(Above: tenors Manuel de Diego, Juan Antonio Sanabria, and soprano Sandra Pastrana)
Tonight Teatro de la Maestranza de Sevilla is serving-up the opening night of Joseph Haydn's rare opera buffa from 1768, Lo Speziale. The ensemble offstage is petite, consisting of two flutes, two oboes, two horns, a bassoon, and strings. The modest cast follows with two tenors, one soprano, and a mezzo.
(Above: tenor Manuel de Diego and soprano Sandra Pastrana)
Patrick Mailler's production has costumes that turn singers into little dolls and stuffed animals with a seriously gothic flavor. The All-Spanish cast is led by tenor Manuel de Diego as Mengone, soprano Sandra Pastrana as Grilletta, tenor Juan Antonio Sanabria as Sempronio, and mezzo Angélica Mansilla as the pants role Volpino. This looks all kinds of awesome. And we're total suckers for ~the pants~.
(Above: Soprano Sandra Pastrana and Mezzo Angélica Mansilla)
(Above: Soprano Sandra Pastrana)
(Above: Soprano Sandra Pastrana and Mezzo Angélica Mansilla)