On the Côte d’Azur (Vallauris) two Spaniards coincide, one the greatest genius of 20th century painting, the other a republican hairdresser exiled from the Spanish civil war, and himself united by their communist ideology and the same hobby: bulls!

The Fundación Orquesta Nacional de Jazz de España brings the premiere of the Musical Opera “El amigo de Picasso”, by the prestigious composer and director of the Orchestra Ramón Farrán.

The approximate duration of this Opera will be 2 and a half hours. The action takes place in Picasso’s workshop on the Mediterranean Côte d’Azur during one of the last days of his life, with the participation of Pablo Picasso, his wife Jacqueline, and his Spanish barber, Eugenio Arias. While Jacqueline is concerned about her husband’s state of health, trying to entertain him and trying not to get tired working, Eugenio Arias and Pablo Picasso talk about the themes that were common to them: their past during the Spanish civil war, the communist party and the situation in Spain, their condition as exiles, art, the genius of the painter, friends, the Spanish republicans who still came to ask the artist for help and the bulls, one of the great passions they both shared.

Eugenio Arias (a native of Buitrago de Lozoya, Madrid, where he has a collection of all his memories) and Pablo Picasso met in Vallauris when Mr. Ramie, the workshop where Picasso made his ceramics, told him that his hairdresser was a Spaniard living in Vallauris. Picasso went to get his haircut and from that moment on no one else did. Picasso believed that his strength resided in his hair, like Samson. From that moment a friendship was forged where Picasso found in Arias a true friend with whom to share his nostalgia for Spain, his ideological affinity and a shared passion for bullfighting

Picasso began going to Eugenio Arias’s barbershop in 1948, where he enjoyed talking with the barber, a communist exile like him. The painter, faithful to old friends, made Arias participate in his artistic and intimate circle of friends, of which memories are also preserved in the museum: Jacqueline Roque, Françoise Gilot, Jean Cocteau, David Douglas Duncan, Edouard Pignon, Hélène Parmelin or André Villers are some of the examples. They talked politics and attended bullfights, talked about Spain and Arias recited Spanish poetry to him.

CHARACTERS

In this opera there are three main characters, three actor-singers with non-imposed voices that will make the story of Pablo Picasso understood by singing, Jacqueline Roque, his last wife, and Eugenio Arias, his barber and friend. A small corps de ballet, masks, a minotaur, would evoke the essence of the Spanish south.

FRIENDSHIP

The work is a tribute to the intense friendship between Picasso and Arias, who considered the artist their second father; For twenty-six years, with his conversations, memories, jokes and common hobbies, Arias contributed greatly to Picasso’s feeling more connected to Spain.

MUSIC

2 hours of music that will take us through Spain on a journey from folkloric roots to the modern language of the future: Spanish symphonic jazz. The orchestration of this work is conceived for a peculiar timbre: violin, baritone sax, soprano sax, flute, Spanish and electric guitar, percussion and drums, symphonic percussion, double bass and three pianos performed by the chamber group OnJazz Symphonic Chamber Orchestra.

The premiere project scheduled for this weekend has a multiple support request to attend the virtual premiere that you can find in the following link https://www.verkami.com/projects/27619-opera-musical-el-amigo-de-picasso

FIRST PASSES:

This Saturday, October 3, 2020, in the afternoon, at the Teatro del Palacio de Hielo, in Hortaleza, it will be the first time that the assembly prior to the premiere in Spain can be attended, which is scheduled for the first quarter of next year. “It should have premiered in England last year, but I wanted it to be first at home, in Spain”, clarifies Ramón Farrán.

Child adaptation

For Sunday, October 4 in the morning, a version of the opera adapted to the children’s audience has been prepared. There will be intermissions and the assistants will be able to dialogue with the interpreters.

More info at: https://www.elamigodepicasso.com/

Read More

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