Benamor

In Spanish with German and English surtitles
Introduction to the work 30 minutes before curtain-up

Opereta in three acts
Libretto by Antonio Paso and Ricardo González del Toro
Austrian premiere

The sultan Darío wants to marry off his sister Benamor at long last. What neither of them suspect: Darío is in fact a woman, while Princess Benamor is really a man. Their mother Pantea raised them both as the opposite sex because, by ancient law, a first-born daughter must be killed and so must a second-born son. But now princes are coming from near and far in hopes of winning her hand, and the gender swap is in danger of discovery – especially since Benamor stubbornly refuses to behave like a princess and the sultan is developing a disconcerting interest in one of her suitors …
Pablo Luna, born in 1879, was one of the most successful composers of revues and zarzuelas, the Spanish version of operetta, between 1900 and the years of the Spanish Civil War. His operetta Benamor was first performed in Madrid in 1923 and, with its double gender swap and numerous cultural and sexual references, perfectly captures the spirit of the “wild” 1920s, a time when Spain, too, felt that a new age was dawning. Like Franz Lehár in Vienna, Luna combines traditional music, in his case the zarzuela (in the famous Fire Dance in Act II, for example), with the fashionable dances of the day, the shimmy and the foxtrot, to create a unique musical language. Director Christof Loy discovered Benamor when he witnessed a performance in Madrid, and this rarely performed work will be the first operetta he directs in Vienna. Alongside the two up-and-coming opera stars Marina Monzó as Benamor and Federico Fiorio as Darío, the ensemble will be led by actress Rossy de Palma who has become known to international audiences primarily through her roles in films by Pedro Almodóvar and will play Pantea.

Synopsis
The action takes place in the 16th century, in the city of Isfahan, the former capital of Persia.

Act I
An interior courtyard in the Sultan's royal palace. The eunuch, Alifafe, and the janissaries are at the doors of the harem, praising the beauty of the odalisques while they complain that the Sultan does not pay attention to them. The Grand Vizier appears, having spent the night with a girl (whenever he does this, he becomes deaf). Alifafe intends to ask for a raise for his services, but the Vizier cannot hear him. The Sultana arrives, worried because her son Sultan Dario has decided to marry his sister soon, and she wants to confess a great secret to the Vizier. She tells him that according to Persian law, if the firstborn is a girl, she must be killed, and if the second child is a boy, he must also be killed. However, when she gave birth for the first time, she had a girl; to save her, she hid her from everyone and raised her pretending she was a boy, even the girl herself, who is now Dario, her son, the Sultan. Her second child was a boy, and she did the same, and he is now Princess Benamor, whom her brother wants to marry. The Vizier cannot hear her, but she believes he does and leaves satisfied, thinking she can count on his help.

Sultan Dario arrives to receive the suitors for his sister, who are three: Jacinto, a weak young man; Rajah-Tabla, a fierce warrior; and finally, Juan De León, a Spanish knight who pretends to be someone else but fails to deceive the Sultan. For some reason, the Sultan takes a liking to Juan De León. When the suitors, the court, and the Sultan leave, Benamor appears, making abrupt gestures, and is stopped by the guards who try to prevent her from escaping. Pantea, her mother, scolds her and threatens to lock her in the Mudarra castle. Dario arrives and informs his sister that he has decided to marry her off, and she doesn't seem to oppose much, thinking she will be freer. But when they tell her she must choose between the three suitors, she decides to run away, and she does. The act ends with the Sultan ordering his men to search for his sister.

Act II
In the Isfahan market, the Vizier, the janissaries, and Alifafe are looking for the missing princess. A merchant, Babilon, proposes to the Vizier that he buy a beautiful girl named Nitetis, but he refuses because he is overwhelmed with problems and wants to remain clear-headed. Pantea, the Sultana, also appears, looking for her son-daughter, and realizing that the Vizier did not understand when she explained her problem. They enter his shop and decide to listen to the conversation between the mother and the Vizier, through which they learn that they have changed sexes. Benamor, more impatient, wants to act immediately, but Dario believes that the Vizier will find the solution. Meanwhile, the Vizier seeks guidance from Zarathustra to enlighten him. The two suitors also arrive at the market, meet the princes, and court Princess Benamor, but she rejects them. The Spanish knight also arrives and wants to buy the girl Nitetis but has no money. When he sees Dario, he asks him for money, and Dario, filled with jealousy, decides to buy her for his harem. The other two rejected suitors conclude that Benamor must be in love with the Spanish knight, and since they both need to marry her because she is wealthy and can help them out of their financial troubles, they devise a plan to challenge him and get him out of the way.

Act III
In the Sultan's palace, Babilon comes to collect the payment for the new odalisque he has delivered to the harem. Benamor, now knowing she is a man, is enjoying the harem without the odalisques noticing. The Vizier is worried because Zarathustra has not given him any solutions, and he doesn't know how to approach the problem. He talks with Juan de Diego and decides to tell him what is happening, including that Dario is hopelessly in love with him. Benamor also confides in Nitetis and admits her love, promising her that she will be her favorite whenever she wants, and that he can be Sultan. Finally, the Spanish knight proposes that, to prevent the people from discovering the change, both princes travel to Europe for three years of study. Meanwhile, the mother will be Sultana, and when they return, no one will recognize them. Benamor attacks the other two suitors who are about to leave and gives them a compensation.

Program and cast

Conductor: José Miguel Pérez-Sierra

Director: Christof Loy

Stage Design: Herbert Murauer

Costume Design: Barbara Drosihn

Light Design: Fabrice Kebour

Choreography: Javier Pérez

Dramaturgy: Kai Weßler

Benamor: Marina Monzó

Darío: Federico Fiorio

Nitetis: Sofía Esparza

Pantea: Rossy de Palma

Abedul: David Alegret

Juan de León: David Oller

Rajah-Tabla: Alejandro Baliñas Vieites

Jacinto / Eunuco / Elohim: César Arrieta

Alifafe: Francisco J. Sánchez

Babilón: Joselu López

Cachemira: Nuria Pérez

ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien

Arnold Schoenberg Chor (Conductor: Erwin Ortner)