Àngel Òdena returns to the Liceu with 'La Gioconda'

BarcelonaThe baritone Àngel Òdena is one of the members of the cast of The Mona LisaThe opera by Amilcare Ponchielli, with a libretto by Arrigo Boito, can be seen at the Gran Teatre del Liceu until March 2nd. The Tarragona native returned to the Liceu stage this past Monday after three years, when he participated in The Troubadour, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of his debut at the Barcelona theater.

Òdena embodies Barnaba, one of the most villainous characters in all of operatic literature, with his celebrated monologue The monument, and alternates in the role with the Italian Gabriele Vivani.The Mona Lisa It is the only Italian opera, along with Mephistopheles, by Boito himself, not written by Verdi, which remains in the repertoire of scores created in the period between the premiere of Don Pasquale Donizetti's opera (1843) and the emergence of the Giovane Scuola, comprised of Puccini and the verismo singers.

Òdena is joined by some of today's most beloved opera stars: in the title role of the courtesan Gioconda, Saioa Hernández and Ekaterina Semenchuk, who makes her debut in this role. The effusive Enzo Grimaldo, premiered by the legendary Julián Gayarre, is sung by Michael Fabiano and Martin Muehle, while Laura Adorno is portrayed by Ksenia Dudnikova and Varduhi Abrahamyan, who will duet with Alvise, sung by John Relyea and Alexander Köpeczi.