The Catalan Opera Foundation travels to Estonia at the invitation of the Saaremaa Festival

BarcelonaFundació Ópera Catalunya (FOC) will make the dream of five summer nights in Estonia come true this July. Saaremaa Opera Festival chose FOC as guest company. The challenge is no less: he will have to give “five performances in five days” and transport “about 150 people,” as explained by Oscar Lanuza, general director of the company promoted by the Friends of the Sabadell Opera and Symphony Orchestra. From Valis. From July 22 to 27, they will perform an opera by Puccini. Manon Lescout I Tosca; One of Verdi's Troubadour; Concert and ballet show Carmen. For the Olympic Committee, which maintains a touring season in Catalonia, “the main job is not to go out”, as it works mainly for the Catalan public, but performing in Estonia is “a great milestone”. “It involves recognizing and trusting a job well done,” Lanuza emphasizes.

Every year the Saaremaa Festival invites a company or opera house capable of presenting different productions, such as FOC. “We were used to making roads,” Lanuza recalls. For example, on April 17, offers Turandot, which can also be seen until May 10 in Tarragona, Barcelona, ​​Vic, Manresa, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Granollers, Villadecanes, Reus and Girona. “It is true that we are used to taking shows to different theatres, but we have not yet faced the challenge of the dimensions of a trip to Estonia,” he admits. In any case, the specificity of the FOC fits perfectly with what the Saaremaa Festival asks of the invited companies, which once found there a large summer hall seating two thousand people, “similar to the Peralada Festival but covered”, due to the weather conditions in Estonia. In July they are not like those in Empordà in August.

Offers are selected with artistic judgment and responsibility. Manon Lescout It's the production they just did in the Catalunya Opera Circuit season, Troubadour They did that last season and Tosca It is a renovation that they will restore in 2024-2025. Regarding the “free version” of Carmen, is a newly created show with the Flamenco Ballet of Barcelona, ​​and they will also take it to another Estonian city, Tartu, which this year is one of the European Cities of Culture. Finally, the concert will combine Catalan and Estonian sounds with a collection of “great international hits” and “Catalan works”.

The trip to Saaremaa is also a good time for the FOC and the consistency with which it supports young singers. Just remember the names that have passed through the FOC in recent years: Carles Pachon, Sara Blanche, Serena Sainz… “We are like an opera quarry,” says Lanuza.