PICK OF THE WEEK: Andorra (Pyrenees)
Main places:
Andorra la Vella, Escaldes-Engordany, San Julia de Loria, La Massana, Ordino, Encamp, Canillo, Pas de la Casa
PICK OF THE WEEK
15th – 21st January 2018
OPERA
Rigoletto: Tuesday, 16th January at 20.15h at Cinemes Illa Carlemany, Escaldes-Egordany. Opera direct from Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. Giuseppe Verdi’s potent and tragic opera, Rigoletto. Acclaimed production directed by David McVicar, conducted by Alexander Joel and starring: MICHAEL FABIANO as Duke of Mantua; Dimitri Platanias as Rigoletto and LUCY CROWE as Gilda.
(The production lasts 2h 50m and has brief nudity and scenes of a sexual nature.) The Story: Rigoletto, court jester to the libertine Duke of Mantua, is cursed by the father of one of the Duke’s victims for his irreverent laughter. When the Duke seduces Rigoletto’s daughter Gilda, it seems the curse is taking effect… Rigoletto arranges to have the Duke assassinated. But Gilda still loves the womanizing Duke and sacrifices herself in his place. Rigoletto eagerly uncovers the corpse only to find instead his fatally wounded daughter, who dies in his arms. About the opera. David McVicar’s production highlights the cruelty at the heart of the court of Mantua. Richly dressed courtiers engage in orgies and revelries to Verdi’s heady, spirited dances. The opera’s many musical highlights include the ebullient ‘La donna è mobile’, in which the Duke boasts of his disregard for women; Gilda’s exquisite, plangent duets with Rigoletto and the Duke; and the gorgeous Act III quartet that beautifully weaves the voices together as the story quickens to its shattering conclusion.
MUSIC
ONCA – Concert Integral Simfonies Mendelssohn II. Saturday, 20th January at 20.30h at the Teatre Comunal, Andorra la Vella. (Free) Participants: Orquestra Nacional Clàssica d’Andorra. Director: Gerard Claret, Narrator: Aina Clotet, Choice of texts: Joan Hernández. Texts and symphonies come together in this concert by the ONCA. The Catalan actress, Aina Clotet, will give voice to Fanny Mendelssohn, the sister of the great composer, and through her, we will reflect on the role of creative women in the 19th century. A letter addressed by Felix to his father, Abraham Mendelssohn, will introduce the first piece of music, Symphony No. 4 in C minor. Next, the character will remember her childhood, the women of her family and the influence they had on her, followed immediately by the Symphony No. 6 in E flat major. A text by Jean-Jacques Rousseau will put us in touch with the reality of the times and the duality of the position of the woman-artist, and will come after the Symphony No. 12 in G minor, and with statements by her brother Felix, that Fanny will definitely have to face the social reality imposed on her and subsume her condition as a creator to her condition as a woman. The Symphony No. 8 in D major will end the concert.
DANCE
An Evening of Ballroom Dancing to live music by Xarop de Nit
Saturday, 20th January at 23h at the Prat del Roure, Escaldes-Engordany. (7€ or free for members of the organising association, Balland.)
FESTIVALS OF SANT ANTONI (17th January.)
LA MASSANA: Wednesday, 17th January starting at 11h at the Capella de Sant Antoni de la Grella. (Free) 11h Mass at the little chapel of Sant Antoni just below the road up to the Sant Antoni Tunnel. (There will be big lines of cars parked at the side of the road.) 12h Encants charity auction of meats and cakes in the Plaça de les Fontetes followed at 13h by Escudella of Sant Antoni, a magnificent stew as described in last week’s update. Don’t for get to either bring a bowl and spoon or else buy this year’s attractive commemorative soup bowl available on site.
ESCALDES-ENGORDANY. Wednesday, 17th January at 13h in the Plaça dels Dos Valires, Escaldes-Engordany. (Free) 35th Celebration of the Sant Antoni Escudella stew organised by the Associació dels Amics del Pont dels Escalls.
PAS DE LA CASA: Sunday, 21st January at 13h in the Plaça de l’Església. (Free) Escudella stew de Sant Antoni.
CINEMA
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Monday 15th – Thursday, 18th January at 19.30h at the Cinemes Illa Carlemany, Escaldes-Engordany. Director: Martin McDonagh Starring: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell. The Story: This is a darkly comic drama from Oscar nominee Martin McDonagh. After months have passed without a culprit in her daughter’s murder case, Mildred Hayes (Oscar winner Frances McDormand) makes a bold move, painting three signs leading into her town with a controversial message directed at William Willoughby (Oscar nominee Woody Harrelson), the town’s revered chief of police. When his second-in-command Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell), an immature mother’s boy with a penchant for violence, gets involved, the battle between Mildred and Ebbing’s law enforcement is only exacerbated.
Culturally yours,
Clare
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Look for about the author of the blog Clare Allcard
See also Andorra travel guide
See also Pyrenees travel guide
See also France travel guide
See also Spain travel guide
