The best of Alfredo Kraus' repertoire will be played this Friday, August 29, starting at 9:00 p.m. at the Teatro Cine Atlántida, in a concert in tribute to this artist. "It is a unique opportunity to enjoy the inert footprint left by one of the most important opera singers in history, thanks to the voices and music of ten of the great personalities of Canarian and peninsular bel canto", they say from the Arrecife City Council.
The concert has been organized through the Department of Tourism, directed by Rafael Juan González, and has a solidarity character, since the proceeds will go to the Program for the Promotion and Assistance with Homeless People of the Cáritas Lanzarote Association.
"This concert is a clear example of the talent that exists in the islands, a unique opportunity to enjoy first-class artists and to boost tourism in Arrecife through Culture," said the mayor at the press conference offered this Thursday to present the contents of the recital. According to the mayor, "after the important passage of the Canarian tenor through the history of opera, there is a proliferation of singers born in the islands that cannot be compared to any other community".
Top-level performers
Some of these great performers, such as the famous Jorge de León, Francisco Corujo, Orlando Niz and Juan Manuel Padrón, were also present at the meeting with the media, accompanying the Councilor for Tourism and the president of the Cáritas Lanzarote Association, Dolores Villalba.
Jorge de León, recently arrived from China, highlighted the importance that Alfredo Kraus has had for anyone who has wanted to follow in his footsteps. "He left fifteen years ago and we are still listening to his voice, and what better way to remember him and pay him a well-deserved tribute on the island he chose as a place for summer and rest." De León also highlighted the solidarity nature of the concert, stressing that "curiously, when Culture is the first to suffer cuts, if we have to lend a hand to those most in need, it is also the first".
Jorge de León is one of the greats. Tenor born in Tenerife, linked to Lanzarote because his father was from San Bartolomé, and grandson of the great Lanzarote folklore singer Pedro de León. He is one of the most important current lyric-spinto tenors in the world, and has performed in places such as La Scala in Milan, Berlin Opera, Vienna Opera, etc. He will soon debut at the Metropolitan in New York with the opera Aida.
The tenor Pancho Corujo, promoter of the concert
For his part, another of the protagonists and one of the promoters of this concert, the Lanzarote tenor Pancho Corujo, expressed his desire for this important musical event to continue over time. "Alfredo Kraus was the first to open the Canary Islands to bel canto. He is perhaps our most universal Canarian and it is a shame that until now no one has paid him a tribute of these characteristics. That is why I want to thank the Arrecife City Council for having accepted the proposal and that, coinciding with the fifteenth anniversary of his disappearance, we can pay this well-deserved tribute to the great Alfredo Kraus", he stressed.
Francisco Corujo was born in Lanzarote and to date has debuted in important theaters such as La Fenice in Venice, Arena di Verona, National Opera of Peru, Tel Aviv Opera House, Capitole de Toulousse, Teatro Real de Madrid and Teatro de La Zarzuela.
