A needed hope
Since more than thirteen years ago that the Teatro Real dee Madrid re-opened as an opera theatre, the reality is that it has not even found his position in the world of lyric neither national nor international. The crazily have been going at each change.
First it was the ineffable Elena Salgado with Stéphane Lissner as artistic director, that lasted only one year and that brought us a real luxurious imported season with some moles. The change of the governing party also brought about a change in Teatro Real. Juan Cambreleng replaced Salgado with the condition not to intervene in the program, and Luis Antonio García Navarro assumed the musical and artistic direction. The first could not escape its imposed limitations; It was and is a lover of opera and could not stay quiet and intervened more than needed in the programming. Garcia Navarro was very poorly received and had to stoically endure the unfair revulsion of a small but noisy group of public. He hired Jesus Iglesias from Colon Theatre of Buenos Aires as an Assistant, which had fame of singers and casts knowledge. The seasons followed with their scandals, as the failed tribute to the death of Alfredo Kraus and others of minor magnitude. Garcia Navarro died in as musical director leaving glorious and profound will in its last performance of Wagner’s Parsifal. Cambreleng was soon after replaced by Ines Argüelles and Emilio Sagi assumed the artistic direction. This stage was somehow quiet but the contracted Sagi’s six months absence of the theatre raised blisters. While Jesus Iglesias remained untuchable in his post of artistic direction Assistant against wind and tide hiring according to his philias and phobias. Change of party in the Government led to further changes in the theatre. Miguel Muñiz assumed the general direction and Antonio Moral the artistic one.
Everything seemed to be in the right place but the new artistic director came as manager of small formats, which he mastered to perfection but soon it was showed that the Teatro Real was too big for him. With the reform of the Patronage directing the Teatro Real and the Ministry of Coulture consensus appointment, Marañón and Carlos Marset, those days the Director of the INAEM proposed Gerard Mortier, rejected by New York, to take care of the artistic direction of the Teatro Real. Mortier was very badly received by general critics and worse by the fans before his career in Salzburg, Ruhr, and Paris. A monumental scandal has occurred with the introduction of its first season. Offenses dedicated to Spanish singers and artists, totally intolerable and that no official member of goverment responsible has denied, have put him out of play, and only his resignation or dismissal is expected even if he leaves with his armored contract. You can not offend Spaniards with impunity. Facing this situation, and been showed the problable results in the next general government election, I think that now it has come the time to speak with PLÁCIDO DOMINGO and seriously suggest him to take care of the Teatro Real.
Now I think he would like and could. He has all the qualities and resources to bring to fruition this adventure. He has a deap knowledge of the Theatre, Madrid and Spain; Spanish singers, all the neaded means to make balanced seasons that satisfy everyone; attract all audiences around the world, all the singers, private sponsors, recruiting Spanish artists, and above all, attracting over him consensus and agreement of all the political and social and cultural forces in a unanimous agreement that is what our Teatro Real needs. I think that this initiative of the newspaper LA GACETA must and can be assumed by all the opera fans and be officially moved to Plácido Domingo that surely will accept in good grade, and terminate as well at once with this chaotic and ruinous situation prior empty useless staff that is swarming around the theatre. We must leave his hands free. It is time. Not to do so would be irresponsible.
Francisco García-Rosado
