Andorran Director Joan Anton Rechi Premieres Grief-Focused Sorrow at Oviedo Opera
Andorran director Joan Anton Rechi's innovative production unites Mahler's songs of child loss with Puccini's opera on maternal grief, creating a seamless story of memory, mourning, and hope at Teatro Campoamor.
Key Points
- Joan Anton Rechi's Sorrow fuses Mahler's Kindertotenlieder with Puccini's Suor Angelica into one narrative on loss and hope.
- Premiered at Teatro Campoamor, launching Ópera de Oviedo's 79th season.
- Features Jacques Imbrailo, Beatriz Díaz, Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias.
- Additional performances on September 13, 16, and 19.
Andorran stage director Joan Anton Rechi premiered his production Sorrow on Thursday at Oviedo's Teatro Campoamor, launching the venue's 79th lyrical season with the Ópera de Oviedo.
The work merges Gustav Mahler's Kindertotenlieder—songs inspired by Friedrich Rückert's poems on the loss of children—with Giacomo Puccini's opera Suor Angelica. Both pieces centre on parental grief, mourning and the quest for consolation. Rechi's approach rejects the standard double-bill structure, creating a unified theatrical journey where Mahler's realm gradually evolves into Puccini's story. The staging forges dramatic links between the characters and settings of the two compositions, weaving them into one narrative that emphasises motherhood, absence, memory and the potential to transform suffering.
"It is not just about death," Rechi has explained. "It is mainly about how we continue living after loss; about memory and the need to find a glimmer of hope even in the darkest moments."
Diego Martin-Etxebarria leads the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias. Jacques Imbrailo sings the Kindertotenlieder, with Asturian soprano Beatriz Díaz in the title role of Suor Angelica, supported by Ana Ibarra, María Heres, Anna Tobella, Marina Pardo and Montserrat Seró.
The design team comprises Sebastian Ellrich (sets and video), Gabriela Salaverri (costumes), Alberto Rodríguez (lighting) and Mar Gómez (choreography). Performers also include the Coro Titular de la Ópera de Oviedo – Coro Intermezzo and the Coro Infantil de la Escuela de Música Divertimento.
Further shows are scheduled at the Teatro Campoamor on September 13, 16 and 19.
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