Great names for lyrics. The Cap Rocat festival, that August event held in the south of Mallorca in an old military fortress declared an asset of cultural interest, takes another step forward, determined to provide the island with a high-flying cultural proposal. Three days of opera and classical music by the sea, in a protected natural area and with three stars of the operatic firmament: Jonas Kaufmann, Sondra Radvanovsky and Lisette Oropesa.
The first two met on stage for the first time at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, in a historic pre-pandemic Andrea Chénier. Five years and several operas together later, the German tenor and the Canadian soprano will star in the Cap Rocat edition with a set of opera duets that, under the title Love and Hate, will pay tribute to the young Italian school that took over from Verdi. on the throne of opera theaters, as explained this Monday in Madrid by the artistic director of the contest, Ilias Tzempetodinis.
The head of casting at the Teatro San Carlo di Napoli pointed out that the star couple will celebrate Puccini’s bicentennial with opera duets from Fanciulla del West, Tosca and the end of Turandot, among others. All this under the baton of the Italian maestro Marco Armiliato and with the Balearic Islands Symphony and the Cap Rocat Festival Choir directed by the veteran Joan Company. This choral formation, partly the result of the addition of local artistic groups and choirs that are often amateur, will in turn perform fragments of operas by Mascagni and Leoncavallo, as well as choral parts of Madama Butterfly.
This will be on Friday, August 2. While the next day a master of the classical school like Mijaíl Pletniov will be heard at the piano playing works by Chopin, the Mallorcan from Valldemosa. It will be in an intimate atmosphere, as the Russian pianist will inaugurate the Cap Rocat concert hall. And it will be the soprano Lisette Oropesa who will close this 4th edition, on August 4, with bel canto and verdian arias also accompanied by the orchestra of the islands, directed by its artistic and musical owner, maestro Pablo Mielgo.
This “festival madness”, in the words of Tzempetodinis, responds to the private initiative of the Mallorcan architect Antonio Obrador and the management of his daughter, María Obrador, who at the moment have very little public participation. Through their Madina Mayurqa Foundation and the Cap Rocat Hotel, this especially magical place, an example of a rustic luxury resort with careful design, the Obradors have a desire for continuity. “These festivals are not meant to last two years and never again. They are meant to last over time, and that is why I leave it in the hands of my daughter,” she said. And also the need that, even without public aid, the price of tickets does not impede accessibility. “It is a festival for the people of Mallorca, not for the elites.” The box office, in fact, is not even enough to cover a quarter of the festival’s budget.
Since it started in 2021, figures such as Nadine Sierra, Elina Garanca, Michael Fabiano, Maria Agresta, Arcadi Volofos and Henrik Nánási have passed through Cap Rocat. And to its artistic programming are added masterclasses for young talents, which on this occasion will be taught by Sondra Radvanovsky. The festival is holding auditions at the Teatro Real and will hold others at the Liceu and the Teatre Principal of Palma to choose the lucky ones.
It was Antonio Obrador himself who rehabilitated this fortress that has two km of virgin coastline. Simple design, faithful to the native, sandy color integrated into the landscape and in contrast with the sea in the background… This restoration has won awards such as the Europa Nostra for Cultural Heritage, the Hispania Nostra or the Fortress Study Group.
