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World première of the opera by Raquel García-Tomás with stage direction by Marta Pazos

“I am twenty-five and, though I am still young, I am undoubtedly approaching the fatal end of my existence. I have suffered deeply, and I have suffered alone, abandoned by everyone!”
Mes souvenirs, Herculine Barbin.

Inspiration for this opera comes from the story of Adélaïde Herculine Barbin, also known as Alexina B., an intersex person born in France in 1838. Her testimony provides moving and fertile input for the sound universe of Raquel García Tomás, the winner of the 2020 National Award for Music.

Alexina was assigned the female sex at birth and grew up in a convent. Later, when working as a teacher, she fell in love with a female companion. In a society where accepting differences was a complex matter and heterosexuality was the norm, Alexina re-defined herself as a man and changed her legal sex and identity to become Abel Barbin. Unable to adapt, however, she was reduced to solitude and ultimately killed herself.

This striking tale forces us to examine ourselves as a community and to see the damage our condemnations cause. It reveals the violence of religious and medical institutions and of a heteronormative society which permits neither self-assertion nor self-determination outside gender and sex binarism.

With a libretto by Irène Gayraud and sets by Marta Pazos (who worked with García-Tomás on Je suis narcissiste, 2019), this three-act opera tells of a struggle for identity which, for Alexina, ends in a veritable leap into the void.

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Alexina B.
World première of the opera by Raquel García-Tomás with stage direction by Marta Pazos.
Libretto by: Irène Gayraud, inspired by the memoirs of Hérculine Barbin (also known as Alexina B.), Mes Souvenirs (France, 1868). World premiere

Project carried out thanks to the Fundación BBVA’s Leonardo Grant for Cultural Researchers and Creators, 2020

The Fundación BBVA takes no responsibility for the opinions, comments or contents included in this project or for its results, which are the entire and absolute responsibility of the authors.