The lament of 'La Gioconda' in the Venetian darkness returns to the Liceu

BarcelonaThe Mona LisaOne of the great operatic dramas about loneliness returns to the Liceu, where it has been performed more than 150 times since 1883. The most recent performances, in 2019, were a revival of the production that Pier Luigi Pizzi had already directed at the Rambla theater in 2005. Seven years ago, it was completed an explosive triumph for soprano Anna Pirozzi and tenor Brian Jagde as Gioconda and Enzo, respectively. Now, the same roles will be performed by Madrid native Saioa Hernández and American Michael Fabiano in a co-production of the Liceu and the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, directed by Frenchman Romain Gilbert, which premiered in the Italian city in 2024 with singers Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kauf. Ten performances will be held in Barcelona from February 17 to March 2, and an eleventh performance for audiences under 35 on February 16.

"It's one of the most demanding roles for a dramatic soprano voice," says Saioa Hernández about Gioconda, a street singer around whom a web of misfortunes, heartbreak, and extortion unfolds. As a backdrop, a shadowy Venice, dominated in the 17th century by spies in the service of the Inquisition like Barnaba, the sinister character who embodies the darkness of a story that begins in the midst of Carnival, precisely the time when it is being performed at the Liceu. "The Venetians spent six months praying for forgiveness for the excesses committed during Carnival," says Gilbert, who respects the historical setting of Arrigo Boito's libretto. "I didn't consider detaching it from Venice or bringing it to the present day. It hadn't been performed in Naples for 45 years, and I didn't want to do anything radical," adds the stage director. However, it is a Venice that moves between "light and darkness" and has nothing to do with the postcard image. "We have created a kind of tableau, with two levels: the architecture on the upper level, and the gloomier, muddy part on the lower," he describes.

The soprano's experience

"I feel very fortunate. It's my favorite opera along with Macbeth“Saioa Hernández, who is taking on her sixth Gioconda in a production that, in her opinion, “makes it very easy to get into character,” says Hernández. It’s a character that must be interpreted with “very careful control” to arrive at the fourth act in peak form, when the score demands that she unleash her full potential. Suicide!, the star aria in which later verismo emerges. "It will be a great musical marathon," promises Israeli conductor Daniel Oren, who returns to the Liceu seven years after conducting there. Hamletby Ambroise Thomas, in concert version"I've found the Liceu Orchestra to be of a very high caliber. In seven years, it has taken a giant leap forward, with substantial improvements and young musicians who weren't there before. And the same goes for its heart," says Oren, praising, without mentioning him by name, the work done by Josep Pons as the theater's music director.

Oren also lavishes praise on Romain Gilbert's stage direction because "he has put himself at the service of the music, and that's important for a conductor." And even more so in a work like The Mona Lisa –"with wonderful moments like the Dance of the Hours"A jewel full of magic," with many contrasts and dense instrumentation, with characteristics of great French opera and a huge heart. "You have to find the balance and pay close attention so as not to drown out the voices, which is something I hate," says Oren, whose mission is "to roll out the red carpet for them to shine."

To bring Ponchielli's four acts to life, and in addition to the work of choreographer Vincent Chaillet, there will be two casts of singers. "We have two very important casts and all the tools to make a great production." Mona Lisa"Promises Daniel Oren. In the first, in addition to Saioa Hernández and Michael Fabiano, there are singers quite well known at the Liceu, such as the Italian baritone Gabriele Viviani (Barnaba), the Canadian bass John Relyea (Alvise), the Uzbek mezzo-soprano Ksenia Dudnikova (Laura), and the one who has sung all three female roles in this opera: Gioconda, Laura, and now Cieca, Gioconda's mother, whom Barbana wants to accuse of witchcraft when the singer rejects him. Òdena (Barnaba), the Hungarian-Romanian Alexander Köpeczi (Alvise), the Armenian Varduhi Abrahamyan (Laura), and the Hungarian Anna Kissjudit (Cieca). cast, and the Italian Alessandro Vandin, in the second, share different roles, and in all the performances the Italian tenor Roberto Covatta (Isèpo) and the baritone from Empordà Guillem Batllori (Zuane) sing.