Route through Spain through the Zarzuela
From Galicia to Murcia, from Extremadura to Aragón, the Operetta He has told stories that move us because they are so ours that they have touched our hearts. Otherwise, how could we explain that even today, almost a century after they were fashionable, continue to represent successfully ? Many of the popular expressions that we still use** come from the Zarzuela and have contributed to creating our identity and underlining the character of many regions of Spain**. Here are some of them.
ANDALUSIA
Luis Alonso's wedding
Lyrical sainete set in Cádiz which recounts the wedding of Luis Alonso, a dance teacher in his fifties, who is going to marry María Jesús, a girl much younger than him, but who is still in love with the young Gabrié. The intermission is probably one of the most popular and vibrant of the history of Zarzuela.
the early
the early
Set in Granada, it tells the story of María, the early one, in love with Don Luis, an Andalusian gentleman. A drama of unrequited love recently performed at the Teatro de la Zarzuela, which serves to reflect in a manners way the inequality between two social classes: the gentlemen and the gypsies of Granada. The number that has become essential for Zarzuela soloists is 'The tarantula' , which has been interpreted by artists of the stature of Teresa Berganza or even Marujita Díaz.
ARAGON
Giants and big headeds
This Zarzuela is a monument to the Aragonese character that ensures that they are Giants for their willpower and Big Heads for their stubbornness . The story begins in the Zaragoza market with Pilar , who has just received a letter from her boyfriend, Jesús, who is in the war in Cuba, and since Pilar does not know how to read, she asks the sergeant to read it to her. As the sergeant is in love with her, he lies to her and tells her that Jesús has married and that he is not going to come back, but she does not quite believe it, because that is why she is very stubborn. When Jesus returns from Cuba singing the famous 'Chorus of returnees' , the sergeant also lies to him and tells him that Pilar has got married, but he doesn't believe her either, because for that he is even more stubborn . Special patriotic exaltation mention for the jack 'Fighting stubborn and rude, great for setbacks, we are the Aragonese, Giants and Big Heads!'. In the end the truth is clarified, Pilar and Jesús meet again and are happy and eat lamb and crumbs.
CASTILLA LA MANCHA
The guest of the Sevillian
The action takes place in Toledo in the 17th century, when the young painter Juan Luis is commissioned to paint an Immaculate Virgin for the Royal Oratory. The artist hopes to find a woman in the city who will serve as a model and he knows the beautiful Raquel and, of course, he falls in love with her. In this Zarzuela, the song to the Toledan sword 'Fiel Espada Triumphant', the choir of lagarteranas and the Romanza by Juan Luis 'Mujer de los ojos negros' have gone down in history.
The Saffron Rose
Although it is not located in any specific town, it is said that 'The saffron rose' It is set in La Mancha and talks about love between social classes of the farmer Juan Pedro in love with Ama Sagrario. The first act begins with the happy seguidilla from La Mancha ‘Although I am from La Mancha, I do not stain anyone, more than four would like to have my blood’ and Catalina’s song with the choir of the gleaners ‘This morning very early, I left the town with the attic’ is also very famous.
CASTILE AND LEON
The one from Soto del Parral
The story takes place in a Segovian country estate called ‘The Grove of the Parral’ , in which Germán and his wife Aurora live, helped by the young man Damián and the maid Catalina, determined to marry Damián. Rural costumbrismo and the popular spirit stand out in such traditional numbers as 'Where will our young men be, who don't want to come to the appointment' or 'In the summit the water is born, in the plain is the flower'.
Marine
CATALONIA
Marine
The play begins on the beach Lloret de Mar, on the Costa Brava , when the orphan Marina awaits the return of her stepbrother Jorge, with whom she is secretly in love with her. Messes aside, everything ends well because Marina is reciprocated and they end up together, leaving mythical numbers along the way like Jorge's song to his homeland ‘Levante coast, Lloret beach’ or the anthem when drinking to forget the sorrows of love ‘To drink, to drink and to rush’.
CANTABRIAN COAST
The port tavern
The story takes place in the invented town of Cantabreda, on the shores of the Cantabrian Sea . Marola runs the port tavern, which was financed by the bandit Juan de Eguía , who everyone believes is her husband, but is actually her father. Sailor Leandro falls in love with her and asks her to run away with him. Some of the most popular fragments are the duet of Marola and Leandro 'Sailor go to sea' , in which he declares himself to her, and Leandro's romanzo 'Can not be' , when she assures that "the eyes that cry, do not know how to lie".
The port tavern
ESTREMADURA
Luisa Fernanda
Although part of the action takes place in Madrid, the other part takes place on the estate of 'The Leafy' , near Piedras Albas (Cáceres). Luisa Fernanda is in love with Javier, a playful military man who she considers her boyfriend, but who doesn't pay any attention to her. One day she meets Vidal, an honest landowner from Extremadura who proposes to her and offers to go to her farmhouse in Extremadura. Also well known are the numbers of the 'Knight of the tall duster' Y 'In a pasture in Extremadura', which includes Vidal Hernando's ballad 'Ay, mi Morena'.
GALICIA
Maruxa
Although Amadeo Vives conceived it as Zarzuela, Maruxa premiered as an opera at the Teatro Real in Madrid . The work begins in a Galician meadow where the young shepherdess Maruxa is taking care of Ella Linda de Ella and singing her love for Pastor Pablo . It has a marked rural atmosphere and folkloric touches, with two musical numbers in which Galician is used. The best known fragment is the famous 'Gon, Swallow'.
Maruxa
MADRID
The city of the traditional par excellence, of the chulapos, of the chulapas and of the compliments (towards men and women) said with great art , salt shaker and a spark of mischief.
The Festival of the Dove
Who has not ever heard that "Where are you going with a manila shawl" or "a brunette and a blonde" said with a bit of joke? Well, it's from 'The festival of the Dove' , a zarzuela with music by Tomás Bretón, subtitled as ‘The apothecary, the chulapas and badly repressed jealousy’ , which tells how an honest typesetter quarrels with her girlfriend after seeing her out for a walk with a dirty old apothecary at the La Paloma festival. It can't be more cañí . And it also ends well because the boys basically love each other and fix themselves up, even though a good party has been set up.
1963 film with Conchita Piquer and Vicente Parra.
the unruly
This lyrical sainete, with music by Ruperto Chapí, takes place in a Madrid corrala in which two neighbors, Felipe and Mari Pepa They are in love with each other but they hide it because they don't want to admit it. After several attacks of jealousy on both sides, throwing a few taunts and a lot of drama and intensity, they end up recognizing that they love each other and everything has a happy ending.
The Barber of Lavapiés
The play parodies a bit of opera buffa 'The Barber of Seville' , but here everything is done the Spanish way, so the work is set in the Madrid of Carlos III, with a Goyesque setting, mentions of characters such as Grimaldi, Sabatini or Floridablanca and libretto by Luis Mariano de Larra, son of the famous journalist Mariano José de Larra . The history begins in the surroundings of El Pardo, when Lamparill a, a barber from the Lavapiés neighbourhood, meets a seamstress named Paloma, who was born on Calle de la Paloma whom he wants and together they celebrate the Pilgrimage of San Eugenio.
Complete zarzuela and assembly of the Teatro de la Zarzuela of 2019.
The Barber of Lavapiés
the great road
With music by Federico Chueca and Joaquín Valverde , La Gran Vía is a satirical musical magazine and a tribute to the streets of Madrid. La Zarzuela begins with the birth of Doña Municipalidad, who gives birth to a new creature, the Gran Vía, and is attended by the streets, squares and neighborhoods of the capital. Some of the numbers are already the history of our country, such as the Caballero de Gracia Waltz, the Menegilda Tango, the Eliseo Chotis or the Las Ratas jota, even covered by Las Supremas de Móstoles.
Dona Francisquita
Amadeo Vives signs the music of what is possibly one of the greatest zarzuelas of all time, which he knew how to capture the spirit of Madrid like few others. Francisquita is in love with Fernando , which in turn wants to Aurora 'The Beltrana' , but Francisquita does not give up and hatches a plan to win him over. Some of the best known pieces are the triplet 'I feel sorry for a man, mother' , the ballad of 'Through the smoke you know where the fire is' and the Choir of romantics ‘Where does it go? Where does joy go?’ . Separate special mention deserves the Fandango interpreted by the great Lucero Tena , undisputed master of castanets.
Complete zarzuela. MAX 2020 Award for the best musical or lyrical show for this production of the Teatro de la Zarzuela.
Dona Francisquita
The one with the bunch of roses
Set in Madrid in the 1930s (of the last century), Sorozábal knew how to mix popular rhythms such as the pasable or the mazurka with other contemporaries such as the fox trot in this fun lyrical sainete or the farruca. In the flower shop 'La del manojo de Rosas' Ascensión works, which Joaquín wants , a mechanic from the garage next door, and Ricardo, a gentleman turned pilot. Among the best-known numbers are 'I didn't cut more than a rose in the garden of love', 'Madrileña, Bonita' or the Havana song 'What times those' that they sing when the two lovers meet again and say what they should have said years ago.
Complete zarzuela. Version of the Teatro de la Zarzuela 2020.
MURCIA
The joy of the garden
Carola and Alegrías have been in love since they were little, but they are victims of a marriage of convenience arranged by her parents . This zarzuela plays on words between the famous Murcian Huerta and the name of the protagonist, Alegrías. In the end love triumphs and everyone is happy singing the well-known 'Huertanica of my life'.
BASQUE COUNTRY
the farmhouse
Santi is a single Indian who lives with his two nephews, José Miguel and Ana Mari, in a family farmhouse called Sasíbil, in the imaginary village of Arrigorri. So that the property is not divided, he intends to marry them, but although Ana Mari has feelings for her cousin, José Miguel only thinks about his carefree life as a pelota player . One day, he realizes that he begins to see her with different eyes and sings the ballad 'I don't know what I see in Ana Mari'.
Complete zarzuela. Installation of the Teatro de la Zarzuela. 2019
the farmhouse