() is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating

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 ...

tic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name of a royal hunting lodge, the Palace of Zarzuela, near Madrid, where that type of entertainment was allegedly first presented to the court. The palace in turn was named after the brambles () that grew there. There are two main forms of ''zarzuela'':

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

''zarzuela'' (c. 1630–1750), the earliest style, and

Romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

''zarzuela'' (c. 1850–1950). Romantic zarzuelas can be further divided into two main subgenres, ''género grande'' and ''

género chico Género chico (literally, "little genre") is a Spanish genre of short, light plays with music. It is a major branch of ''zarzuela'', Spain's form of popular music theatre with dialogue, and differs from ''zarzuela grande'' and most other operatic f ...

'', although other sub-divisions exist. ''Zarzuela'' spread to the Spanish dominions, and many Spanish-speaking countries – notably

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

– developed their own traditions. ''Zarzuela'' is also a strong tradition in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, where it is also referred to in certain dialects as . Other regional and linguistic variants in Spain include the Basque ' and the

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

. A masque-like musical theatre had existed in Spain since the time of Juan del Encina. The ''zarzuela'' genre was innovative in giving a dramatic function to the musical numbers, which were integrated into the plot of the work. Dances and choruses were incorporated as well as solo and ensemble numbers, all to orchestral accompaniment.

Baroque ''zarzuela''

In 1657 at the Royal Palace of '' El Prado'', King

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered f ...

, Queen Mariana and their court attended the first performance of a new comedy by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, with music by

Juan Hidalgo de Polanco Juan Hidalgo de Polanco (28 September 1614 – 31 March 1685) was a Spanish composer and harpist who became the most influential composer of his time in the Hispanic world writing the music for the first two operas created in Spanish. He is cons ...

titled ''El Laurel de Apolo'' (The Laurels of Apollo). ''El Laurel de Apolo'' traditionally symbolises the birth of a new musical genre that had become known as ''La Zarzuela''. Like Calderón de la Barca's earlier ''El golfo de las sirenas'' (''The Sirens' Gulf'', 1657), ''El Laurel de Apolo'' mixed mythological verse drama with operatic solos, popular songs and dances. The characters in these early,

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

''zarzuelas'' were a mixture of gods, mythological creatures and rustic or pastoral comedy characters; Antonio de Literes's popular ''

Acis y Galatea ''Acis y Galatea'' is a zarzuela by Antonio de Literes to a libretto by José de Cañizares. It was first performed on 19 December 1708 in Madrid at the theatre in the Buen Retiro Palace for the 25th birthday of King Philip V.Bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * A beer produced by Bras ...

Spain, Italian artistic style dominated in the arts, including

Italian opera Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was born in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous ...

. ''Zarzuela'', though still written to Spanish texts, changed to accommodate the Italian vogue. During the reign of King

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

, political problems provoked a series of revolts against his Italian ministers; these were echoed in theatrical presentations. The older style ''zarzuela'' fell out of fashion, but popular Spanish tradition continued to manifest itself in shorter works, such as the single-scene ''

tonadilla Tonadilla was a Spanish musical song form of theatrical origin; not danced. The genre was a type of short, satirical musical comedy popular in 18th-century Spain, and later in Cuba and other Spanish colonial countries. It originated as a song type, ...

'' (or '' intermezzo'') of which the finest literary exponent was Ramón de la Cruz. Musicians such as

Antonio Rodríguez de Hita Antonio Rodríguez de Hita (18 January 1722 – 21 February 1787) was a Spanish composer. Life Rodríguez was born at Valverde de Alcalá. He became ''maestro de capilla'' at Palencia Cathedral (c.1740-c.1757) and at the Royal Convent of La Encar ...

were proficient in the shorter style of works, though he also wrote a full-scale ''zarzuela'' with de la Cruz entitled ''Las segadoras de Vallecas'' (''The Reapers of Vallecas'', 1768).

José Castel José Castel (1737 in Tudela, Navarre – 1807) was a Spanish composer. José Castel was a church musician in his native Tudela and Aragon before moving to Madrid around 1760. There, in addition to his church duties, he was active as a theatrical ...

was one of several composers to write for the

Teatro del Príncipe Teatro may refer to: * Theatre * Teatro (band) Teatro, Italian for "theatre", is a vocal group signed to the Sony BMG music label. The members of Teatro are Jeremiah James, Andrew Alexander, Simon Bailey and Stephen Rahman-Hughes. Band members ...

19th century

In the 1850s and 1860s a group of patriotic writers and composers led by

Francisco Barbieri Francisco Asenjo Barbieri (3 August 1823 – 19 February 1894) was a well-known composer of the popular Spanish opera form, ''zarzuela.'' His works include: ''El barberillo de Lavapiés'', ''Jugar con fuego'', ''Pan y toros'', ''Don Quijote'', ''L ...

and

Joaquín Gaztambide Joaquín Romualdo Gaztambide y Garbayo (Tudela, Navarre, 7 February 1822 – Madrid, 18 March 1870) was one of the most prominent Spanish composers of zarzuela in the mid-nineteenth century. His contribution to the revival of the genre was hig ...

revived the ''zarzuela'' form, seeing in it a possible release from French and Italian music hegemony. The elements of the work continue to be the same: sung solos and choruses, spiced with spoken scenes, and comedic songs, ensembles and dances. Costume dramas and regional variations abound, and the

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 ...

s (though often based on French originals) are rich in Spanish idioms and popular jargon. The ''zarzuelas'' of the day included in their librettos various regionalisms and popular slang, such as that of Madrid ''

castizos ''Castizo''Pronunciation in Latin American Spanish: is a racial category used in 18th-century Colonial Mexico to refer to people who were three-quarters Spanish by descent and one-quarter Amerindian. The feminine form of the word is ''castiza''. ...

''. Often, the success of a work was due to one or more songs that the public came to know and love. Despite some modifications the basic structure of the ''zarzuela'' remained the same: dialogue scenes, songs, choruses, and comic scenes generally performed by two actor-singers. The culminating masterpieces from this period were Barbieri's ''Pan y toros'' and Gaztambide's '' El juramento''. Another notable composer from this period was Emilio Arrieta.

Romantic ''zarzuela''

After the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

of 1868, the country entered a deep crisis (especially economically), which was reflected in theatre. The public could not afford high-priced theatre tickets for grandiose productions, which led to the rise of the Teatros Variedades ("variety theatres") in Madrid, with cheap tickets for one-act plays ( sainetes). This "theatre of an hour" had great success and ''zarzuela'' composers took to the new formula with alacrity. Single-act ''zarzuelas'' were classified as ''

'' ("little genre") whilst the longer ''zarzuelas'' of three acts, lasting up to four hours, were called ''género grande'' ("grand genre"). ''Zarzuela grande'' battled on at the Teatro de la Zarzuela de Madrid, founded by Barbieri and his friends in the 1850s. A newer theatre, the Apolo, opened in 1873. At first it attempted to present the ''género grande'', but it soon yielded to the taste and economics of the time, and became the "temple" of the more populist ''género chico'' in the late 1870s. Musical content from this era ranges from full-scale operatic arias (''romanzas'') through to popular songs, and dialogue from high poetic drama to lowlife

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

characters. There are also many types of ''zarzuela'' in between the two named genres, with a variety of musical and dramatic flavours. Many of the greatest ''zarzuelas'' were written in the 1880s and 1890s, but the form continued to adapt to new theatrical stimuli until well into the 20th century. With the onset of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

, the form rapidly declined, and the last romantic ''zarzuelas'' to hold the stage were written in the 1950s. Whilst Barbieri produced the greatest ''zarzuela grande'' in ''

El barberillo de Lavapiés ''El barberillo de Lavapiés'' is a zarzuela in three acts (Op.56) by Francisco Asenjo Barbieri. The libretto, in Spanish, is by Luis Mariano de Larra. The first performance took place at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid on 18 December 1874, a ...

'', the classic exponent of the ''

'' was his pupil

Federico Chueca Pío Estanislao Federico Chueca y Robres (5 May 1846 – 20 June 1908) was a Spanish composer of ''zarzuelas'' and author of ''La gran vía'' along with Joaquín Valverde Durán in 1886. He was one of the most prominent figures of the género c ...

, whose ''La gran vía'' (composed with

Joaquín Valverde Durán Joaquín Valverde Durán (27 February 1846 in Badajoz – 17 March 1910 in Madrid) was a Spanish composer, conductor and flute, flautist. As a composer he is known for his Classical music written in collaboration, collaborations on zarzuelas (he ha ...

) was a cult success both in Spain and throughout Europe. The musical heir of Chueca was José Serrano, whose short, one act ''

'' ''zarzuelas'' - notably ''La canción del olvido'', ''Alma de dios'' and the much later ''Los claveles'' and ''La dolorosa'' - form a stylistic bridge to the more musically sophisticated ''zarzuelas'' of the 20th century. While the ''zarzuela'' featured (or even glorified) popular customs, festivals, and manners of speech, especially those of Madrid, something never found in a ''zarzuela'' is social criticism. They celebrated the established order of society; if a ''zarzuela'' advocated for anything, it would be for the slowing or elimination of social change.

20th century

From about 1900, the term ("degraded" or "low genre") was coined to describe an emerging form of entertainment allied to the ( revue) type of musical comedy: these were musical works similar to the zarzuela but lighter and bolder in their social criticism, with scenes portraying sexual themes and many verbal double entendres. One popular work from the ''género ínfimo'' years is ''La corte de Faraón'' (1910), by

Vicente Lleó Vicente is an Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese name. Like its French variant, Vincent, it is derived from the Latin name ''Vincentius'' meaning "conquering" (from Latin ''vincere'', "to conquer"). Vicente may refer to: Location *São Vicente, Cap ...

, which was based on the French operetta ''Madame Putiphar''. In the second decade of the century, the influences of Viennese

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

and the English followers of Sullivan such as

Lionel Monckton Lionel John Alexander Monckton (18 December 1861 – 15 February 1924) was an English composer of musical theatre. He became Britain's most popular composer of Edwardian musical comedy in the early years of the 20th century. Life and career ...

made themselves felt, in works such as ''Molinos de viento'' and ''El asombro de Damasco'' (both by

Pablo Luna Pablo Luna Carné (May 21, 1879 Alhama de Aragón – January 28, 1942 Madrid) was a Spanish composer.Vincent J. Cincotta Zarzuela, the Spanish lyric theatre: a complete reference 2003 "Along with Amadeo Vives, Jose Serrano, Francisco Alonso and ...

), before the Spanish tradition of great acts was reasserted in

Amadeu Vives Amadeu Vives i Roig (; 18 November 1871 – 2 December 1932) was a Spanish musical composer, creator of over a hundred stage works. He is best known for ''Doña Francisquita ''Doña Francisquita'' is a zarzuela in three acts composed by Ama ...

's ''

Doña Francisquita ''Doña Francisquita'' is a zarzuela in three acts composed by Amadeo Vives to a Spanish libretto by Federico Romero and Guillermo Fernández-Shaw and based on Lope de Vega's play ' (''The Ingenious Lover''). With its colourful score and com ...

'' (1923). The zarzuela continued to flourish in the 1930s, thanks to composers of the stature of

Pablo Sorozábal Pablo Sorozábal Mariezcurrena (18 September 1897 – 26 December 1988) was a Spanish composer of zarzuelas, operas, symphonic works, and the popular ''romanza'', " No puede ser". He was born in San Sebastián, in a working-class family. ...

– who reinvigorated it as a vehicle for socio-political comment – Federico Moreno Torroba, and Francisco Alonso. However, the

brought a decline of the genre, and after the Second World War, its extinction as a live genre was almost total. There were no new authors and the compositions are not renovated. There have been no significant new works created since the 1950s; the existing zarzuela repertoire is costly to produce, and many classics have been performed only sporadically in recent years, at least professionally. The genre has again found favour in Spain and elsewhere: younger people, in particular, have been drawn to its lyrical music and theatrical spectacle in the 1940s and 1950s. Spanish radio and television have dedicated time to zarzuela in 1978, not least in a popular series of programs produced by TVE and entitled ''Antología de la zarzuela'' ("Zarzuela Anthology"). These were based on lip syncs of the classic recordings of the 1940s and 1950s. Some years earlier, impresario

José Tamayo José Tamayo (1920–2003) was a Spanish theatre director and producer, best known for his dramatic and zarzuela () is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and po ...

worked a theatrical show of the same name which popularized pieces of zarzuela through several national and international tours.

''Zarzuela'' in Catalonia

While the ''zarzuela'' tradition flourished in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and other Spanish cities,

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

developed its own ''zarzuela'', with librettos in

. The atmosphere, the plots, and the music were quite different from the model that triumphed in Madrid, as the Catalan ''zarzuela'' was looking to attract a different public, the bourgeois classes. Catalan ''zarzuela'' was turned little by little into what is called, in Catalan, ''teatre líric català'' ("Catalan lyric theater"), with a personality of its own, and with '' modernista'' lyricists and composers such as

Enric Granados Pantaleón Enrique Joaquín Granados y Campiña (27 July 1867 – 24 March 1916), commonly known as Enric Granados in Catalan or Enrique Granados in Spanish, was a composer of classical music, and concert pianist from Catalonia, Spain. ...

Enric Morera {{disambiguation Enric Morera may refer to: * Enric Morera i Viura (1865–1942), Catalan musical composer * Enric Morera i Català Enric Morera i Català (; Oliva, Valencian Community, Valencia, 3 April 1964) is a Spanish politician who is the ...

. In the final years of the 19th century, as ''

modernisme ''Modernisme'' (, Catalan for "modernism"), also known as Catalan modernism and Catalan art nouveau, is the historiographic denomination given to an art and literature movement associated with the search of a new entitlement of Catalan culture ...

'' emerged, one of the notable ''modernistas'', and one of

Felip Pedrell Felip Pedrell Sabaté (Spanish: Felipe) (19 February 1841 – 19 August 1922) was a Catalan composer, guitarist and musicologist. Life Pedrell was born in Tortosa (Catalonia), and sang as a boy soprano at Tortosa Cathedral from age 9, where he ...

's pupils,

came onto the Barcelona scene. He contributed to the creation of the

Orfeó Català The Orfeó Català is a choral society based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, which was founded in 1891 by Lluís Millet and Amadeu Vives.William H. Robinson, Jordi Falgàs, Carmen Belen Lord Barcelona and Modernity: Picasso, Gaudí, Miró, Dalí ...

in 1891, along with

Lluís Millet Lluís Millet i Pagès (18 April 1867 in El Masnou – 7 December 1941 in Barcelona) was a Spanish Catalan composer, musician and co-founder of Orfeó Català in 1891. A student of Felip Pedrell, from 1896 he taught choral music at Barcelona's ...

. In spite of a success sustained over many years, his musical ambition took him to Madrid, where ''zarzuela'' had a higher profile. Vives became one of the most important ''zarzuela'' composers, with such masterpieces as ''Doña Francisquita''.

''Zarzuela'' in Cuba and Mexico

In Cuba the

afrocubanismo Afrocubanismo was an artistic and social movement in black-themed Cuban culture with origins in the 1920s, as in works by the cultural anthropologist Fernando Ortiz. The Afrocubanismo movement focused on establishing the legitimacy of black identi ...

''zarzuelas'' of

Ernesto Lecuona Ernesto Lecuona y Casado (; August 7, 1896 – November 29, 1963) was a Cuban composer and pianist, many of whose works have become standards of the Latin, jazz and classical repertoires. His over 600 compositions include songs and zarzuelas as ...

(''María la O''; ''El cafetal''), Eliseo Grenet (''La virgen morena'') and

Gonzalo Roig Gonzalo Roig Lobo (Havana, 20 July 1890 – Havana, 13 June 1970) was a Cuban composer, pianist, violinist and musical director. He was a pioneer of the symphonic movement in Cuba. His most popular works are the zarzuela ''Cecilia Valdés'' an ...

(''

Cecilia Valdés ''Cecilia Valdés'' is both a novel by the Cuban writer Cirilo Villaverde (1812–1894), and a zarzuela based on the novel. It is a work of importance for its quality, and its revelation of the interaction of classes and races in Havana, Cuba ...

'', based on

Cirilo Villaverde Cirilo Villaverde de la Paz (1812 - 1894) was a Cuban poet, novelist, journalist and freedom fighter. He is best known for ''Cecilia Valdés'', a novel about classes and races in colonial Cuba. Biography He was born to a doctor on a sugar planta ...

's classic novel) represent a brief golden age of political and cultural importance. These and other works centred on the plight of the

mulata (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese is ...

woman and other black underclasses in Cuban society. The outstanding star of many of these productions was

Rita Montaner Rita Aurelia Fulcida Montaner y Facenda (20 August 1900 – 17 April 1958), known as Rita Montaner, was a Cuban singer, pianist and actress. In Cuban parlance, she was a '' vedette'' (a star), and was well known in Mexico City, Paris, Miami and ...

. Mexico likewise had its own ''zarzuela'' traditions. One example is Carlo Curti's ''La cuarta plana'', starring

Esperanza Iris María Esperanza Bofill Ferrer (30 March 1888 – 7 November 1962), better known by her stage name Esperanza Iris, was a Mexican singer, leading lady, and stage actress. Early life Born in Villahermosa, Tabasco, 30 March 1888, her birth name wa ...

''Zarzuela'' in the Philippines

In the

, the ''Zarzuela Musical Theatre'' has been widely adapted by Filipinos in their native cultures, notably in urban areas. The theatre was only introduced by the Spanish in 1878, despite being part of the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

since the middle of the 16th century. During this time, the plays were performed only by Spanish people. By 1880, majority of the performers and writers were Filipinos, notably Philippine national hero,

José Rizal José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (, ; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is considered the national he ...

, who was fond of the play. Afterwards, local languages, instead of Spanish, were used to perform the complex theatre, with additions from multiple cultures throughout the archipelago. When the Philippines was colonized by the Americans in the early 20th century, the humor from the ''moro-moro play'' was added into the Philippine zarzuela, while moving away from the traditional Spanish zarzuela. The theatre afterwards was used by Filipinos to express freedom from discrimination and colonial rule, depicting the Filipino people triumphant against the Spanish and Americans by the end of each play. The revolutionary overtones of the play prompted the American colonialists to arrest various performers and writers of the Philippine zarzuela, to the extent of forcefully shutting down entire zarzuela companies in the Philippines. In the 1920s, due to the introduction of the cinema, the zarzuela became widely popular in the rural areas, disabling the Americans from stopping the plays from spreading. The Philippine zarzuela evolved into a kind of comedy of manners distinct to the Filipino taste. In 2011, the performing art was cited by the

National Commission for Culture and the Arts The National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Komisyon para sa Kultura at mga Sining, ceb, Nasodnong Komisyon alang sa Budaya ug mga Arte) is the official government agency for culture in the Philippines. ...

as one of the intangible cultural heritage of the Philippines under the performing arts category that the government may nominate in the

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists UNESCO established its Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage with the aim of ensuring better protection of important intangible cultural heritages worldwide and the awareness of their significance.Compare: This list is published by the Intergover ...

. In 2012, through a partnership with UNESCO, the Philippine government established the documents needed for the safeguarding of the Philippine zarzuela. UNESCO has cited the Philippine zarzuela as the national theatre and opera of the Philippines.

Recorded ''zarzuela''

From 1950 onwards, ''zarzuela'' prospered in a series of LP recordings from EMI, Hispavox and others, with worldwide distribution. A series produced by the Alhambra company of Madrid, the majority conducted by the leading Spanish conductor Ataulfo Argenta had particular success. Many featured singers soon to become world-famous, such as Teresa Berganza, Alfredo Kraus and

Pilar Lorengar Lorenza Pilar García Seta (16 January 1928 – 2 June 1996), known professionally as Pilar Lorengar, was a Spanish ( Aragonese) soprano. She was best known for her interpretations of opera and the Spanish genre Zarzuela, and as a soprano she wa ...

; and later,

Montserrat Caballé Montserrat Caballé i Folch or Folc (full name: María de Montserrat Bibiana Concepción Caballé i Folch (, , ; (12 April 1933 – 6 October 2018), known simply as Montserrat Caballé, was a Catalan Spanish operatic soprano. She sang a wide va ...

and

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

. Less known performers such as Ana María Iriarte, Inés Ribadeneira, Toñy Rosado, Carlos Munguía, Renato Cesari, and others frequently lent their voices to the recordings. The choirs of Orfeón Donostiarra and Singers' Choir of Madrid also contributed, rounding out the overall quality of the works. After Argenta's death others such as

Indalecio Cisneros Saint Indaletius ( es, San Indalecio) is venerated as the patron saint of Almería, Spain. Tradition makes him a Christian missionary of the 1st century, during the Apostolic Age. He evangelized the town of Urci (today Pechina), near the present ...

and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos continued in his footsteps. There were also recordings made conducted by the composers themselves, such as

and Federico Moreno Torroba. Many well-known singers, including

Victoria de los Ángeles Victoria de los Ángeles López García (1 November 192315 January 2005) was a Catalan Spanish operatic lyric soprano and recitalist whose career began after the Second World War and reached its height in the years from the mid-1950s to the mid- ...

and Montserrat Caballé, have recorded albums of zarzuela songs and arias. Many zarzuela productions are now to be seen on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

disc. In March 2009, EuroArts released ''Amor, Vida de Mi Vida'', a recording on Blu-ray disc of an August 2007 zarzuela concert by Plácido Domingo and

Ana María Martínez Ana María Martínez (born 1971) is a Puerto Rican soprano. Early life Martínez was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico; she is the daughter of Puerto Rican opera singer Evangelína Colón and Cuban psychoanalyst Ángel Martínez. Martínez' grandpar ...

, with the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg conducted by

Jesús López-Cobos Jesus ( AD 30 or 33) was a Jewish preacher and religious leader who most Christians believe to be the incarnation of God and Muslims believe was a prophet. Jesus may also refer to: People Religious figures * Elymas Bar-Jesus, a Jew in the ''Ac ...

. In April 2009, BBC/Opus Arte released a Blu-ray disc of a July 2006 performance of Federico Moreno Torroba's ''Luisa Fernanda'' with Plácido Domingo and Nancy Herrera, recorded at the

Teatro Real de Madrid The Teatro Real (Royal Theatre) is an opera house in Madrid, Spain. Located at the Plaza de Oriente, opposite the Royal Palace, and known colloquially as ''El Real'', it is considered the top institution of the performing and musical arts in the c ...

with Jesús López-Cobos conducting. In the United States, the Jarvis Conservatory of Napa, California, between 1996 and 2005, mounted several full zarzuela productions, subsequently issued on DVD and online. The series includes ''

La dolorosa ''La Dolorosa'' (The Holy Virgin of the Sorrows) is a '' zarzuela'' by the Spanish composer José Serrano. ''La Dolorosa'' was premiered at the Teatro Apolo in Valencia on 23 May 1930 with a text by J.J.Lorente. Before this, Serrano suffered the ...

''; ''La Gran Via''; '' Luisa Fernanda''; '' La verbena de la Paloma''; ''La Rosa del Azafrán''; ''

La revoltosa (''The Troublemaker'') is a Spanish zarzuela with a libretto by José López Silva and Carlos Fernández Shaw and music by Ruperto Chapí. It premiered on 25 November 1897 at the Apollo Theatre in Madrid.Cincotta p.63 Adaptations It has been m ...

''; ''Agua, Azucarillos y Aguardiente''; ''

''; ''Gigantes y Cabezudos''; ''La alegría de la huerta''; ''La chulapona''; ''Luis Alonso'' (Giménez, 1896); and ''

''.

''Zarzuela'' composers

Spanish zarzuelas selection (including zarzuela-style operas)

*''Adiós a la bohemia'' (1933)

*''Agua, azucarillos y aguardiente'' (1898)

*''La alegría de la huerta'' (1900)

*''Alma de Dios'' (1907) José Serrano *''El año pasado por agua'' (1889 )

*''El asombro de Damasco'' (1916)

*''

'' (1874)

Francisco Asenjo Barbieri Francisco Asenjo Barbieri (3 August 1823 – 19 February 1894) was a well-known composer of the popular Spanish opera form, ''zarzuela.'' His works include: '' El barberillo de Lavapiés'', '' Jugar con fuego'', ''Pan y toros'', ''Don Quijote'', ' ...

*''El bateo'' (1901)

*''Black, el payaso'' (1942)

*''La boda de Luis Alonso'' (1896) Gerónimo Giménez *''Bohemios'' (1904) Vives *''La bruja'' (1889) Ruperto Chapí *''Los burladores'' (1948)

*''La calesera'' (1925) Francisco Alonso *''La canción del olvido'' (1928) José Serrano *''El caserío'' (1926)

Jesús Guridi Jesús Guridi Bidaola (25 September 1886 – 7 April 1961) was a Spanish Basque composer who was a key player in 20th-century Spanish and Basque music. His style fits into the late Romantic idiom, directly inherited from Wagner, and with a stron ...

*''El chaleco blanco'' (1890)

*''La chulapona'' (1934) Federico Moreno Torroba *''Los claveles'' (1929) José Serrano *''La corte de Faraón'' (1910)

*''

Los diamantes de la corona ''Los diamantes de la corona'' is a zarzuela in three acts by the composer Francisco Asenjo Barbieri with a libretto by Francisco Camprodón.Salter, Lionel. Barbieri, Francisco Asenjo. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, Londo ...

'' (1854) Francisco Asenjo Barbieri *''La Dogaresa'' (1916)

Rafael Millán Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California * Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israeli manufacturer of weapons and military technology * Hurricane Rafael, a 2012 hurricane Fiction * ''R ...

*''

'' (1930) José Serrano *''Don Gil de Alcalá'' (1932)

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 ...

*''Don Manolito'' (1943)

*''

'' (1923)

Amadeo Vives Amadeu Vives i Roig (; 18 November 1871 – 2 December 1932) was a Spanish musical composer, creator of over a hundred stage works. He is best known for ''Doña Francisquita'', which Christopher Webber has praised for its "easy lyricism, fluent ...

*''El dúo de La africana'', (1893) Manuel Fernández Caballero *''La fiesta de San Antón'' (1898)

Tomás Torregrosa Tomás may refer to: * Tomás (given name) * Tomás (surname) Tomás is a Spanish and Portuguese surname, equivalent of ''Thomas''. It may refer to: * Antonio Tomás (born 1985), professional Spanish footballer * Belarmino Tomás (1892–1950), ...

*''La fontana del placer''

*''Los gavilanes'' (1923)

Jacinto Guerrero Jacinto Guerrero (16 August 1895 Ajofrín, Province of Toledo, Toledo, Spain – 15 September 1951 Madrid, Spain), was a prolific composer of zarzuelas and revues, as well as some orchestral compositions. Guerrero was educated at the Colegio de N ...

*''La generala'' (1912)

*''

Gigantes y cabezudos Processional giants, french: géants processionnels, es, gigantes y cabezudos, va, gegants i cabuts, ca, gegants i capgrossos, eu, erraldoi eta buruhandiak are costumed figures in European folklore, particularly present in Belgian, Fren ...

'' (1898) Manuel Fernández Caballero *''Las golondrinas'' (1914)

José María Usandizaga José María Usandizaga (31 March 1887–5 October 1915) was a Spanish Basque composer. A native of San Sebastián, Usandizaga began his musical studies in his hometown before moving to the Schola Cantorum in Paris. There, he was a compo ...

*'' La Gran Vía'' (1886)

*''El huésped del Sevillano'' (1926)

*''

Jugar con fuego ''Jugar con fuego'' (Playing with Fire) is a zarzuela in three acts by Francisco Asenjo Barbieri, to a Spanish libretto by Ventura de la Vega. The first performance took place at the Teatro del Circo in Madrid on 6 October 1851, and it rapidly ...

'' (1855)

*'' El juramento'' (1854)

*''Katiuska'' (1931)

*''Las Leandras'' (1931) Francisco Alonso *'' Luisa Fernanda'' (1932) Federico Moreno Torroba *''La del manojo de rosas'' (1934)

*''Marina'' (1855/71) Emilio Arrieta *''Maruxa'' (1914)

*''La leyenda del beso'' (1924)

Reveriano Soutullo Reveriano Soutullo Otero (11 July 1880 in Ponteareas, Galicia – 29 October 1932 in Vigo) was a Spanish composer of zarzuelas and pasodobles. He collaborated with Juan Vert Juan Bautista Vert Carbonell (1890, in Carcaixent – 1931, in M ...

and

Juan Vert Juan Bautista Vert Carbonell (1890, in Carcaixent – 1931, in Madrid) was a Valencian composer of Spanish zarzuelas. He worked in collaboration with Reveriano Soutullo.Historia de la Música Española: Siglo XX -1993 p95 "Reveriano Soutullo (18 ...

*''Me llaman la Presumida'' (1935) Francisco Alonso *''Molinos de viento'' (1910)

*''La montería'' (1923)

*''El niño judío'' (1918)

*''Pan y toros'' (1864)

*''La parranda '' (1928) Francisco Alonso *''La patria chica'' (1909) Ruperto Chapí *''La pícara molinera'' (1928)

*''

'' (1897) Ruperto Chapí *''El rey que rabió'' (1890) Ruperto Chapí *''La rosa del azafrán'' (1930)

*''El santo de la Isidra'' (1898)

*''El señor Joaquín'' (1900) Manuel Fernández Caballero *''Los sobrinos del capitán Grant'' (1877) Manuel Fernández Caballero *''La del Soto del Parral'' (1927)

and

*''La tabernera del puerto'' (1936)

*''La tempestad'' (1882) Ruperto Chapí *''La tempranica'' (1900) Gerónimo Giménez *'' La verbena de la Paloma'' (1894) Tomás Bretón *''La viejecita'' (1897) Manuel Fernández Caballero *''La villana'' (1927)

References

External links

Zarzuela.net
edited by

Christopher Webber Christopher Webber (born 27 May 1953) is an English musicologist, dramatist, actor, theatre director and writer. Biography Webber was born in Bowdon, Cheshire (now Greater Manchester) and educated at The Manchester Grammar School and the Univ ...

and Ignacio Jassa Haro
Zarzuela Discography
at operadis-opera-discography.org.uk
Zarzueleros.com
in Spanish.
The Fernández-Shaw saga and the lyrical theatre
{{Music in Spanish Opera genres Opera terminology Philippine culture Spanish culture Spanish music