María Del Carmen (opera)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''María del Carmen'' is an
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
in three acts composed by
Enrique Granados Pantaleón Enrique Joaquín Granados Campiña (27 July 1867 – 24 March 1916), commonly known as Enrique Granados in Spanish or ''Enric Granados'' in Catalan, was a Spanish composer of classical music, and concert pianist from Cat ...
to a
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) 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 th ...
by José Feliú i Codina based on his 1896 play of the same name. It was Granados's first operatic success and, although it is largely forgotten today, he considered it to be his best opera. At the end of its initial run in Madrid where it premiered in 1898, Queen Maria Cristina awarded Granados the Charles III Cross in recognition of his work. The opera, sometimes described as a Spanish version of Mascagni's ''
Cavalleria rusticana ''Cavalleria rusticana'' (; ) is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 Cavalleria rusticana (short story), short story of the same name and subsequent ...
'' with a happy ending, is set in a village in the Spanish region of
Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...
and involves a love triangle between María (soprano) and her two suitors, the peasant farmer, Pencho (baritone), and his wealthy rival, Javier (tenor).


Background

A critic from the ''
Diario de Barcelona The ''Diario de Barcelona'' (Catalan language, catalán: ''Diari de Barcelona'') (The Barcelona Journal) was a newspaper founded in 1792 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With a few interruptions it was published in paper form until 1994, and in d ...
'' recalled that following the 1896 premiere of Feliú i Codina's stage play ''María del Carmen'', he heard another critic tell the author, "For God's sake don't allow anyone to set this to music." Nevertheless, Feliú i Codina, who had also written the libretto for a one-act
zarzuela () is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name o ...
by Granados, ''Los Ovillejos'', agreed to adapt his play for Granados's opera. The resulting libretto was a considerably shortened version of the original work as well as a simplification of the plot. However, it included additions such as a lavish village procession in Act 1 and a dance number during the fiesta in Act 2. Granados and Feliú i Codina put a fair amount of work into making the libretto 'authentic', travelling to rural Murcia to observe the region's landscape, culture, songs and speech patterns. The composer
Amadeo Vives Amadeu Vives i Roig (; 18 November 1871 – 2 December 1932) was a Spaniard, 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 lyrici ...
was instrumental in securing the first performance of the opera in Madrid and helped coordinate the production with the Teatro Parish. During the orchestral rehearsals, Granados was assisted by
Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
'' by a German
U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...
. His luggage, and the ''Maria del Carmen'' score, were later recovered from the wreck. In 1939 Granados's son Victor brought the original score (together with original scores of three other works by Granados) to
Nathaniel Shilkret Nathaniel Shilkret (December 25, 1889 – February 18, 1982) was an American musician, composer, conductor and musical director. Early career Shilkret (originally named Natan Schüldkraut) was born in New York City, United States, to parents w ...
and signed a contract for publication of these works by Shilkret and Shilkret's son Arthur. However, objections raised by the rest of Granados's family prevented the works from being published. In December 2009 the complete original score of the opera was transferred to Special Collections in the library at the University of California, Riverside. According to Walter Aaron Clark's account in ''Enrique Granados: Poet of the Piano'', the only copies of the score available at the time Clark's Granados biography was written probably contain later revisions by Granados's son Eduardo.


Performance history

''María del Carmen'' premiered at the Teatro de Parish in
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
on 12 November 1898, conducted by the composer. It had a highly successful reception by the audience and the majority of the critics, and ran until 9 January 1899. Feliú i Codina was not there to share the composer's triumph. He had died the previous year at the age of 52. ''María del Carmen'' then premiered in Barcelona on 31 May 1899 at the Teatro Tivoli. On that occasion, the reception was considerably less warm than it had been in Madrid. The Catalan nationalist movement was on the rise as was the Renaixença movement to revive the Catalan language and culture. Sections of the audience were indignant that an opera with a Catalan composer and a Catalan librettist was set outside Catalonia and failed to incorporate Catalan music and themes. One contemporary critic suggested that the only applause came from a hired
claque A claque is an organized body of professional applauders in French theatres and opera houses. Members of a claque are called claqueurs. History Hiring people to applaud dramatic performances was common in classical times. For example, when th ...
Romero (2004) Following its 11 performances at the Teatro Tivoli, the opera had a few performances in
Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
in 1899 and was sporadically performed in Madrid between May 1899 and January 1900. It then sank into virtual oblivion, apart from a 1935 revival at Barcelona's
Gran Teatre del Liceu Gran may refer to: People *Grandmother, affectionately known as "gran" * Gran (name) Places * Gran, the historical German name for Esztergom, a city and the primatial metropolitan see of Hungary * Gran, Norway, a municipality in Innlandet coun ...
conducted by Joan Lamote de Grignon with the famous soprano Conchita Badía in the title role, and a few other performances in Spain in the 1960s. Forty years later, the Spanish conductor Max Bragado-Darman prepared a new critical edition of the score, excerpts of which were performed in Murcia in a concert at the Teatro Circo de Orihuela on 23 March 2002 during the Festival Internacional de Orquestas de Jóvenes (International Festival of Youth Orchestras). In 2003 the score was then used for a fully staged production in
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
at the
Wexford Opera Festival Wexford Festival Opera () is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in south-eastern Ireland during the months of October and November. Festival origins, growth and development Tom Walsh, 1951 to 1966 Tom Walsh, an avid o ...
. The production which opened on 23 October 2003 at the Theatre Royal, Wexford marked the first and (so far) only fully staged performances of ''María del Carmen'' outside Spain. The Wexford production was conducted by Max Bragado-Darman with stage direction by
Sergio Vela Sergio Vela (born June 27, 1964, in Mexico City) is a Mexico, Mexican-United States, American opera director, designer, radio and television host, musician, lawyer and academician. Education He studied piano with Héctor Rojas, singing with Maria ...
and Diana Veronese in the title role. The most recent performance, although in concert version only, took place at the Gran Teatre del Liceu on 19 February 2006. It was conducted by Josep Caballé-Domènech with Ana María Sánchez in the title role.


Roles


Synopsis

:Time: late 19th century :Place: a rural village in the Spanish province of
Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...
Pencho, a peasant farmer, and María are in love. Pencho had wounded the wealthy Javier in a fight over water rights and fled to
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
. In order to save Pencho's life when he returns, María nurses Javier back to health, only to find that he has fallen in love with her too. The action of the opera begins with Pencho's return to the village. To Pencho's dismay, María tells him that she has agreed to marry Javier in order to save him from prosecution. Pencho protests that his honour cannot allow such a sacrifice. During a village fiesta there is a confrontation between Pencho and Javier and the two agree to fight a duel which becomes the focus of the third act. As the duel approaches, Maria is distraught. While she still loves Pencho, she feels affection for Javier and does not wish to see him killed. Javier's father arrives and unsuccessfully tries to persuade Pencho to relinquish his claim on María. Javier appears and the duel is about to begin. However, tragedy is averted with the arrival of the local doctor, Don Fulgencio. He tells Domingo that Javier is already dying of
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
and nothing can be done to save him. Javier then realizes the futility of the duel, reconciles with María and Pencho, and helps them to escape.


Recordings

''María del Carmen'' – Diana Veronese (María del Carmen); Larisa Kostyuk (Concepción); Silvia Vazquez (Fuensanta); Jesús Suaste (Pencho); Dante Alcalá (Javier); Gianfranco Montresor (Domingo); David Curry (Don Fulgencio); Aleberto Arrabal (Pepuso); Stewart Kempster (Migalo); Ricardo Mirabelli (Antón); Alex Ashworth (Roque); Nicholas Sharratt (Andrés); Vicenç Esteve (Un cantaor huertano). Wexford Festival Opera Chorus, National Philharmonic Orchestra of Belarus, Max Bragado-Darman (conductor). Recorded live at the Theatre Royal, Wexford on 23, 26 and 29 October 2003. Label: Marco Polo 8.225292-93


References

*Clark, Walter Aaron
''Enrique Granados: Poet of the Piano''
Oxford University Press US, 2006. *Gereben, Janos
"Letter from Ireland: Opera Both Rare and Well-Done"
''San Francisco Classical Voice'', 28 October 2003. Accessed 21 January 2009. Accessed 21 January 2009 *Hess, Carol A.
''Enrique Granados: A Bio-bibliography''
Greenwood Publishing Group, 1991. *Meléndez-Haddad, Pablo

(review in Spanish of the 2006 concert performance of ''María del Carmen'' at the Gran Teatre del Liceu), ''
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
'', 21 February 2006. Accessed 21 January 2009. *Romero, Justin
El Festival de Wexford 'estrena' la «mejor ópera» de Granados
(review in Spanish of the 2003 Wexford production), '' El Mundo'', 19 October 2003. Accessed 21 January 2009. *Romero, Justin
Liner Notes – Granados: ''María del Carmen'', Marco Polo CD 8.225292-93
Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records, which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about ...
, 2004. *Sutcliffe, Tom
Opera at the seaside
(review of the 2003 Wexford production), ''
The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...
'', 1 November 2003. Accessed 21 January 2009.


External links


Review and photos of the 2003 Wexford performance of ''María del Carmen''
by Andrew Cooper on operajaponica.org
Extracts from ''María del Carmen'' in MP3 format
performed by the Orquesta Internacional de Jóvenes Murcia 2002 on the official web site of Festival Internacional de Orquestas de Jóvenes. {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria del Carmen (opera) Operas Spanish-language operas 1898 operas Operas by Enrique Granados Operas set in Spain Operas based on plays