The Spanish manager came to Chile to renew an agreement with the municipality of Las Condes aimed at rejuvenating the public of the opera.

Two lives were drawn for the Teatro Real de Madrid in 200 years. The first began in 1818 and lasted until 1925, when the building was about to collapse and had to close until 1997. Since then, it has enjoyed A youth and a prestige, but this interruption of its history has not only deprived the inhabitants of Madrid of the 20th century cultural life also caused the most resounding silence of the opera during 72 long years.

"It's an art par excellence, but this antecedent has made this city a vocation to the opera," says the general manager. Teatro Real, Ignacio García Belenguer (1967), who was two weeks ago at the Municipal de Las Condes. "The opera is going through a great crisis all over the world, but we have taken care of it and have taken some risks.In Madrid, we have just come out Only the sounds of the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho (1952) At the end of the year it will be a version of Turandot by Bob Wilson There are two risks: a clbadic revisited by a great director from one side and the other a new and recent piece, "he explains.

Both will be seen in 2019 via Palco Digital, the online platform that tracks Live and Delay shows, and has over 2 thousand users in Chile thanks to the agreement that comes from 39 to be renewed with the same theater of the El Golf district. "We have expanded the offer for 2019 and we will have more than a hundred productions in alliance with other theaters, such as Colon of Buenos Aires and Solis of Uruguay," he adds. .

In 2012, when the economic crisis kept Europe in suspense, García Belenguer badumed the leadership of the Teatro Real with a clear mission: to bring the opera back to the Spanish stage and attract new audiences. "That year, public contributions dropped from 40% to 25% and we had to generate an unprecedented public-private financing model, and today 65% ​​of the contributions are from more than 100 companies and directly civil society and our subscribers, "he said. With a budget of 51 million euros a year, the Teatro Real is today the leading institution of the performing arts and music and is among the three most prestigious in Spain, after the Museo del Prado and the Reina Sofía. "In addition, we played in the first division, with Covent Garden in London and operas in Milan, Amsterdam, Berlin or Paris," he adds.

One of his first strategies is the creation of the week of opera in Spain. On June 30, they installed 4,000 chairs and 40 screens in the streets of 200 municipalities for the transmission of Madama Butterfly. "Our goal is to bring opera to the streets and turn it into a daily thing for citizens, just like cinema, books and sporting events," he said. The biggest success was seen on digital platforms: "Wagner's Dutch wanderer has received more than 600,000 views on Facebook, which is a great achievement because it's an opera and not a Real Madrid match with Barcelona. I am convinced that if the opera does not take the digital revolution in hand, it will become a museum piece.Think about Netflix, which revolutionized the cinema.The same thing will happen with the opera, and the digital box can be a good option. "

– What do you attribute to the crisis that the opera is going through today?

– When the arts go beyond their own limits, I think it's normal, because cannons are destroyed and this generates arguments between conservatives and avant-gardists. The way in which the networking between several theaters has managed to install in a few years the need to remove the elitist label from the opera has been very interesting, and I think the best way to do this is to popularize it and to bring it closer to the younger audience. They are the ones who will have to lead this generational renewal.

– How did the young people react to the technological incentive in the Real?

– Since we incorporated them, we have about 40,000 young people out of a total of 250,000 people a year, 30 or 35% more. For under 35s, we also apply 60% discounts on tickets and we have created a program including 35 university campuses so that students can attend rehearsals and get acquainted with the manufacturing process of one. opera. We want you to feel that he is part of it.

– The possibility to bet on new operas and not only on clbadics?

– A reference theater must be able to combine the two repertoires. Many young people join this world and it is logical that they do it with clbadics such as Italian operas: a Traviata, a Madama Butterfly or a Turandot, and they do not have to be clbadical versions. We are open to experimentation, but we must also satisfy a more demanding audience, but more open to new forms. This mix is ​​the secret of the success of the Teatro Real.

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