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Ainadamar
Welsh National Opera, Cardiff
WELSH National Opera has served up a stunning opera telling the life and assassination of Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca in its premiere of Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar.
Ainadamar is a tour de force by director Deborah Colker, with a moving and inspiring combination of song, dance, poetry, onstage projections and beautiful music.
Lorca was murdered in 1936 by fascist nationalists in the early stages of the Spanish civil war in Grenada at Ainadamar — the fountain of tears.
The notion that the stones began to cry to lament Lorca’s death is a motif that echoes throughout the production.
Renowned Spanish actor and director Margarita Xirgu, sung with breathtaking poignancy by Jaquelina Livieri, remembers her friend, Lorca, in a story told partially by flashback.
Xirgu is the central figure around which the production swirls as she prepares to go on stage to play Lorca’s drama about 19th century revolutionary Mariana Pineda, also murdered by a repressive regime in Spain.
Xirgu blames herself for Lorca’s death for failing to persuade the poet to leave Spain at the start of the civil war, and she keeps his memory alive through productions of his play Mariana Pineda.
Lorca himself is sung by mezzo-soprano Hanna Hipp and this is a nod towards Lorca’s homosexuality by the composer.
The Welsh National Opera’s staging — a co-production with Scottish Opera, Detroit Opera and the Metropolitan Opera — is set in a circular space within a beaded curtain which surrounds the action and enables images and words to be displayed.
The creative designers Jon Bausor, Paul Keogan and Tai Rosner deserve praise for their stunning set design which brings the opera to vivid life.
This is Spain on steroids, with the sultry moves of the flamenco dancers providing a sizzling backdrop to the passionate prose of Lorca.
The marriage between the singers with dancers is mesmerising and very moving. When Lorca is shot, the fusillade of bullets is translated into a pulsing motif, driving the music on.
This is a high-class production, with the WNO creative team combining to bring the experience of the Spanish war to life with words, music, singing, dancing and imagery coupled with imaginative scenery.
Star readers will love this portrayal of a leading poet against the backdrop of the fight for socialism and equality of the Spanish civil war.
On tour until November 22. For more information visit wno.org.uk.
