Spanish opera is both the art of

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 ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and opera in the

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

. Opera has existed in Spain since the mid-17th century.

Early history

Opera was slow to develop within Spain in comparison to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and (to a lesser extent)

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, all of which have had continuous traditions of opera since the early part of the

17th century The 17th century lasted from January 1, 1601 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCI), to December 31, 1700 (MDCC). It falls into the early modern period of Europe and in that continent (whose impact on the world was increasing) was characterized ...

. One of the reasons for this slow development was Spain's strong tradition of spoken drama, which made some critics believe that opera was a less worthy art form. However, there was a tradition of songs given within largely spoken plays which began in the early 16th century by such distinguished composers as Juan del Encina.Temperley: "Opera", Grove Music Online The earliest Spanish operas appeared in the mid-17th century, with libretti by such famous writers as Calderón de la Barca and

Lope de Vega Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist who was a key figure in the Spanish Golden Age (1492–1659) of Spanish Baroque literature, Baroque literature. In the literature of ...

to music by such composers as Juan Hidalgo de Polanco. These early operas, however, failed to catch the imagination of the Spanish public. It was not until the increasing popularity of such genres as

ballad opera The ballad opera is a genre of England, English ''comic opera'' stage play that originated in the early 18th century, and continued to develop over the following century and later. Like the earlier ''comédie en vaudeville'' and the later ''Sings ...

and

opéra comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular ''opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Théâtre de la foire, Fair Theatres of St Germain and S ...

that opera in Spain started to gain momentum, since the use of speech in the vernacular inevitably encouraged Spanish composers to develop their own national style of opera:

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 ...

Zarzuela

Zarzuela is characterized by a mixture of sung and spoken dialogue. Although Juan Hidalgo de Polanco's early forays into opera were more along the lines of Italian opera, he was instrumental in helping to create the art form, composing the first known zarzuela, '' El laurel de Apolo'', in 1657. The courtly Baroque zarzuela, a mixture of sophisticated verse drama, allegorical opera, popular song, and dance, became the fashion of the Spanish court for over the next 100 years. The opera artform flourished in Spain during the eighteenth century, with two excellent composers, Sebastián Durón and Antonio Literes. Literes' opera ''Accis y Galatea'' (1708) was particularly popular. Also of note later in the century was Rodrígues de Hita (c.1724–87), who used

guitars The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, mandolins,

tambourines The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

, and

castanets Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument ( idiophonic), used in Spanish, Calé, Moorish, Ottoman, Greek, Italian, Mexican, Sephardic, Portuguese, Filipino, Brazilian, and Swiss music. In ancient ...

and incorporated spectacular dancing into his opera ''Las labradoras de Murcia'' (1769). The zarzuela (in this sense) was eventually superseded by a yet simpler entertainment, the '' tonadilla escénica'' (usually a down-to-earth story of everyday folk), but this too became increasingly sophisticated. Eventually the popularity of zarzuela waned at the end of the 18th century, with the last known zarzuela of the century, '' Clementina'' by

Luigi Boccherini Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (, also , ; 19 February 1743 – 28 May 1805) was an Italian composer and cellist of the Classical era whose music retained a courtly and '' galante'' style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major classi ...

, premiering in 1787. For over the next sixty years,

Italian opera Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was 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 ope ...

became the predominantly popular form of opera in Spain.Christopher Webber: '' The Zarzuela Companion'' (Scarecrow Press Inc., 2002) Lib. Cong. 2002110168 / In the mid-19th century, there was a renewed interest in the zarzuela in Spain, just as in other countries an increasing national awareness gave rise to distinctive styles to combat the pervading influence of Italian opera. It has been estimated that over 10,000 zarzuelas were written in the hundred years after 1850. The Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid became the hub of activity, but scores of companies in the capital, the provinces, and Spanish-speaking Central and South America were busily performing zarzuela in repertory. Of particular note is composer Francisco Asenjo Barbieri who aimed to create a distinctively national operatic style which fused the traditional tonadilla and the old, aristocratic drama into a new form evolved from Italian

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

. In contrast, Emilio Arrieta stayed closer to ‘pure’ Romantic Italian models in such zarzuelas as ''Marina'' (1855). The two became intense rivals within the eyes of the public and their competitive behavior made zarzuela extremely popular. Other composers, such as

Tomás Bretón Tomás Bretón y Hernández (29 December 1850 – 2 December 1923) was a Spanish Conducting, conductor and composer. Biography Tomás Bretón was born in Salamanca. He completed his musical studies at the School of Fine Arts in his hometown, w ...

and

Ruperto Chapí Ruperto Chapí y Lorente (27 March 1851 – 25 March 1909) was a Spanish composer, and co-founder of the Sociedad General de Autores y Editores, Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers. Biography Chapí was born at Villena, the son of a loc ...

, wrote smaller zarzuelas known as '' género chico'' which were

farces Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity ...

in one-act. These farcical operas often contained social or political satire and usually contained less music and more spoken dialogue than other forms of zarzuela. The género chico reached its height of popularity in the 1880s and 1890s with composer Federico Chueca. In the 20th century, the zarzuela evolved with popular taste, though the mixture of spoken play and operatic music in roughly equal proportions remained. Some composers created operatic-scale zarzuelas, with a greater proportion of music and not only comical plots. ''Las golondrinas'' by José María Usandizaga, Rafael Millán's ''La dogaresa'' (1920), Amadeu Vives' ''Doña Francisquita'' (1923) or ''La villana'' (1927) are true operas with some spoken dialogues. Operetta-zarzuelas, most notably 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 ...

and

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 ...

, coexisted with revue-style farces such as Francisco Alonso's ''Las leandras'' (1931) and sentimental

verismo In opera, , from , meaning 'true', was a post-Romantic operatic tradition associated with Italian composers such as Pietro Mascagni, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Umberto Giordano, Francesco Cilea and Giacomo Puccini. ''Verismo'' as an operatic ge ...

dramas such as José Serrano's '' La dolorosa'' (1930). In the 1930s Pablo Sorozábal attempted to restore the satirical thrust of the 1890s, but after the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, the distinctive quality of zarzuela was lost in imitations of the Broadway musical. Since 1960, very few new works have entered the repertory, but the popularity of the classic zarzuelas continues.

Through-sung opera

Although many through-sung Spanish operas have been written, either full-length or in one act, very few have entered the international repertoire.

Manuel de Falla Manuel de Falla y Matheu (, 23 November 187614 November 1946) was a Spanish composer and pianist. Along with Isaac Albéniz, Francisco Tárrega, and Enrique Granados, he was one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20t ...

's '' La vida breve'' and

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 ...

's '' Goyescas'' are one-act works often heard and seen in Spain and abroad.

's '' La Dolores'',

's '' Margarita la tornera'' and certain English-language operas of

Isaac Albéniz Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (; 29 May 1860 – 18 May 1909) was a Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the post-romantic era who also had a significant influence on his con ...

- notably ''

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

'' and '' Pepita Jiménez'' - are full-length works which have been performed in Europe and America as well as Spain. Spanish-language operas written and widely-heard in the Americas and elsewhere include three by

Alberto Ginastera Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical music, 20th-century classical composers of the Americas. Biography G ...

- notably ''

Bomarzo Bomarzo is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Viterbo (Lazio, Central Italy), in the lower valley of the Tiber. It is located east-northeast of Viterbo and north-northwest of Rome. History The city's current name is a derivation of ...

,'' (New York, 1967); and the Mexican composer Daniel Catán's '' Florencia en el Amazonas'' (Houston, 1996).

References

Sources

*Nicholas Temperley: "Opera", ''Grove Music Online'' ed. L. Macy (Accessed October 25, 2008)
(subscription access)
*Christopher Webber: '' The Zarzuela Companion'' (Scarecrow Press Inc., 2002) Lib. Cong. 2002110168 /

External links

{{Music of Spain Opera in Spain

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 ...