Raquel García-Tomás, the second woman to premiere an opera at the Gran Teatre del Liceu
A few days before receiving the 2020 National Music Award, Raquel García-Tomás was selected by the BBVA Foundation Leonardo Scholarship to write the opera Alexina B. which will premiere on March 18 at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.
The opera is inspired by the story of Herculine Barbin, also called Alexina B., an intersex person born in 1838. Assigning her the female sex at birth, during her time as a governess she falls in love with Sara and the romance pushes her to vindicate herself as a man. He then begins his fight and after several confessions before the religious authorities and multiple medical examinations, she is officially recognized as a man, changing his identity to that of Abel Barbin. But that change does not bring him happiness and Abel Barbin ends up committing suicide, alone.
Her compiled memories, Mes Souvenirs, is the basis for the Alexina B. libretto signed by Irène Gayraud, an opera in three acts built simultaneously with Raquel García-Tomás and Marta Pazos, where the creative process of the three women includes, in addition to the composition and stage direction, the conception of the script and the video creation, building a show in which disciplinary barriers are diluted.
Raquel García-Tomás, who had already collaborated with Marta Pazos on Je suis narcissiste (2019) premiered at Teatro Español in Madrid within the Teatro Real program, will be the second woman to premiere an opera at the Liceu in its 175 years of existence and the first time that the main character of an opera in the whole world is an intersex person.
Alexina B.
World premiere of the opera by Raquel García-Tomás with stage direction by Marta Pazos
Libretto: Irène Gayraud, inspired by the memoirs of Hérculine Barbin (also known as Alexina B.), Mes Souvenirs (France, 1868).
March 18, 21, 22 at 19h, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona
Creatives
Stage direction Marta Pazos
Scenography Max Glaenzel
Costume Design Silvia Delagneau
Lighting Nuno Meira
Choreography Maria Cabeza de Vaca
Video Raquel García-Tomás
Sound Sixto Cámara
Production Gran Teatre del Liceu
Cast
ALEXINA BARBIN / ABEL BARBIN Lidia Vinyes-Curtis
SARA Alice Love
THE POLICEMAN / MADAME P. / ALEXINA’S MOTHER / SISTER MARIE DES ANGES Elena Copons
DOCTOR GOUJON / THE DOCTOR / DOCTOR H. / THE ABbot / MONSIGNOR / THE JUDGE Xavier Sabata
ALEXINA YOUNG / LÉA / PUPIL OF THE CONVENT / STUDENT OF THE BOARDING SCHOOL Mar Esteve
CONVENT PUPILS / BOARDING SCHOOL STUDENTS Choir Vivaldi-Petits Cantors of Catalonia
Conductor of Cor Vivaldi-Petits Cantors of Catalonia Òscar Boada
Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu
Conducted by Ernest Martínez Izquierdo
Project carried out with the Leonardo Scholarship for Cultural Researchers and Creators 2020 from the BBVA Foundation
Approximate duration 2 h / Original language: French
