Within the Festival Grec programme, 'Òh!pera' celebrates its fifth edition from July 2 to 5 at Fabra i Coats. The Liceu and the DHub project premieres three new micro-operas created by young composers, librettists and stage directors, reaffirming its commitment to contemporary creation and new scenic languages.
With Òh!pera, the Gran Teatre del Liceu and the Disseny Hub open the doors to a pioneering project that redefines the traditional concept of opera, embracing innovative formats that connect with 21st-century sensibilities. This initiative, which combines experimentation, interdisciplinarity and creative risk, gives voice to new talents and artistic languages in a setting designed for surprise and reflection.
The project, under the artistic direction of Àlex Ollé and with coordination by Anna Ponces, Anna Llopart and Ariana Fernández, is based on the creation of short operas that, despite their condensed form, retain the essence of the genre: the fusion of music, dramaturgy and stage direction. These works, conceived by emerging creators in collaboration with artists at more advanced stages of their careers, explore contemporary themes such as identity, technology, ecology and social conflict, bringing audiences closer to realities that resonate with everyday life.
The project Òh!pera. Microòperes de nova creació celebrates its fifth edition –for the third time within the programme of the Festival Grec de Barcelona– opening the world of opera to creators from different artistic disciplines through a real-life operatic creation experience. This year, three short operas have been created to be performed in a single evening, a project led by stage director Àlex Ollé (resident artist at the Liceu, founding member of La Fura dels Baus) and co-produced by the Liceu and the Regidoria de Cultura i Indústries Creatives de l’Ajuntament de Barcelona through the Disseny Hub Barcelona.
The works that will be presented in various spaces at Fabra i Coats: Fàbrica de Creació and Espai Bota, on July 2, 3, 4 and 5, in two performances (6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.), are Jo, núvol, by composer Sergi Puig Serna, with libretto by Alicia Kopf, stage direction by Lucia del Greco, musical direction by Miquel Massana and students from LaSalle-URL and Escola de la Dona; La vida por los cuernos, by composer Anna Colom, librettist Pablo Macho Otero, with Exequiel Coria conducting, stage direction by Alexandre Rodríguez i Fons and students from IDEP Barcelona; and Opereta, with music by composer Arnau Brichs, musical direction by Marcel Ortega i Martí, libretto by Pol Guasch, stage direction by Marc Salicrú and students from UPC School / CCCB.
In its three previous seasons, Òh!pera has already produced 17 thirty-minute micro-operas, involving around 350 students and 100 professionals, in addition to the technical and artistic teams of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, as the idea is that each project allows students in training to share experience with artists and technicians already familiar with the world of theatre and opera. Students and professors from higher education schools in design, dramatic arts and the Conservatori de Música del Liceu take part in the project, contributing their creativity and engaging in artistic and technical research across different stage disciplines in a hands-on professional experience of the opera-making process, from the beginning to the premiere, spanning around 10 months of work and research.
Beyond fostering new creation and familiarising the participating authors and artists, the project also seeks to attract new audiences, especially younger people interested in music and theatre but without experience in the operatic field.
The selected projects bring together young creators with musicians, designers, musical and stage directors, set designers, sound technicians, video artists, choreographers and specialists in various performing disciplines, highlighting the multidisciplinary nature of opera as a genre and its cross-disciplinary relationship with other forms of artistic expression, while also promoting the creation of international networks, sustainable production and teamwork.
In addition, this year a further step has been taken with the expansion of one of last season’s micro-operas, Estètica i massacre, allowing it to tour different parts of Spain. It will be presented —in a 60-minute version— at the Festival de Peralada, the season of the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, and in the programme of the festival Ópera a Quemarropa in Madrid.
Regarding the internationalisation of the project, Òh!pera has already visited South America: two seasons ago it premiered at the Teatro Biobío in Concepción (Chile) Filles del món, by composer Marian Márquez and libretto by Ariadna Pastor, which was presented in the 2023 edition of Òh!pera.
View the full Òh!pera information page, with schedules, information about the works and ticket sales.
The students participating in the design of stage spaces and costumes come from four educational institutions: La Salle-URL, IDEP Barcelona, UPC School / CCCB and Escola de la Dona.
Assistant directing roles are carried out by students from Eòlia Centre Superior d’Art Dramàtic (ESAD), specialising in Dramaturgy and Directing.
As for lighting design, graduates come from the Institut del Teatre (IT), ESAD, specialising in Scenography.
Finally, the performers —singers and instrumentalists— mainly come from the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu.
