De vernuftige edelman
DON QUICHOT VAN LA MANCHA

| opera |
Libretto and stage direction by Stefano Simone Pintor


"Pintor shows with this opera his enormous
talent, erudition, drive and versatility"
Marjan Terpstra, Theaterkrant, 23.01.2023

OPERA2DAY in collaboration with
NEW EUROPEAN ENSEMBLE & LA FONTE MUSICA

De vernuftige edelman
DON QUICHOT VAN LA MANCHA

Music Vanni Moretto
Concept and libretto Stefano Simone Pintor

ARTISTIC TEAM
Musical direction Hernán Schvartzman
Stage direction Stefano Simone Pintor
Set design Herbert Janse
Costume design Mirjam Pater
Make up design Nienke Algra
Lighting design Uri Rapaport
Video design and technical production Ronald Tebra
Sound design Arne Bock

Orchestra New European Ensemble & La Fonte Musica

CAST
Mr. Benengeli / Don Quichot Mattijs van de Woerd
Miguel / Sancho Panza Manuel Nuñez Camelino
Mr. Freestone / Friston the Sorcerer Jeremiah Fleming
Dalisay / Dulcinea & others Alena Dantcheva
Antonia / The Nun & others Michaela Riener
Samson / The Knight of the White Moon & others Max Bruins / Carlos Negrín López
Nicola / The Hot Dog Vendor & others Massimo Altieri
A man Samar Qahtan
Employees / Passers-by & others Extras

TOUR
The opera will be staged between January and March 2023 in theatres throughout the Netherlands.

ABSTRACT
OPERA2DAY and the New European Ensemble take you on a journey to the many realities of The ingenious gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha. This is a brand-new opera based on the well-known Spanish novel by Cervantes with new music including a main role for medieval music from various countries and cultures. This production is the adventurous sequel to the ‘new baroque opera’ Vivaldi – Dangerous Liaisons, which received very positive reviews during its sold-out tour.

The early 17th-century novel The ingenious gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes is widely known as the best literary work of all times. In this novel, Don Quixote – a wealthy Spaniard with Arabic blood – aims to live a life without monotony. He is looking for major adventures, but the world around him does not seem to understand him. This novel is still surprisingly relevant today and its message is still mesmerizing – even after more than 400 years: live a meaningful life & make your dreams come true!

In this performance, Don Quixote is the wealthy owner of an international holding with employees from all corners of the world. He is rich, but his life is monotonous and meaningless. Looking for a more meaningful existence, he is daydreaming about bygone times. The boundaries between reality and the imagination are blurred. He thinks of himself as a knight and sees the people around him as servants, noble ladies and magicians. Everyone involved becomes tangled up in a life story that is both miraculous and touching.

For this production, the New European Ensemble works together with the Italian La Fonte Musica, which specializes in medieval music. In this joint project, they turn the universe of Don Quichote into sound. Composer Vanni Moretto weaves in enchanting compositions from the Middle Ages into his score for Don Quichote’s medieval fantasies. Stefano Simone Pintor created the concept and the libretto. Both were previously part of the team that produced the highly successful ‘new baroque opera’ Vivaldi – Dangerous Liaisons. “This combination of historicising and innovative opera practice can’t be cheered on loud enough” said a rave review in Dutch national newspaper De Volkskrant. Pintor is now also the director.

With Don Quichote, OPERA2DAY once again puts a main character from the early 17th century into the spotlights – similar to their previous operas l’Orfeo, Don Giovanni and Hamlet.

PRESS ROOM

The staging and direction have also been widely praised as "a feast for the eyes", in which "office chairs turn into horses, a giant club sandwich into a bed and an island, and the archives and bookcases [that] turn out to be full of secrets". [...] It is "a matter of choices", and in the process "inevitably chips fall", but "Pintor shows with this opera his enormous talent, erudition, drive and versatility".

Marjan Terpstra
Theaterkrant, 23.01.2023 

All reviewers reflect on the set-up of the play and the libretto. "The ambition is great" writes NRC Handelsblad. Librettist and director Stefano Simone Pintor wants to capture the original conception and thrust of Cervantes' 1,000-page book in this performance, and does so "faithfully [...] though he gives it a slight twist" according to Basia Con Fuoco. "The ingenuity of the performance lies in the Droste effect: the story of Don Quixote is a story about the writer" according to the Volkskrant.

Various authors
NRC, Basia Con Fuoco, Volkskrant, 01.2023 

"The new opera about the imaginative nobleman" delivers "a grand spectacle" that is "very pleasantly complex" due to its layering and richness of ideas, according to De Groene Amsterdammer. In the process, the story is set in our own time, "illustrating perceived values as relevant today as in the time of Cervantes" according to Arts Talk Magazine. 'Don Quixote's knightly fantasies collide in new opera with stock market machismo' is how
NRC sums it up in its headline. "Human fantasy [in the process] succumbs to modern reality" is how Opus Classical describes a crucial scene just before the end. "But there is The Reader again [...] opening a new book" according to De Groene. "Don Quixote is dead, long live Don Quixote".

Various authors
De Groene Amsterdammer, Arts Talk Magazine, NRC, Opus Classical, 01.2023
Artist Manager

Ouverture | Samatha Carbone
+386 40 889 366
+39 393 170 9666
info@ouverture.net
www.ouverture.net

Press Office

Nicoletta Tassan Solet
nicoletta.tassan@gmail.com

Personal Contacts

Stefano Simone Pintor
+39 348 3675336
stefano.pintor@gmail.com
www.stefanosimonepintor.com
www.socialoperahouse.com

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