''Aurora'' is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

in three acts by the Argentine composer Héctor Panizza (also known as Ettore Panizza) set to an Italian

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

Luigi Illica Luigi Illica (9 May 1857 – 16 December 1919) was an Italian librettist who wrote for Giacomo Puccini (usually with Giuseppe Giacosa), Pietro Mascagni, Alfredo Catalani, Umberto Giordano, Baron Alberto Franchetti and other important Italian co ...

and Hector Quesada. Composed in 1907, ''Aurora'' became the second national opera of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, after Felipe Boero's more popular ''El Matrero''. Although its plot is set in

, ''Aurora'' is Italian in style. Panizza's score shows a strong influence of Giordano and Mascagni. ''Aurora'' was the first Argentine opera to be commissioned for the inaugural season of the

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón (Spanish: ''Columbus Theatre'') is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acousti ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, where it premiered on 5 September 1908. The main

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

aria, "Alta en el cielo" ("High in the sky"), from the ''intermedio épico'' at the finale of Act 2 was used as a national hymn to the Argentine flag. What not many people know is that the Spanish lyrics are a poor translation of the original Italian text, so many lines are obscure and hard to make sense of. The later revised version of the opera set in Spanish was premiered on 9 July 1945 and is now considered the Argentine patriotic opera ''par excellence''. ''Aurora'' was also performed at Teatro Colón in 1909 (with

Hariclea Darclée Hariclea Darclée (née Haricli; later Hartulari; 10 June 1860 – 12 January 1939) was a celebrated Romanian operatic soprano who had a three-decade-long career. Darclée's repertoire ranged from coloratura soprano roles to heavier Verdi roles, ...

), 1945, 1953, 1955, 1965, 1966, 1983 and 1999.

Sources

*Laurance, Rita
Aurora, opera
All Music Guide

External links

Original 1912 recording with tenor Amedeo Bassi
{{Authority control Operas Italian-language operas Spanish-language operas 1908 operas Operas by Héctor Panizza Operas set in South America