# Help me find this opera? do you know it?



## Joshua (Aug 5, 2016)

Last year I watched this DVD of some opera, it was very good. Don't remember the name. So maybe you will know which one it is, or where to find it ?

The opera is relatively new I think from recent years. It has a few main singers, most are women. It's in portuguese or spanish. Sometimes there is a choir. Some of the vocals are similar to Flamenco and there are also traditional instruments like different tribal drums, classical guitars. In the DVD the background is lighted in purple most of time. I remember one of the singers is this tall woman with curly hair, super talented. Also there is one dancing sequence with a man dancing in white clothes and a white hat, also some kind of traditional thing.

Ehh I know this isn't much, but maybe gives you some clue to what it is or where to find it ?


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Joshua said:


> Last year I watched this DVD of some opera, it was very good. Don't remember the name. So maybe you will know which one it is, or where to find it ?
> 
> The opera is relatively new I think from recent years. It has a few main singers, most are women. It's in Portuguese or Spanish. Sometimes there is a choir. Some of the vocals are similar to Flamenco and there are also traditional instruments like different tribal drums, classical guitars. In the DVD the background is lighted in purple most of time. I remember one of the singers is this tall woman with curly hair, super talented. Also there is one dancing sequence with a man dancing in white clothes and a white hat, also some kind of traditional thing.
> 
> Ehh I know this isn't much, but maybe gives you some clue to what it is or where to find it ?


You are sure it's new? From what I reading it sounds more like a zarzuela to me, ( Spanish opera) .


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## Joshua (Aug 5, 2016)

Pugg said:


> You are sure it's new? From what I reading it sounds more like a zarzuela to me, ( Spanish opera) .


Yeah I think it is from 2010+ at least
Hmm I will check the one you said! thanx!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Joshua said:


> Yeah I think it is from 2010+ at least
> Hmm I will check the one you said! thanx!


We do have a Spanish opera / zarzuela lover, let's hope he see this.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Perhaps check out some De Falla videos of the work El Amor Brujo, and productions by Carlos Saura


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

joen_cph said:


> Perhaps check out some De Falla videos of the work El Amor Brujo, and productions by Carlos Saura





> Yeah I think it is from 2010+ at least


It has to be a later composer as far as I understand . ( see his quote)


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Joshua said:


> Yeah I think it is from 2010+ at least
> Hmm I will check the one you said! thanx!


​
Could it be this one?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ainadamar

Golijov - Ainadamar
Robert Spano conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, with Kelley O'Connor, Dawn Upshaw, and Jessica Rivera.

The work premiered just over 11 years ago (07/30/05) at Santa Fe Opera. I am looking forward to Golijov's upcoming Iphigenia in Aulis (2018-19 at the Met). The libretto here is by David Henry Hwang, who wrote the libretto for the upcoming Dream of the Red Chamber.

*mountmccabe* posted this in; what Opera are you currently listing .


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Excellent guess Pugg. It really fits the bill.
Based on the life of Federico Garcia Lorca. I saw it and it was wonderful.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Joshua said:


> *The opera is relatively new I think from recent years. It has a few main singers, most are women. It's in portuguese or spanish. Sometimes there is a choir. Some of the vocals are similar to Flamenco and there are also traditional instruments like different tribal drums, classical guitars.* In the DVD the background is lighted in purple most of time. I remember one of the singers is this tall woman with curly hair, super talented. Also there is one dancing sequence with a man dancing in white clothes and a white hat, also some kind of traditional thing.


Yeah, the first several descriptions here could be describing Golijov's _Ainadamar_. It premiered in 2005. Both Lorca and Margarita Xirgu are sung by women. It is in Spanish. There are flamenco and other related passages.

I would have posted this here myself but I don't know of a DVD release! I suppose that should not have stopped me; there could easily be one not available to my region.

There is a video of a dress rehearsal on YouTube; I have not watched it all but the background seems to shift in color and purple is prominent.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Pity that O.P has not reacted yet.


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## Joshua (Aug 5, 2016)

Well it's just not those operas sorry to be annoying haha  
but I feel I'm getting close thanx to you guys


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Joshua said:


> Well it's just not those operas sorry to be annoying haha
> but I feel I'm getting close thanx to you guys


WE are all close, yuo see we going to arm length to help our fellow members .


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Joshua said:


> Well it's just not those operas sorry to be annoying haha
> but I feel I'm getting close thanx to you guys


Any other information would be welcome. Have you listened to a good deal of opera already, and are there any similarities with a certain earlier period or style, was there a big classical orchestra and a traditional conductor, etc.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Well you may not know much but certainly you remember the story an could give us a small synopsis.


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## Joshua (Aug 5, 2016)

Ok guys i've found it ! You were very close !! it's indeed by Osvaldo Golijov. Turns out maybe I was wrong and it's from earlier - early 2000's, but this current version is from 2010 and is performed differently I understand: Osvaldo Golijov: La Pasión según San Marcos

I guess this would be much easier if I said this was a story about Jesus Christ. But I never understood the language so I didn't think about the story. I'd put a track from youtube but I can't find a good quality track there. Well thanx for the help ! Let me know if you like it !And is it considered an opera?(I understand it's not so traditional) And is it considered a good one? I did not hear a lot of music of this type. Thanks and have a good day !!


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

I'm glad you found it!

This piece is an oratorio that was written to be staged, along the lines of Bernstein's _MASS: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers_ and _The Gospel According to the Other Mary_ by John Adams.

There is a recent thread here discussing the staging of Handel's oratorio _Saul_ like an opera. There are quite a few other opera/oratorios that similarly skirt the borderline. Oratorios not written to be staged - such as Bach's _Matthäus-Passion_ - have also been staged.

So it might more accurately be called a staged oratorio, but that's pretty close to opera. I certainly thought of the staging of _The Gospel According to the Other Mary_ at ENO as an opera.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Joshua said:


> Ok guys i've found it ! You were very close !! it's indeed by Osvaldo Golijov. Turns out maybe I was wrong and it's from earlier - early 2000's, but this current version is from 2010 and is performed differently I understand: Osvaldo Golijov: La Pasión según San Marcos
> 
> I guess this would be much easier if I said this was a story about Jesus Christ. But I never understood the language so I didn't think about the story. I'd put a track from youtube but I can't find a good quality track there. Well thanx for the help ! Let me know if you like it !And is it considered an opera?(I understand it's not so traditional) And is it considered a good one? I did not hear a lot of music of this type. Thanks and have a good day !!


That's fair, admitting you made a mistake.:tiphat:


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## Joshua (Aug 5, 2016)

mountmccabe said:


> I'm glad you found it!
> 
> This piece is an oratorio that was written to be staged, along the lines of Bernstein's _MASS: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers_ and _The Gospel According to the Other Mary_ by John Adams.
> 
> ...


Oh I see! that's cool, thanx for the information. I will have to check the other compositions by Golijov that you guys mentioned! They sounds interesting!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Joshua said:


> Oh I see! that's cool, thanx for the information. I will have to check the other compositions by Golijov that you guys mentioned! They sounds interesting!


You see, we find new things on this site all the time.


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