D.Q. (Don Quijote en Barcelona) / D.Q. (Don Quixote in Barcelona)

Selection of the Opera in three acts with a libretto by Justo Navarro, based on a scenic conception of La Fura dels Baus


Commentary
Reviews

Commentary

On the occasion of the commemoration of the IV centenary of the publication of Don Quixote, in 2004 I was commissioned by the National Orchestra of Spain to do a selection of my opera D. Q. (Don Quixote in Barcelona), for its performance in a concert version in one of the two extraordinary concerts that were held for that reason in April 2005.
This selection, about 45 minutes long, included the following fragments from each of the three acts of the opera:

Act I.- 1st Scene (Auctioneer and auction assistants: "Señoras y señores, mesdames, messieurs")
3rd Scene (Aria of the books: "Tengo 362.875 libros")
4th Scene (Pasamonte's Aria: "Yo sé bien lo que es un Don Quijote")
6th Scene (Scherzo: "Attenti, per piacere, achtung, achtung")
7th Scene (Choir: "No es esto lo que busco")
8th Scene (Duo of Don Quixote and Pasamonte: "Me descuelgo en lo hondo, me empozo, me traga el abismo")

Act II.- 1st Scene (Choir: "Bienvenidos y bienvenidas")
2nd Scene (Trifaldi Sister's Duo: "Yo no he leído Don Quijte")
7th Scene (Choir: "Es un monstruo que tiene cara de comedor de lentejas los viernes")
8th Scene (Trifaldi Sister's Duo: "Es un héroe, mis queridos invitados")
12th Scene (Don Quixote's Aria: "Este jardín sabe a cárcel")

Act III.- 2nd Scene (Pasamonte and Conferees: "Mi Golem adivino, Homúnculo de Praga"
3rd Scene (Don Quixote, Pasamonte and Conferees: "Yo preguntaría, si todo lo adivina este Golem de Praga")
Final (Auctioneer, Don Quixote and Choir: "¡Protéjanse del tiempo amargo y dulce!")

The selection, together with that of Don Quichotte by Jules Massenet, was performed for the first time on April 30, 2005 in the Symphony Hall of the National Music Auditorium in Madrid, by the soloists and the National Orchestra and Choir of Spain, conducted by José Ramón Encinar.

Reviews

José Luis Turina. The gentleman and time
By Carlos Gómez Amat
(Review published in the nespaper El Mundo. Madrid, May 2, 2005)

[…]
In the second concert we were able to listen to a selection of the opera Don Quixote in Barcelona, by José Luis Turina, based on an original libretto by Justo Navarro. This Quixote is not the one of the heroic defeat on the beach, with the real heroism of the vanquished and the consequent withdrawal, but rather a great fantasy upon fantasies that our composer presents very well.
The dream, the implausibility and the reality are dosed. But above all there is a great game about time, that enemy that always defeats us. Turina shows, in his difficult work, both the undoubted mastery of technique and the richness of his imagination. The orchestra is powerful; the chorus, complex; the singers overcome obstacles, and the tonality comes and goes in the course of time, like a series of apparitions. Great opera in the modern concept of the genre -about which there would be a lot to talk about- that we would like to see performed in Madrid, since only the people of Barcelona have enjoyed the scene.
That suite or selection was presented to us as an absolute premiere. José Ramón Encinar knows today's languages like no one else, the true contemporaries and what we continue to call contemporaries, from a century ago. The performers, excellent. The versatile Pilar Jurado, the sensitive and successful María José Suárez, Flavio Oliver, a top-class sopranist, plus Francesc Garrigosa, who gallantly tackles his long role, plus Alfredo García and Jerónimo Marín López. The work of Lorenzo Ramos in front of the choir must be qualified with the highest grade. Ovation for all, including the author.
[…]



DON QUIXOTE ON FOOT
By Alberto González Lapuente
(Review published in the nespaper ABC. Madrid, May 7, 2005)

[…]
Because the interest of the concert had to focus on the work of Turina, since it was the first time that something of this score had been heard in Madrid, premiered at the Liceo de Barcelona with a visual realization of La Fura dels Baus. And, thus, the goodness of a work that plays with the realization of Cervantes was guessed; that parodies genre, plot and action with music of unwavering solidity, and that when performed in concert it overwhelms with its orchestral dimension. But, is it the author's wish that the voices be subsumed in the instrumental maelstrom as if it were an imitation of the great Strauss? The fact is that, as it has been presented, "D. Q." cries out to return to the pit, get rid of unnecessary companions, and make himself understood with the mere flaunting of his ingenious intelligence.