La Conquista
NATIONAL THEATER OF PRAGUE (2005)
CONDUCTOR
Zbyněk Müller
CAST
R. Fisarová, J.Kundlák, I. Kusnjer, J.Kalendovský, J. Březina
PRODUCTION
N. Muni (Stage Director), R. Hofmanová (Choreographer), S. Rieckhoff (Scenery & Clothes), F. Sabotta (Lighting) Richard Cawood (Animatic Design)
This world premiere tells the story of Hernán Cortés and the Spanish conquest through the lens of a contemporary, popular singer in Mexico City of the present, with flashbacks to the historical events. Act One of the production is a fragmentary reality, with moving walls, curtains and platforms creating a cinematic, disorienting environment. Act Two grounds us in a huge temple where human sacrifice is the dominant image. The piece ends with the cataclysm predicted at the very beginning of the opera.
“PRAGUE WITNESSED THE SPLENDID WORLD PREMIERE OF THE CONTEMPORARY OPERA MONTEZUMA. THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO, BY ITALIAN COMPOSER LORENZO FERRERO, LAST NIGHT, PRESENTED AT THE NATIONAL THEATRE IN THE CZECH CAPITAL. IT IS A MEXICAN-SPANISH THEME, WITH AN ITALIAN COMPOSER, AN AMERICAN DIRECTOR (NICHOLAS MUNI), A GERMAN STAGE ARCHITECT (STEFAN RIECKHOFF), A CZECH CHOREOGRAPHER (REGINA HOFMANOVA), THE PRAGUE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA, CZECH AND SLOVAK SINGERS, AND COMMITTED BY THE NATIONAL THEATRE IN PRAGUE.”
— El Universal (March, 2005)
