La sonnambula

Long before verismo adopted the theme of feminine infidelity from realist perspectives charged with testosterone - and inclined to exhibitions of resounding high notes for tenors - Bellini addressed what was then a prickly taboo with respect and dramatic delicacy, and an almost dreamlike vocal score. Set in the Swiss Alps, this semiseria opera confronts the people of these idyllic surroundings - idealized by the romantics in Guillaume Tell, La Fille du Régiment or Giselle - with their own meanness, cast into a vacuum of distrust and exclusion due to the treacherous shadow of nasty suspicion. The sleepwalking of the main character is a necessary jolt to awaken everyone from a collective nightmare. At the same time, it provides a decisive moment for a poetic score which would become one of the most long lasting and enduring icons of belcanto.

This new production by Bárbara Lluch, a talented young Spanish director who was based in London for a decade but who has already presented Le cinesi (2017), La casa de Bernarda de Alba (2018) and La del manojo de rosas (2021) in Madrid. From what we can ascertain, this will be La Sonnambula with a lucid touch of modernity and feminism.