The board that runs the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía and also the Generalitat, owner of the Valencian opera, want its artistic director, Jesús Iglesias, to renew his position once his contract ends next December. The public and critics also appreciate his management, judging by the increase in attendance at the coliseum and the evaluations of its programming. However, Iglesias has not yet received any offer due to an administrative problem that has delayed the entire process, according to several sources.
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This Tuesday, the president of the board, Pablo Font de Mora, assured Iglesias’s continuity and emphasized that the “procedures have been initiated” to overcome that problem, which lies in the fact that the opera’s statutes contemplate the selection of its artistic director by competition, after a possible extension, complying with the good practices manual. And Iglesias already won the competition in 2018 and began his four-year term in 2019. Later, the Ministry of Culture activated the extension provided for four more years. The artistic director has demonstrated his abilities and it would not make sense for him to run again in a new competition.
There will be none, according to Font de Mora. They are studying the formula to avoid having to call it, probably by introducing a modification in the Palau’s statutes. “It would be foolish on our part to look for someone outside when we have an extraordinary professional like Jesús,” argued the president of the board at the presentation of the , in which he described the current season, which concludes with Turandot, by Puccini, as “the best in artistic quality in the 20 years of the Palau’s history.”
Beside him, Iglesias, uncomfortable with the situation, only said that he has already expressed his “availability” to continue leading the Palau. There was no representative from the Ministry of Culture at the press conference. Sources from the department later told this newspaper that they refer to the decision made by the executive committee of the Palau board.
At its meeting on May 12, the mentioned committee, with the presence of the regional secretary of Culture, Marta Alonso, and the one from Finance, Eusebio Monzó, unanimously approved two points, Font de Mora noted: to initiate the procedures for the appointment of the artistic director, “accelerating it as much as possible, because we know there is an expiration date” and “to give full confidence to Jesús for his continuity in the future.” Now the agreement must be submitted to the Board.
The president indicated that the procedure is being studied and that, until the appointment is made by the Board, “there is no fixation of conditions.” In any case, he specified, “the competition is excluded unless Iglesias were to fall out of the process.”
In his management report, Font de Mora highlighted an economic activity of 30.8 million, against expenses of 29.5. Ticket revenues have exceeded 4,500,000 euros; rental of spaces, events, and complementary activities reaches 3,900,000 euros; and sponsorship and patronage approach 900,000 euros, with an increase of over 120%. The Generalitat contributed 18.3 million to its budget, and the Ministry of Culture, 2.5 (12 million goes to the Teatro Real and 10.8 to the Liceu of Barcelona). The average occupancy of Les Arts has hovered around 80%.
New programming
The artistic director took the floor to reveal the programming for the next season. Les Arts will premiere new opera productions, Carmen, Lohengrin, Simon Boccanegra and La clemenza di Tito. It will offer a reflection on power, geopolitics, and social conflicts through programming that ranges from the Baroque of Riccardo Primo to the post-truth of Nixon in China.
The Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, under the tutelage of Sir Mark Elder, will work with Mikko Franck, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Thomas Hengelbrock, Philippe Jordan, Antonello Manacorda, and Vasily Petrenko. Performers such as Cecilia Bartoli, Lang Lang, Lise Davidsen, Lisette Oropesa, Eleonora Buratto, Ermonela Jaho, Ricarda Merberth, Ruth Iniesta, Camilla Nylund, Francesco Meli, Charles Castronovo, Davide Luciano, Andrè Schuen, Antonio Poli, George Petean, and Gevorg Hakobyan will perform. Additionally, debuts include, among others, Thomas Hampson, Christopher Maltman, and Hugh Cutting.
“After having chained three new productions in the season we are about to close, the new programming includes a record number of four new productions, in co-production with the theaters of greatest tradition: L’Opera de Roma, La Fenice of Venice, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, or the Grand Théâtre de Genève,” he highlighted. The ts.
The Orquesta de la Comunidad Valenciana, owner of the Palau, has confirmed itself as one of the best in Spain, if not the best according to some critics.
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