# The first Spanish opera



## Fairyqueen (Feb 19, 2014)

I am glad to share with all of you this highlight from the opera "Las amazonas de España" by Giovanni Facco. He was born in Italy, but came to Spain in 1720 to work in the court of the king Felipe V.

To celebrate the born of the infant Felipe, the queen Isabel de Farnesio requests to Facco as musician, and to Cañizares as librettist to compose an opera. It was the first opera in the history written is Spanish language.

The plot is all about a passage of Plutarco that describes the pass of Aníbal through The Pyrenees and his meeting with the women warriors called Amazonas. All the roles were performed by women even the man characters. 
I would like you enjoy it!!


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Thank you, That is beautiful

For some more lovely Spanish baroque arias I highly recommend this:

María Bayo /Christophe Rousset: Arias de Zarzuela Barroca


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## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

I am studying Spanish language and culture, in my senior semester, in a great department. We have studied literature and visual art from every time period in Spain (as we know it), yet this is my first time hearing this piece. Tragic.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

In 1982 there were some performances of "Celos, aún del ayre matan" at Buenos Aires, in the Teatro Colón. Later, in the year 2000, the piece was also offered at Teatro Real, in Madrid. It's from 1660, written by Calderón de la Barca, and put in music by Juan Hidalgo. It was commissioned to celebrate the wedding of Maria Teresa de Habsburgo, the daughter of King Philip, with the King Louis XIV, of France, along with other piece "La púrpura de la rosa", also by Calderón, with music by Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco.

We can find some fragments in youtube:


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## Fairyqueen (Feb 19, 2014)

I have got the CD of Maria Bayo, is one of my favorites, I love the track 12 "Adiós" .The eighteenth century was musically prolific in Spain, however few works are represented or have been recorded. In recent years, seems to be growing interest in these works, and many scores and librettos are being rescued from libraries by musicologists.
Marinasabina, it is normal that you do not know this music, despite your studies. The painting, the art and literature of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries are well known to any student of Spanish culture, but, unfortunately, is not the case with music, which is devoted less space in textbooks.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Fairyqueen said:


> I have got the CD of Maria Bayo, is one of my favorites, I love the track 12 "Adiós" .


Haha - that's my favourite aria from the collection as well! Let's share it:


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## Notung (Jun 12, 2013)

Just to clarify:

Is all classical Spanish opera called "zarzuela"? I ask because when my Spanish teacher recommended I listen to zarzuela, my reading on the subject gave me the impression that they were light musicals. I didn't know it included fully-fledged opera.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Are Singspiele considered or included as "fully-fledged opera"?. What is a "fully-fledged" opera, anyway?. 

Zarzuela is just the traditional Spanish brand of musical theater. There is singing, and there are spoken dialogues, with a very variable importance of each element. However, in Zarzuela there are almost no recitatives, arioso is not used very much and most (but not all) zarzuelas are structured as a set of musical numbers.

The roots of the genre are in Spanish 17th century theater, the period known as "Siglo de Oro" (The Golden Century). Some plays by Calderón de la Barca or Lope de Vega included incidental music. However, Italian opera was already performed in Spain by that date, but was not adapted to the taste of many people in the audience. Those were the origins of Baroque Zarzuela. The clash between "Opera" and "Zarzuela" continued during the 18th century. "Zarzuela" was sung in Spanish, while "Opera" was sung usually in Italian.

This is an example of Baroque Zarzuela by José de Nebra: "Viento es la dicha de amor".






The golden age of Zarzuela, however, started in the 1840s. Two distinct genres ("género chico", usually one act pieces and "género grande", usually two acts, occasionally three acts, pieces) were staged. A list of the best known composers would include Francisco Asenjo Barbieri, Emilio Arrieta, Francisco Alonso, Tomás Bretón, Ruperto Chapí, Federico Chueca, Manuel Fernández Caballero, Federico Moreno Torroba, José Serrano, Pablo Sorozábal and Amadeo Vives. Zarzuela was also important in some countries like Venezuela, Cuba, México, Argentina or the Philippines. Around the 1930s Zarzuela started to decline, and after the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) there were hardly any new Zarzuelas, and the old ones were less and less performed.

An example of "género chico", Federico Chueca and Joaquín Valverde's "La Gran Vía":






And an example of "género grande", Federico Moreno Torroba's "Luisa Fernanda":






There are also quite a few Spanish "operas", the one below is "Goyescas" by Enrique Granados, written in 1915:


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## Fairyqueen (Feb 19, 2014)

You've explained it perfectly, anyway I attached a summary of an article published on "MusicaAntigua.com" in May 2013 , where the differences amongst those terms are explained. I apologize, because my translation is not good enough.
"The addition of a musical part, not as accessory to a play, but as an essential factor of scenic dynamic event itself, is a feature of European culture that begins in Florence around 1600.
The most important nations adopt soon the new genre, modifying it according to their particular characteristics, thus emerge: the German Singspiel, the English ballad opera, French opera and Spanish zarzuela. Zarzuela is a form of theatrical scenic artist or musical genre emerged in Spain with instrumental parts, vocal parts (solo , duets , choruses ... ) and recitatives. As composers of this genre can cite, among others, Juan Hidalgo (1600 - 1685 ), Sebastián Durón ( 1660-1716 ) , Antonio de Literes ( 1673-1747 ) and José de Nebra ( 1702-1768 ) 
They turn to the texts of our great playwrights such as Calderon de la Barca and Lope de Vega, to write their music. Underestimation of the seventeenth century Spain tuned wave stage music from Italy. With the deaths of Calderon (1681) and Hidalgo (1684), specifically the era of Spanish musical theater leads to a transition period in which the native forms of Italian songs mixed with such elements as recitative, arias da capo, floral ornamentation, long melismas and orquetasles 'ritornelli'. In 1629 are dated the first Spanish operas.
In 1703 , the arrival in Madrid of the first Italian opera company would determine a change in tastes that the courtiers were oriented preference in complete productions.
The early zarzuela had succumbed to the landslide triggered by new lyrical winds blowing from Italy.
But all was not lost If the official life had Italianate, peeling of the tradition, it would soon reappear in those opposed to official art areas: the popular and street environment , the tavern , coffee, etc. . be a basic scenarios demonstrations , with the passage of time, constitute key factors in the resurgence of zarzuela in the nineteenth century. We are specifically referring to the ' tonadilla would soon crystallize into a new and authentic popular genre. This we witness the rebirth of the operetta " .


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

Seems a bit like the "war" between the Italian language opera seria and the English-style "opera" (as in The Beggar's Opera), in England in the first half of the 1700s. Also a question of difficulties in wide adaptation to national taste, not to mention a dislike of the castrati singers in certain circles.


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## Fairyqueen (Feb 19, 2014)

I honestly ,don't know if there is this parallelism, but it is an interesting comment, indeed.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Notung said:


> my reading on the subject gave me the impression that they were light musicals. I didn't know it included fully-fledged opera.


musicals and operettas are fully fledged, aren't they?


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

There are two fantastic resources for those of us outside Spain who have no access to zarzuelas but are interested in exploring the genre

A YouTube channel with many complete performances, available in 720HD. clicky

Zarzuela.net, background and synopses in English, and translated song texts.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

deggial said:


> musicals and operettas are fully fledged, aren't they?


No, not fully fledged operas, no.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

are you guys saying Offenbach's stuff, for instance, isn't fully fledged? In which way is it half-fledged?


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Which Offenbach stuff?
Hoffman is a great opera.
The others, not sure about.


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## Fairyqueen (Feb 19, 2014)

I have found this highlight from "La tabernera del puerto", a Spanish zarzuela performed by our amazing tenor Plácido Domingo. It shows English subtitles. 
And a question: how can copy the link to show the image directly on the post? Thanks


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Just use the "Insert Video" button when you are writing your message, and put the link in the window that opens.


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## Fairyqueen (Feb 19, 2014)

Thanks! I am a newbie


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Itullian said:


> Which Offenbach stuff?
> Hoffman is a great opera.
> The others, not sure about.


"Hoffmann" is the grand opera that Offenbach always yearned to write,the others are operettas and therefore not fully fledged operas.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

moody said:


> "Hoffmann" is the grand opera that Offenbach always yearned to write,the others are operettas and therefore not fully fledged operas.


That's what I thought. thanks


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

what is it exactly that you guys mean by fully fledged? I still don't get it.


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