The push given to opera by the Inbal has expanded its audience: Curiel de Icaza

Eirinet Gómez

La Jornada Newspaper, Friday, June 13, 2025, p. 5

Over the past eight months, the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (Inbal) has promoted the presentation of 26 opera performances—10 at the Palacio de Bellas Artes and 16 at other venues—which have attracted more than 20,000 attendees from diverse audiences. This initiative is part of the commitment to strengthen this artistic genre, reported the Secretary of Culture, Claudia Curiel de Icaza.

Reviewing the efforts made in this area, the official emphasized that one of the goals was to present contemporary, traditional, and popular opera. She highlighted the performances of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Rigoletto, which attracted young, new audiences, which is one of our main commitments: to create new audiences in a genre that might seem only for specialists .

He also highlighted the importance of the productions held at the National Arts Center and in the city's gardens, with the aim of having a social vocation, and ensuring that opera does not remain solely in the Fine Arts forum .

He emphasized the theatrical approach Marcelo Lombardero has brought to the helm of the National Opera Company (CNO). This has provided a guiding thread through everything we've worked on; it has showcased vibrant, important scenes, showcasing the virtues and limitations of society, and it is part of all of this .

Regarding the upcoming performance of Un re in ascolto (A King Listens), by the Italian composer Luciano Berio (1925-2003), Curiel de Icaza noted that this piece, in addition to its aesthetic value, also has a political commitment, an aspect that coincides with one of the purposes of the secretariat he heads.

“A King Listens” is a necessary artistic look at the exercise of power, at the theatricality of life, and an indispensable expansion of the opera repertoire.