''La Conquista'' (also known as ''Montezuma'') is an opera in two acts by Lorenzo Ferrero set to a trilingual libretto by the composer and

Frances Karttunen Frances Esther Karttunen (born 1942), also known as Frances Ruley Karttunen, is an American academic linguist, historian and author. Education and career She received her BA in 1964 from Harvard and her PhD in 1970 from Indiana University. In ...

, based on a concept by

Alessandro Baricco Alessandro Baricco (; born 25 January 1958) is an Italian writer, director and performer. His novels have been translated into a wide number of languages. Early life, family and education Baricco was born in Turin, Italy. He has earned degre ...

. It depicts the major episodes of the

Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, also known as the Conquest of Mexico or the Spanish-Aztec War (1519–21), was one of the primary events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. There are multiple 16th-century narratives of the eve ...

in 1521 and the subsequent destruction of the Aztec civilization. The libretto (English-Spanish-Nahuatl) is a blend of historical and literary sources drawn from transcriptions of indigenous and European literature, both kept, with some exceptions, in their original languages. The texts are taken from '' The Truthful History of the Conquest of New Spain'' by

Bernal Díaz del Castillo Bernal Díaz del Castillo ( 1492 – 3 February 1584) was a Spanish conquistador, who participated as a soldier in the conquest of the Aztec Empire under Hernán Cortés and late in his life wrote an account of the events. As an experience ...

, the Book XII of the ''

Florentine Codex The ''Florentine Codex'' is a 16th-century ethnographic research study in Mesoamerica by the Spanish Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún. Sahagún originally titled it: ''La Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España'' (in English: ''Th ...

'', the works of

Juan Boscán Almogáver Joan Boscà i Almogàver (, es, Juan Boscán Almogávar; 1490 – 21 September 1542), was a Spanish poet who incorporated hendecasyllable verses into Spanish. Biography The exact date of birth for Boscà is unclear, but there is a consensus tha ...

Bernardino de Sahagún Bernardino de Sahagún, OFM (; – 5 February 1590) was a Franciscan friar, missionary priest and pioneering ethnographer who participated in the Catholic evangelization of colonial New Spain (now Mexico). Born in Sahagún, Spain, in 1499, ...

, Lope de Vega, Heinrich Heine, and from Aztec prayers, songs and poems as collected in '' Cantares Mexicanos'' and '' Romances de los señores de Nueva España''. The musical language owes very little to ethnic influences, but the use of the Nahuatl language, characterized by the presence of distinct short and long vowels, imposes a specific rhythm to the vocal part.

Performance history

The premiere directed by Nicholas Muni and conducted by Zbyněk Müller took place at the

Prague National Theatre The National Theatre ( cs, Národní divadlo) in Prague is known as the alma mater of Czech opera, and as the national monument of Czech history and art. The National Theatre belongs to the most important Czech cultural institutions, with a ri ...

on 12 March 2005.

Roles

Synopsis

:Place: Cortés' camp at Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz and

Tenochtitlan , ; es, Tenochtitlan also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, ; es, México-Tenochtitlan was a large Mexican in what is now the historic center of Mexico City. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear. The date 13 March 1325 was ...

:Time: 1519–21 Act 1 The Aztec chronicles prophesy disaster in the years preceding the arrival of the Spanish. One day, the prayer of Emperor Moctezuma in the temple is interrupted by the entrance of a group of messengers who bring him the news of the Spanish landing on the

Gulf coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coast, coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The list of U.S. states and territories by coastline, coastal states that have a shor ...

. Moctezuma is visibly worried and asks the men to keep their knowledge secret. The Emperor makes an offering to the gods and a priest sprinkles the messengers with the blood of the victim, then they are sent back carrying a message and laden with gifts for the newcomers. Left alone, Moctezuma is scrutinizing the uncertain future. In contemporary

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

a woman called Marina has strange dreams of a distant past. She decides to confront these recurring nightmares. Moctezuma's emissaries arrive at the camp and lay out their presents before Cortés and his companions. The soldiers tie them up and frighten them by firing their guns in the air. Alvarado and Cortés argue about the priorities of the conquest, whether it should be a search for gold or the evangelization of indigenous peoples. When Cortés tries to force an Aztec to worship the cross, Father Olmedo advises against such violence and leads the delegation away. Cortés orders Alvarado to sink the ships, as a precaution against mutiny. While watching the ships burn Cortés laments that stepmother Spain ignores her true sons, who bring "infinite lands" to the king and "infinite souls" to God. During the fire Marina passes by and she and Cortés notice each other. She expresses conflicting thoughts and feelings about meeting this strange man. Cortés leads his troops inland towards Tenochtitlan. The conquistadors set out across inaccessible mountains and after a long march fraught with many fights with the local tribes they reach

Paso de Cortés The Paso de Cortés is the mountain pass or saddle between the Popocatépetl and Ixtaccíhuatl volcanoes in central Mexico. It is part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, where the normally southeast-trending continental divide turns north for ov ...

overlooking the

Valley of Mexico The Valley of Mexico ( es, Valle de México) is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with present-day Mexico City and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico w ...

and get a "first glimpse of things never heard of, seen, or dreamed of before." Act 2 The long-standing attempts to dissuade Cortés from coming to Tenochtitlan had failed. Moctezuma and Cortés meet on the Great Causeway leading into the capital. Coming from opposite sides in a long and complex ceremony the cortège of Moctezuma and the army of Cortés meet. The Emperor dresses Cortés with flowers from his own gardens, the highest honour he could give. In turn, Cortés attempts to embrace him but is restrained by a courtier. Marina is at the same time inside and outside the picture. She pantomimes the translating of the conversation while her offstage voice describes the scene. Finally Moctezuma invites the Spaniards into the city. In the absence of Cortés, taking advantage of the religious ceremonies of the Aztecs in the Great Temple, Alvarado and his men massacre them. Cortés, away, thinks, writes, prays, but cannot decide upon the final act. News about the massacre reaches him and he returns to Tenochtitlan. In a small room where he is held captive, Moctezuma tries to answer the question "Why?" Severely wounded, he is dying and he worries about the future destiny of his land and people, but the question still persists. The Aztecs revolt and drive out the invaders temporarily. In their retreat, the Spanish suffer heavy casualties. Marina wanders aimlessly among the victims. Her dream is now clear: this is the end of a world, one of many possible worlds, one of many possible dreams. The date 1 cōātl of the year 3 calli written in Aztec symbols transforms itself into the Western numeral system: 13 August 1521.

Notable arias and excerpts

A version for chorus and orchestra was written in 2006 and first performed at ''Settembre Musica'' in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

on 7 September 2006. The opera was preceded by a set of six symphonic poems entitled ''

La Nueva España ''La Nueva España'' is a daily newspaper in Spain. Published in Oviedo, it serves Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturia ...

''. Written between 1990 and 1999, the cycle follows the chronological order of the historical events: 1. ''Presagios'', 2. ''Memoria del fuego'', 3. ''La ruta de Cortés'', 4. ''El encuentro'', 5. ''La matanza del Templo Mayor'', and 6. ''La noche triste''. ''La Nueva España'' was recorded by

Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best ab ...

and released in 2000. Rosa 'Conquista'

Namesake

In 2014, a rose variety,

Conquista Spain began colonizing the Americas under the Crown of Castile and was spearheaded by the Spanish . The Americas were invaded and incorporated into the Spanish Empire, with the exception of Brazil, British America, and some small regions of ...

, has been named after this opera. ''Conquista'' is a Spanish and Portuguese term meaning "conquest".

References

Notes Sources * Gelli, Piero, ed. (2007). ''Dizionario dell'Opera 2008'' entries: "Lorenzo Ferrero," "La Conquista." Milano: Baldini Castoldi Dalai editore. * Pugliaro, Giorgio, ed. (2005). ''Opera 2005. Annuario EDT-CIDIM dell'opera lirica in Italia''. Torino: EDT Srl. * Riese, Berthold (2011). ''Das Reich der Azteken. Geschichte und Kultur''. München: Verlag C. H. Beck oHG.

External links

Casa Ricordi Catalogue

Title page of sheet music at Casa Ricordi Digital Collection
*, {{DEFAULTSORT:Conquista, La Operas Operas by Lorenzo Ferrero 2005 operas Multiple-language operas Operas based on literature Operas set in Mexico Operas set in the 16th century Aztecs in fiction Cultural depictions of Hernán Cortés