds of their native land with the rhythms electronic. After training at the Nacional de Musica Electroacustica Laboratory, they were highly successful in international electronic and house environments

ROMEU CAMERATA Camerata Romeu was founded in 1993, is composed of musicians only and is considered an internationally recognized Cuban excellence. The string orchestra, with a vast repertoire including the greatest European and Cuban composers, is directed by Zenaida Romeu and was founded under the patronage of the Pablo Milanes Foundation.