Belcanto opera after the novel ‘Como un mensajero tuyo’ (1998) by Mayra Montero (1952-). Libretto by Micha Hamel.
Duration: 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Published by Donemus.
Singers
Enrico Caruso, famous opera singer – tenor.
Aida, young Cuban woman – soprano.
Calazán, Aida’s godfather and Lukumi priest – bass-baritone.
Mother of Aida – mezzosoprano.
Cook/Woman – mezzosoprano.
Adolfo Bracale, impresario/Reporter/Participant in the ritual – baritone.
Bruno Zirato, Caruso’s manager and assistant – baritone.
Arturo Cidre/Intruder/Tata/Dark figure/Participant in the ritual – bass.
Orchestra
2221 2211 3perc hp mandolin, synthesizer, celesta, player piano – optional chorus – 10.8.6.5.4.
5-minute fragment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h1sGKp5vxw
Full live registration available through the Nationale Opera https://www.operaballet.nl/contact
or by contacting Micha on this website.
Synopsis
Bruno Zirato, manager of the world-renowned tenor Enrico Caruso, telephones the opera director Adolfo Bracale: Caruso will perform in Havana for 10,000 dollars per evening. At the same time, the Lukumi priest Calazán reads his godchild Aida’s palm. He predicts Caruso’s imminent) death, but says it must be prevented because Caruso’s earthly task has not yet been completed. Upon arrival in Cuba, Caruso tells Bracale that the mafia has been sending him threatening letters. His fears prove well-founded: a bomb explodes during the performance. In the ensuing chaos, Aida, in the company of a local cook, bumps into Caruso and realizes at once that he is the love of her life. She takes him to her mother’s home. Caruso informs Zirato of his whereabouts. Caruso feels miserable, so they turn to Calazán, who says that first Caruso must submit to a ritual to appease the gods, and second, that he will not die in Havana, but in Naples. During their amorous night, Caruso tells Aida that h e feels the end is near; she replies that she wants a child, but not a child that resembles them, because they only encounter bad luck. Meanwhile Calazán prepares the ritual, together with a small group dressed as elephants, in a reference to its African origins; the subject is to be dunked in the lagoon. Underwater, Caruso has a vision of his youth in Naples and realizes how lonely he is as a celebrity. Even after the ritual has been carried out, however, the threats continue, and Caruso is driven to distraction with fear and distrust. Aida’s mother, in the guise of a saint, warns that it is unwise for Caruso and Aida to defy the gods. Aida then calls on her friend Tata, who will help them flee. While Bracale and the cook try to process everything that is going on, Caruso and Aida are attacked. Caruso is beaten up and Aida is abducted to a remote location. After a fearful night, Tata rescues her and returns her to the traumatized Caruso, whom Zirato is on his way to fetch so he can board the boat for New York. There is no way Aida can join him, and torn by grief, she reveals that she is pregnant. Aida’s mother reacts by saying that all this had been foretold. Caruso leaves Havana a nervous wreck. When Aida, left behind, hears Caruso’s voice in the distance, as though it were a ghost, her mother says: if a person dies and still has unfinished business elsewhere, then his spirit will fly to that place.
Creative team
Stage director: Johannes Erath
Conductor: Otto Tausk
Stage design: Katrin Connan
Costumes: Noëlle Blancpain
Lighting design: Bernd Purkrabek
Video: Bibi Abel
Dramaturgy: Klaus Bertisch
Singers
Enrico Caruso: Airam Hernández
Aida: Jeanine De Bique
Calazán: Simon Shibambu
Mother of Aida: Tichina Vaughn
Cook/Woman: Eva Kroon
Adolfo Bracale: Michael Wilmering
Bruno Zirato: Cody Quattlebaum
Arturo Cidre: Gabriel Rollinson
Commissioned by the Nationale Opera for the Opera Forward Festival, in the person of its artistic director, Pierre Audi.
Premiered on the 3th of march 2019, Amsterdam.
