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2010/11
El barberillo de Lavapiés
El barberillo de Lavapiés (1874) is roughly contemporary with the masterpieces of Strauss jnr. in Vienna and Arthur Sullivan in London. Like the latter, Barbieri concocts a potent mix of musical ingredients ranging from Offenbach, Mozart, Rossini and Italian Opera through to the popular music of his own time and place. El barberillo de Lavapiés boasts a brilliant, sophisticated and tuneful score, as well as a libretto by Luis Mariano de Larra that is in equal measure passionate, witty and well structured. The "Little Barber" represents Barbieri at his best and most distinctive. Little wonder that it has taken its place as the classic work of the Golden Age of the zarzuela. |
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2010/11
Los Gavilanes
Performances at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, DC.
The three-act Los gavilanes ('The Sparrowhawks') shows Guerrero at his most distinctive. Ramos Martín's libretto is no literary masterpiece, but it does boast a well-constructed and unusually involving storyline not unlike Dürrenmatt's The Visit, and the composer grasped its theatricality with both hands. Beyond that, the poignant subtlety of the protagonists' situations clearly suited the composer's gift for gentle melody and sympathetic, pastel characterization. Guerrero's orchestral scoring, too, is efficient and even delicate as occasion dictates.
Above all, Los gavilanes has a consistent melodic inspiration and spontaneity which the composer perhaps never quite matched, despite the superior technical finish of later works such as La rosa del azafrán. Number after number hits the spot, the comedy numbers (never Guerrero's greatest strength) being as effective as more obviously stirring numbers like Juan's opening Romanza and Tango milonga; then there is the magically poised Romanza de la Flor for the tenor; with a high-lying line almost as hard to sustain as Nadir's famous aria in Bizet's Les Pecheurs de Perles, Gustavo's "Flor roja" is amongst the most perfect pearls in the zarzuela repertoire. |
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2010/11
La Leyenda del Beso
By Soutullo y Vert
Concert version at St. Ann's Catholic Church
La leyenda del beso ('The Prophecy of the Kiss') was premiered at Madrid's Teatro Apolo, on January 18th 1924. Its libretto, an attempt to cross the gypsy tragedy of La tempranica with the gentrified hunt comedy of La Montería, is not its strong suit. The elevated tone of the encounters between Count Mario and his gypsy love, Amapola, is undermined by a bevy of sentimentally well-bred Romanies and a coarse comedy sub-plot which would not be out of place in a fifth-rate Jacobean tragedy. The anticipated bloody conclusion is sidestepped in favour of an implausibly damp squib, as the 'prophecy' proves true only in a metaphorical sense.
This threadbare farrago is almost completely redeemed by Soutullo and Vert's strong score. At first glance, much of it may seem like Poor Man's Puccini - indeed, the Act 1 Dúo for Mario and Amapola quotes Madama Butterfly almost verbatim - but their potent evocation of the gypsy tribe is quintessentially Spanish, and as melodically rich as anything the partnership wrote. The oft-played Intermedio, a strong if unsubtle piece of musical Spanishry, is only the best known number in a score which is full of life and power.
The Act 2 Zambra is a thrilling set piece, with the unlikely "gypsy-foxtrot" not far behind. The duets for the fatal Amapola with Mario have great charm; but perhaps the finest number is her intensely melancholy confrontation with the luckless Iván. The clash of indifference with passion always seemed to bring out the best in Spanish composers, and Soutullo and Vert were no exception. Two of the most memorable gypsy themes recur as leitmotifs to bind their score together: Iván's "Caminar sin fin"; and his related "Amor mi raza sabe conquistar", which almost comes to stand for the fateful prophecy itself. |
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