La sonnambula

Set in a rural village in the Swiss Alps—also idealized by the Romantics in works such as William Tell, La fille du régiment, and Giselle—this “semi-serious opera” in two acts confronts the inhabitants of these peaceful lands with the miseries of human nature: distrust, hostility, and ostracism in the face of the uncertain shadow of a mere suspicion.

The village becomes the opera’s third great protagonist, revealing the harsh realities of rural life, where resentment prevails over solidarity and scarcity over abundance. The protagonist’s sleepwalking serves as the necessary catalyst to awaken everyone from a collective nightmare while also providing the poetic score’s most sublime moment, ultimately making this opera one of the most celebrated and enduring icons of bel canto. The theme of sleep allows the character to transcend realism, much like the famous madness scenes so cherished by the Romantics, while its benign nature enables the happy ending required by the “semi-serious opera” and the sentimental romance of the time.

To unravel the mysteries of the score, deliver the magic of bel canto, and meet its extreme vocal demands, we will see Nadine Sierra as Amina and Xabier Anduaga as Elvino, the spectacular heirs to the legendary lead singers of the premiere: Giuditta Pasta and Giovanni Battista Rubini. Bellini’s extraordinary lyrical inspiration unfolds in his most refined and exquisite melodies to express the characters’ emotions. Beyond Elvino’s stunning aria (“Ah! perché non posso odiarti”), the most admirable moment lies in one of the composer’s most sublime soprano arias, the famous “Ah, non credea mirarti... Ah, non giunge!”—sung by Amina in a sleepwalking state. This co-production between the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Teatro Real in Madrid, the National Theatre of Tokyo, and Teatro Massimo in Palermo, directed by Bárbara Lluch, was an undisputed success at its premiere.

After a decade of outstanding work in London—and with an increasingly prominent presence in Europe’s most prestigious theaters—the stage director respects the opera’s original setting while seeking to de-romanticize it in light of the #MeToo movement, giving Bellini’s pastoral tale a dramatic twist infused with modernity and a feminist perspective. Premiered in Milan in 1831 (and at the Liceu in 1848), it is part of Bellini’s revered bel canto trilogy alongside Norma and I Puritani.

La sonnambula is a romantic melodrama filled with all the elements of an amorous intrigue: ghostly apparitions, dreams intertwined with a fascinating scientific exploration of sleepwalking, all treated both as a pretext and as an exploration of human pathology.