The conductor from Gijón returns to Madrid with Amadeo Vives’ well-known zarzuela as part of the Proyecto Zarza initiative, aiming to attract younger audiences.
Bohemios arrives at the Teatro de la Zarzuela this month with Julio César Picos on the podium. The production bears the hallmark of Proyecto Zarza, “an initiative now firmly established for several years with the goal of bringing the zarzuela genre closer to young people,” says the Asturian maestro, who returns to Madrid after conducting El barberillo de Lavapiés at Theater Basel in Switzerland in a successful production directed by Christof Loy. With performances on 20, 21, and 28 February and 1 March, Bohemios is directed by Nicola Beller Carbone in a new production by the Madrid venue that, continues Julio César Picos, “will connect with young audiences thanks to a fresh take in which the text has been updated; we have a new dramaturgy by Nando López that transposes the original story into a modern plot, centred on the concerns and interests of today’s young people. In fact, this version is so current that Nando will publish the production’s text with illustrations by Nicolás Castell (Loqueleo, Santillana Publishing),” explains the maestro.
“On the musical side, we are working with a reduced orchestra made up of members of the Joven Orquesta Nacional de España, the JONDE, which guarantees extraordinary quality and allows us to expand the group of young artists involved in the project, in addition to the 16 singers we selected in last summer’s auditions. It was a very interesting process because in October we held a workshop that helped us get to know each other, work on stage and musical elements, and finalise the casting. It’s a highly committed team that feels very close to the ideas present in the work. Bohemios is one of the great zarzuela classics, and everyone knows its standout number is the ‘Coro de Bohemios’. In this production, that scene becomes the central axis around which the entire work revolves, taking on special prominence.”
One of the production’s unique features is that it does not have an external choir; rather, the same 16 performers rotate roles, acting as soloists in some performances and forming the choir in others. “We have already been rehearsing for several weeks, and together with Nicola Beller Carbone we have formed a harmonious tandem in terms of the vision we share for this beautiful project,” confesses Picos, who is especially enthusiastic about an initiative that has become a great success thanks to “the support of the Teatro de la Zarzuela and especially the work of Fran Prendes at the helm of Proyecto Zarza, whose commitment has been absolute for years. The fact that a public stage opens its doors to give young people a voice is a great achievement, because the Teatro de la Zarzuela belongs to everyone, and that includes these young artists who bring the project to life. It is only fair to give them this space to develop and express themselves,” he concludes.
Among other engagements, the Asturian conductor will soon take the podium at the 33rd edition of the Off Zarzuela Oviedo Festival, organised by the Festival de Teatro Lírico Español.◆