''El gato montés'' ("The Wild Cat") 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 composed by

Manuel Penella Manuel Penella Moreno (July 31, 1880, in Valencia – January 24, 1939, in Cuernavaca) was a Spanish composer. His father was the composer Manuel Penella Raga. His daughter Magdalena Penella Silva married the politician Ramón Ruiz Alons ...

who also wrote the Spanish-language

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 ...

. It premiered on 23 February 1916 at the Teatro Principal in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

. The opera enjoyed great success in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries and was produced in English as ''The Wild Cat'' in New York's Park Theater in 1921 with Penella conducting. According to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', by the time it had opened in New York, ''El gato montés'' had already received 2700 performances.''

'' (17 November 1921)
"'The Wild Cat' at the Park Saturday"
Retrieved 7 March 2014. Interest in the work was renewed when it was revived by the

Teatro de la Maestranza The Teatro de la Maestranza is an opera house located in Seville, Spain. The theatre was conceived to be one of the main cultural venues of the Seville Expo '92, and the first performance took place in 1991, shortly before the inauguration of the ...

in Seville in 1992. It subsequently received its first performances in the United States in the original Spanish at

Los Angeles Opera The Los Angeles Opera is an American opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth-largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center. Leadersh ...

in 1994 and Washington National Opera in 1996.Rothstein, Edward (27 January 1994)
"El Gato Montes; After Seven Decades, a Spanish Opera Regains Its Voice"
''The New York Times''. Retrieved 7 March 2014.Wigler, Stephen (31 December 1996)
"Washington Opera's 'El Gato' is powerfully done, until the end"
''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

''. Retrieved 7 March 2014. The Los Angeles Opera production was filmed for

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

' '' Great Performances''.

in Seville presented the title again in its 2021/22 opera seaso
Teatro Maestranza - El gato montés
with a production by Spanish opera director Raúl Vázquez that had the premiere at Opera de Tenerife in 2019
Auditorio de Tenerife - El gato montés
and in Oviedo in 202
Oviedo Filarmonia - El gato montés
The first performance in Germany took place a
Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern
in 2018, under the direction of the Spanish conductor Rodrigo Tomillo.

Roles

*Soleá (

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

) *Frasquita (

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

) *Loliya (soprano) *Father Antón (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

) *Rafael Ruiz (

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 ...

) *Juanillo,(Pablo Hertogs) ''El gato montés'' (

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

) *Hormigón (baritone) *Caireles (baritone) *A Gypsy Woman (soprano)

Recordings

References

Notes Sources *Alier, Roger (2007)
''Guía universal de la ópera''
Ediciones Robinbook. *Mesa, Franklin (2007
''Opera: an encyclopedia of world premieres and significant performances, singers, composers, librettists, arias and conductors, 1597-2000''
McFarland & Co.

External links

* Operas Spanish-language operas 1916 operas Operas by Manuel Penella {{Opera-stub