Un zeppelín para Don Quijote / A zeppelin for Don Quixote

By Juan Ágel Vela del Campo

(Article published in the newspaper El País, Madrid, September 28, 2000)


The Liceu in Barcelona will inaugurate its opera season next Saturday with the world premiere of D. Q., Don Quijote en Barcelona, a collaborative creation by the Catalan theater group La Fura dels Baus, Madrid composer José Luis Turina, and Andalusian writer Justo Navarro. At first glance, this announcement might seem like a leap into subjective or virtual reality, but it is not. Something is stirring in Spanish opera, making a proposal of this nature part of everyday reality.
In the 1980s, La Fura dels Baus wrote the Manifesto Canalla. It stated that one of the most effective actions to combat the "culture of money" was to brick up the Liceu. The views from La Fura's factory have since changed dramatically. Indeed, its operatic division has now fully committed itself to the lyrical genre, a path from which there seems to be no return.
It all began in Granada with Atlántida, thanks to the bold programming of Alfredo Aracil, who carried an idea by musicologist Jorge de Persia to its ultimate conclusion. Gérard Mortier was present and invited La Fura to the 1999 Salzburg Festival. The success they achieved with La Damnation de Faust was extraordinary. Between these two milestones, La Fura toured Rome, Cagliari, and other locations with a unique version of The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian. This trilogy has embedded opera deeply into their core. A global premiere was a somewhat outrageous but predictable next step.
The normal process for a new opera involves a commission for the musical score from a composer by a theater, public institution, Ministry of Culture, or similar body. From there, a librettist is chosen, followed by the musical and production teams. La Fura flipped this entire process. They did not wait for any subsidy or official commission to begin their adventure, nor for a call from an artistic director or equivalent figure offering a pre-developed project. They started with a vague idea of creating a futuristic opera, loosely tied to Barcelona, and sought a composer who aligned with their intentions. They leaned toward a melodic line, well-constructed and connected with tradition, rather than a hard-edged aesthetic of musical rupture. José Luis Turina's somewhat conservative model was chosen, though a more radical option with Francisco Guerrero was briefly considered.
The next step was finding a librettist, an even trickier task. Names such as John Berger, Paul Auster, and Justo Navarro surfaced. La Fura opted for Navarro after reading his novel La casa del padre, not for its narrative but for the formal consistency of its rhythmic structure. I had the privilege of attending the first meeting between Turina, Navarro, and La Fura. The flow of ideas was electrifying. The writer took on the role of a creative midfielder with his inventive storytelling. La Fura's members were astonished. "We thought we had imagination", they said at one point, "but after listening to this guy, we'll have to reconsider. He's schooling us".
They embarked on the project, unconcerned about costs. The creative freedom and thrill of the journey compensated them. Shoulder to shoulder, they saw it through to the end.
The Liceu offered them the opening of its second season after the fire, and naturally, they accepted. They've already won the first battle before the curtain rises: tickets for the nine performances have vanished like magic. The return of Josep Caminal to his old leadership position could not have been more triumphant. From the very first production of this new era, some of his passions are being realized: spectacular information via the Internet, an exhibition of stage props in Barcelona after the performances, and, above all, a box office success despite the risks of a world premiere.
Something is changing in Spanish opera when such things begin to happen.