“[...]Stage director Rafael Villalobos accentuates the darker side of the story with a certain baroque touch, taking it closer to theatre than opera. A show of great richness with flashes of genius in its execution[...]"
El País,
Teatro Real - Marie,
January 2021
"Rafael Villalobos’s staging combines the simplicity of the set design with the play of light and shadow which underscores the tragic nature of the story being told. A huge cross dominates the stage, by turns a mirror, a support, a path to eternity, the latter understood not in a Christian sense but as something transcendent."
Platea Magazine,
Teatro Real - Marie,
January 2021
“The text by Lola Blasco, with Germán Alonso’s musical contribution, is served by Rafael R. Villalobos’s exceptional staging. And perhaps what is unforgettable about this Marie is precisely the work of the director, who has tried to tell it using all the forms of theatrical expression at his disposal (including visual expression, in the set, the bituminous floor and the projections/reflections on the theatre’s dome), with perfectly judged performances, composing extremely powerful images which carry far beyond the fourth wall.”
Público,
Teatro Real - Marie,
January 2021
“Rafael Villalobos’s staging used the space (designed by Emanuele Sinisi and lit by Felipe Ramos) with restraint and depicted the murders under a cold light. The show appeals to the eye, ear and intelligence.”
Opera World,
Teatro Real - Marie,
January 2021
“Everything is well constructed, rehearsed, performed on a stage where Villalobos’s fantasy and imagination shine powerfully and two singers move with uncommon dedication and emotion.”
Beckmesser,
Teatro Real - Marie,
January 2021
“Surrounding them is the staging by Villalobos, who goes for a floor of black gravel and an edge-lit suspended cross whose symbolism is reinforced with the initial appearance of God uniting the couple in a heavenly creative act (...) Villalobos is a seasoned director who knows how to create believable spaces with minimum tools (...) An essentially potent staging.”
ABC,
Teatro Real - Marie,
January 2021
" Le Barbier de Séville a été gâté par ses deux précédents metteurs en scène. Même si la gracieuse et très musicale proposition de Laurent Pelly devait céder le pas devant celle stimulante et inventive de Kirill Serebrennikov, c’étaient là deux visions à même de renouveler l’approche d’une œuvre rebattue. Montpellier révèle la très originale proposition de l’Espagnol Rafael R. Villalobos : raconter en parallèle deux « transitions » (le substantif s’affiche dès l’Ouverture). Celle, amoureuse, d’une jeune femme, celle, politique, de l’Espagne. Le glissement d’une classe sociale à l’autre pour Rosina, du fascisme à la Movida pour le peuple espagnol. De Franco à Almodovar."
Resmusica,
Opéra national de Montpellier - Il barbiere di Siviglia,
October 2020
"The production by the young Spanish (from Seville) director Rafael R. Villalobos is genius. It transposes the action from the Spain in pre-French revolution times to another transition in Spain: the recent transition from the dictatorship into democracy that happened between the end of the 70s and the beginning of the 80s. This transition not only had a political side but also a artistic side full of creativity known as “La movida” that enrich the production with many cultural references."
Parterre Box,
Opéra national de Montpellier - Il barbiere di Siviglia,
September 2020