Gian Carlo Menotti wrote in 1950, at the beginning of the Cold War, “The consul”an opera with the air of a musical (it was presented on Broadway) in which bureaucracy and abuse of power of totalitarian regimes, and in opposition the resistance capacity of any human being. A work that is current in the midst of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.
“I think it is the only opera in which a vaccination certificate is requested in the text. When we were rehearsing it, a rumor came from the audience, they thought we had put it on purpose, but it is part of what Menotti wrote”, he endorses Ruben Schuchmacherin charge of the artistic direction of this production that is presented at the Teatro Colón with performances on Tuesday 10 at 8 pm, and Sunday 8 at 5 pm (tickets from 800 pesos).
“The play it’s not written by the CIA, nor does it have direct references to Soviet Russia. Menotti builds a generic and in no way seeks to do a pro-American work”, explains Szuchmacher, who returns to the Colón after two decades. “I was in the middle of political cancellations, but with the support of Augusto Techera I reached the agreement to make this title,” he adds.
“It is an opera that can attract those who have never seen opera. It is a close and current plot, where there is talk of political persecution. Written in colloquial English, not poetic, simple. Much closer than those operas in Italian, French or German where they talk about princes and sorcerers. It is a work for new audiences, for modernity”, celebrates the artistic director, who worked side by side with justin brown in music direction.
“He is an incredible director, who understands the work like few others and who handles time very well so that the show is what it is. A conjunction that we did not know could happen and that was given by the enormous talent that it has and the coincidence of what we think in artistic terms”, added Szuchmacher about the work of the British.
“In 9 months I put on three different shows. ‘Death of a Salesman’ with Imanol Arias in Spain. I went back and immediately started rehearsing Ibsen, and then Colón. We had to step on the accelerator fully, but luckily the cast was already armed. An Latin American cast with Brazilians and Uruguayans, of a very high quality and very committed to the material, as well as the production”, concluded the director.
by RN
Image gallery
