Yo, Farinelli, el capón
Baroque musical theater
Based on the novel by Jesús Ruiz Mantilla
Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón, director
Miguel Rellán, actor
Carlos Mena, countertenor
Forma Antiqva
Aaron Zapico, musical conductor

Just as Jesús Ruiz Mantilla himself defines it, the idea behind the performance is that of Baroque Musical Theatre. It is a monologue in which Miguel Rellán plays Farinelli at the end of his life remembering his arrival at the court of Philip V in Spain, where he would remain 22 years more, and going over his life and career as its central focal point. Here, at the service of the first Bourbon King and his son Ferdinand VI, he was commissioned to introduce the art of opera in Spain in a grand manner. The memories of the greatest castrato of all times mix in with the five arias, which he had to sing each night for Philip V in the royal palaces of La Granja or Aranjuez, sung by the countertenor Carlos Mena and music by Forma Antiqva.

“It is based on my novel Yo, Farinelli, el capón, and directed by Gutiérrez Aragón. Both he and I have tried to create an original performance, out of the ordinary, where we attempt to get to the root of theatre in an unadorned way – by means of the monologue of a famous actor – but imaginative and suggestive with music of the period. To do so, we count on the experience and credibility of a seasoned professional of the calibre of Rellán, the originality and rigour of Forma Antiqva, and Mena´s extraordinary collaboration, one of today’s great voices. We want to create a different spectacle, unusual, in which the involvement of the Zapico brothers and the mutual understanding among all of them has been decisive right from the beginning. It also means Gutiérrez Aragón´s return to the theatre and that alone makes it especially distinctive”, says Jesús Ruiz Mantilla explaining the work.