Opera

Pietro Mascagni

Iris

04 Oct, 25 - 07 Oct, 25

Premiere at the Teatro Real

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Musical conductor
Daniele Callegari

Chorus direction
José Luis Basso

Chorus and Orchestra
Chorus and Orchestra of Teatro Real

The Teatro Real premieres Iris, by Pietro Mascagni, in a concert version, with Daniele Callegari as musical director and Ermonela Jaho performing the title role. After her brilliant performances in Madama Butterfly, La Traviata and Adriana Lecouvreur, she has become one of the most acclaimed singers at the Teatro Real in recent years.

Melodramma in three acts

Music by Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945)

Libretto by Luigi Illica

Premiered the Teatro Costanzi (Rome) on 22 November 1898

Premiere at the Teatro Real

Concert version

Artistic team

Conductor: Daniele Callegari

Chorus director: José Luis Basso

Cast

The blind man: Jongmin Park

Iris: Ermonela Jaho

Osaka: Gregory Kunde

Kyoto: Gabriele Viviani

Dhia / Geisha: Carmen Solís

A shopkeeper / The ragpicker: Pablo García-López

Chorus and Orchestra of Teatro Real

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Synopsis and more information

Iris is a naive young woman who attracts the attention of a nobleman, Osaka. He kidnaps her to take her to a luxurious apartment in the Yoshiwara district. She thinks she is dreaming or in Paradise. Osaka intends to seduce her but only succeeds in terrifying her. He soon tires of the affair and of Iris's simplicity, leaving her in the hands of Kyoto, a pimp.

He takes her to his brothel, where she is cursed by her father and, full of shame, throws herself into a well.

Her body ends up in the sewer drain, where a ray of sunlight shines on the clothes wrapping her. The half-dead Iris comes to life. In her delirium she hears the voices of her father, Osaka and Kyoto, all telling her about the brutality of life. The sun rises and proclaims its infinite love. Iris dies in the blazing sun, transformed into the flower that bears her name.