Sauto reopens its doors on Saturday, October 12th, just when Matanzas turns 326 years old. Double celebration for the Matanzas who has looked forward to the reopening of their theater after a thorough capital repair that has returned 92 percent originality to the Coliseum.
The stage will run curtains with the gala The soul of the city, directed by the actor and theater director Rubén Darío Salazar, who conceived it in two main moments. The first, entitled Three works for Cecilia, is a well-deserved tribute to Cecilia Sodis Carrillo, director of the institution from 1989 to 2016.
This first part will open with the emblematic Santa Cecilia, by Manuel Corona, by the Matanzas Chamber Choir, conducted by José Antonio Méndez Valencia and continue with our Symphony Orchestra, this time under the baton of the young César Eduardo Ramos, who will perform a Roberto Valera’s version of the forced Cuban beauty, by José White.
The third work is the departure of Cecilia Valdés, from the zarzuela of Gonzalo Roig, in the voice of the soprano Lucelsy Fernández with the Symphony and lyric soloists.
The second moment is called A theater for Matanzas. The composer and concert performer, Master Hilda Elvira Santiago, will perform piano variations of the Matanzas darling romanza, also from Roig’s zarzuela, La hija del sol.
And, as the occasion deserves, the Symphony, directed by maestro Ramos, will perform the world premiere of the suite for the symphony orchestra El alma de la ciudad, by Elvira Santiago itself, and which gives the show its title. The suite consists of four parts: illusion, glory, sadness and hope and is a journey through the history of the theater.
And to close, nothing better than the version of Matanzas Raúl Valdés de Flor del Yumurí, by Jorge Anckermann.Brief notes The first interventions in Sauto date back to 2001, until it closed its doors completely in February 2010 to be subject to capital repair work – since 1967 a work of this magnitude did not take place – which have returned a high degree of originality. The work reached an amount of almost nine million pesos in both currencies.
The main room has 740 capacities distributed in stalls, boxes, social gathering and paradise (what we know sympathetically by casserole or chicken coop). And the Hall of Mirrors, for 200 people, will offer small format shows.
There is a commitment to keep the theater open every weekend. And from next November the interested parties will be able to access a tour inside the coliseum for the modest price of $ 5.00 pesos in national currency. This comprises the main room; the beautiful Hall of Mirrors; the mechanism that raises the stalls – the only theater in Cuba that keeps it useful; and the stage.
156 years after its appearance in the life of the city still remains the most emblematic and best preserved of the Cuban theaters of the nineteenth century. Sauto reopens its doors. It is said and does not stop one from getting excited. It is almost amazing.
The Italian Daniel Dall´Aglio and the Ambrosio de la Concepción Sauto and Noda from Pinar del Rio will protect this mass so that, as always, it remains the guardian and emblem of the city.
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