Rei (2004)

Rei is an opera inspired by an extraordinary historical episode and a forgotten piece of Chilean musical heritage. Commissioned by the Historical Museum of Valdivia and produced by Matucana 100 Cultural Center and La Casa de la Nueva Ópera, the work was made possible through Chile’s Cultural Donations Law.

At the heart of the project is a remarkable musical discovery: an unpublished vocal score composed in 1860 by Guillermo Frick, a prominent Chilean-Austrian intellectual and composer from Valdivia. This piece, recovered thanks to the invaluable support of the Historical and Anthropological Museum Mauricio van de Maele of the Universidad Austral de Chile—and its then-director Leonor Adán—captures the public impression left by one of the most bizarre figures in Chilean history: Antoine de Tounens, the French adventurer who proclaimed himself King of Araucania and Patagonia.

Frick’s composition reflects the collective imagination of 19th-century Valdivia. In this brief but poignant work, he stages a moment from the life of Orelie’s self-proclaimed subjects—a moment in which they, too, dream of becoming kings, of claiming the throne made possible by their allegiance and sacrifice.

142 years later, at a time of renewed territorial identity crisis among the Mapuche people, Rei reimagines this moment through a contemporary lens. Composer Sokio revives and reinterprets Frick’s musical vision, blending historical memory, satire, and operatic experimentation. The opera revisits the strange case of Orelie not just as an anecdote, but as a reflection of the fears, projections, and unresolved questions of nationhood that continue to echo through Chilean history.