The eve of Sant Jordi, FOC (Fundació Òpera Catalunya) brought the 2025-26 season to a close with a new production of La traviata, an opera that the Sabadell-based entity has staged on several occasions throughout its long career. And I take this opportunity to suggest that FOC create a virtual consultation source listing the titles and casts programmed since 1982.On this occasion, Verdi's opera has a double cast, although it could end up being triple if Maria Miró, initially scheduled as one of the announced Violettas – the other is Montserrat Seró – joins the scheduled performances in and out of Sabadell, after a vocal ailment has kept her away. At the premiere performance, the leading soprano was Tina Gorina. The singer from Sant Feliu de Guíxols, who had already sung the title role in Valencia, displayed sensational musicality, especially in a brilliant second act with unforgettable moments, such as the way she articulated the phrase “Dite alla giovine, si bella e pura”.Good material, too, from the Mallorcan tenor Antoni Lliteres, a devoted Alfredo, with the cabaletta included in the second act after resolving with conviction and firmness De miei bollenti spiriti.For his part, baritone Luis Cansino showed excellent taste in phrasing and in the use of dynamics in his duet with Violetta and the subsequent aria (and also cabaletta) before Alfredo. His voice is uneven, but Cansino knows his stuff and made good use of the basic material.Good material also from the pit, with a brilliant Symphony of Vallès and with brilliant moments (also the Cor d’Amics de l’Òpera), although the direction of Andrés Salado did not always get it right in the concertation and with some false entry that occasionally misled the performers on stage.Carles Ortiz is a veteran director, who knows how to stage very well and who has the complicity of the spatial conception of Jordi Galobart and the movement of Jaume Sangrà. In this case, at the service of a very well-known title about which practically everything has already been said. However, the idea of ​​transferring the original action of the opera (1840s) to the glamour of high society in 1950 not only keeps the spirit of the original plot alive and current, but also helps to emphasize the loneliness of the protagonist. A complete success.After the tour that took the show to Manresa, Vic, Reus, Viladecans, Cornellà, Lleida, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Granollers, Girona, Tarragona and Barcelona, FOC is already warming up for a new season, with works such as L’elisir d’amore, the duo Cavalleria rusticana / Pagliacci, Cançó d’amor i de guerra and Aida. Two of these titles, by the way, also present next season at the Liceu... couldn't they agree?

Le nozze di Figaro It is one of the most difficult operas in the repertoire. And, despite its apparent lightness, it cannot be taken lightly (excuse the redundancy). Sabadell is well known, because it is a title programmed on several occasions by the Friends of the Opera, now under the auspices of the FOC (Catalan Opera Foundation)But on this occasion, it cannot be said that the marriage between the Mozartian title that opens the Da Ponte trilogy and the Vallesan entity has fully worked.

The great challenge of the 2025-2026 season of the Fundació Òpera Catalunya (FOC) is The Flying Dutchman, by Richard Wagner. Among other things, because it is the first time that a Wagnerian opera has been programmed in the 38 editions of the cycle. "It is the pearl of the season, the most ambitious project," admits Jordi Torrents, artistic director of the FOC. Wagner's first great romantic opera will be performed six times, from November 28 to December 9, at the Teatro la Farándula in Sabadell, the Teatro Fortuny in Reus, the Palacio de la Música in Barcelona, and L'Atlàntida in Vic. This production of The Flying Dutchman The stage direction is by Emilio López, and Josep Planells Schiaffino will conduct the Vallès Symphony Orchestra, the Friends of the Sabadell Opera Choir, and the Bruckner Barcelona Choir. The cast includes soprano Maribel Ortega, one of the most faithful voices to the FOC's programming, as Senta, and baritone José Antonio López takes on the role of the Dutchman. The cast is completed by José Ansaldi (Erik), Carlo Colombara (Daland), Elisabeth Gillming (Mary), and Jorge Juan Morata (Steurmann).

Mirna Lacambra can rest easy, because those currently in charge of her successor at the Catalan Opera Foundation assure her of a promising future. This new production of Carmen which closes the season and has been excellent in every sense. Starting with the stage show, by Rita Cosentino, which neither strays from clichés nor breaks the mold, setting Bizet's tragedy in 1940s Spain. And with the image of Don José's execution in the opera's prelude, evoking Mérimée's novel that inspired the score. All of this is framed within an efficiently functional stage space, designed by Jordi Galobart, as a hemicycle. Something resonates in Calixto Bieito's magnificent staging, without falling into sterile plagiarism. The narrative realism (reinforced by Gabriela Hilario's costumes) is counterpointed by a resolute choreography by Aarón Martín, which also avoids the commonplaces associated with this masterpiece of French opera.

Mirna Lacambra can rest easy, because those currently in charge of her successor at the Catalan Opera Foundation assure her of a promising future. This new production of Carmen which closes the season and has been excellent in every sense. Starting with the stage show by Rita Cosentino, which neither strays from clichés nor breaks the mold, setting Bizet's tragedy in 1940s Spain. And with the image of Don José's execution in the opera's prelude, evoking Mérimée's novel that inspired the score. All of this is framed within an efficiently functional stage space designed by Jordi Galobart, reminiscent of a hemicycle. Something resonates in Calixto Bieito's magnificent staging, without falling into sterile plagiarism. The narrative realism (reinforced by Gabriela Hilario's costumes) is counterpointed by Aarón Martín's resolute choreography, which also eschews the commonplaces associated with this masterpiece of French opera.