Opening Thursday 26 February 2015, 7.00pm at London Coliseum (8 performances)
Peter Sellars returns to English National Opera following his critically-acclaimed production of John Adams’s The Gospel According To The Other Mary to direct Purcell’s The Indian Queen.
A co-production with Perm State Opera and Teatro Real, Madrid, The Indian Queen has opened to great critical acclaim with audiences in Russia and Spain, “…one of the best theatrical operas in recent years” (El Pais). Sellars takes Purcell’s rich score and incorporates some of the composer’s most ravishing sacred and secular pieces, adding vibrant set designs from Chicano graffiti artist Gronk and choreography by Christopher Williams.
Woven throughout the production is spoken text taken from Rosario Aguilar’s novel The Lost Chronicles of Terra Firma, which recounts the initial confrontation between Europeans and the Mayans of the New World through a personal account from a female perspective. The result is a spectacle of music, theatre, dance, literature and visual art.
The Other Mary and The Indian Queen have a shared theme of retelling history recorded by men through the eyes of women – bringing out the humanity of the work and giving a voice to individuals who, over time, have been erased from history.
Opera and theatre director and winner of 2014 Polar Music Prize (often called the ‘Nobel Prize for Music’), Peter Sellars is one of the most innovative and powerful forces in the performing arts in the world. A visionary artist, Sellars is known for engaging with social and political issues through art. Sellars is Professor of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), where he teaches Art as Social Action and Art as Moral Action. The Indian Queen marks the culmination of Peter Sellars’ five-month residency at ENO.
Chicano painter, printmaker and performance artist Glugio Nicandro (known as ‘Gronk’) has designed the set for this production. Best known for his murals, Gronk’s abstract and vibrant set design comprises large, colourful panels that take inspiration from ancient Mayan art.
Baroque specialist Laurence Cummings leads an exceptional cast and the ENO chorus to conduct The Indian Queen. Cummings is Artistic Director of London Handel Festival and Internationale Händel-Festpiele Göttingen. Cummings returns to ENO following his production of Radamisto in 2010 of which The Independent on Sunday remarked, “Lawrence Cummings whips the orchestra into a frenzy of dancing semiquavers and sexily-swung French trills”.
Completing the creative team is costume designer Dunya Ramicova and lighting designer James F. Ingalls.
Young American soprano Julia Bullock makes her ENO debut taking the role of Teculihuatzin, a role she sang at Teatro Real, Madrid in 2013 to great critical acclaim – “The star of this Indian Queen was American soprano Julia Bullock” (Opera News). Winner of the 2014 Naumburg International Vocal Competition, Bullock is currently in her final year of the artist diploma programme at The Juilliard School, New York.
Taking the role of Don Pedro de Alvardo, the Spaniard who falls in love with and eventually rejects Teculihuatzin, is American tenor Noah Stewart. Bachtrack said of Stewart and Bullock’s partnership in the original 2013 Madrid production, “a [performance]…that bursts with chemistry, sensuality and sexuality.”
Stewart is the first black artist to reach Number 1 in the UK Classical Music Charts (a position he reached with his 2012 debut solo album Noah). This role marks Stewart’s ENO debut. During April 2015, Stewart will embark on a seven date UK solo concert tour.
Leading British soprano Lucy Crowe sings the role of Doña Isabel. Crowe last appeared at ENO in the 2013 revival of The Barber of Seville, where she sang the role of Rosina in a performance described as “glorious” by The Observer.
Making his ENO debut, South Korean countertenor Vince Yi takes the role of Hunahpú. A former participant of San Francisco Opera’s prestigious Merola Programme, Yi has sung the roles of Idamante in Mozart’s Idomeneo and the lead in Handel’s Giulio Cesare as part of his time at San Francisco Opera.
American countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo plays the part of Ixbalanqué. Costanzo has recently sung the role of Prince Orlofsky inDie Fledermaus at The Metropolitan Opera, New York and made his European debut playing the role of Eustazio in Glyndebourne’s production of Rinaldo.
Completing the cast is British tenor Thomas Walker, playing the role of Don Pedrarias Dávila, and South African baritone Luthando Qave, playing the role of Sacerdote Maya.
The Indian Queen opens at the London Coliseum on 26 February 2015 for 8 performances – 26 February, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12 March at 7.00pm, 28 February at 6.00pm and 14 March at 3.00pm
Pre-performance talk: Monday 2 March, 5-5.45pm, £5/£2.50 concs