Carmen Larios and Eduardo Pomares
Brought to New York City by Musica Viva, an important organization in support of the arts, the young artists from Teatro Real of Madrid presented a most satisfying concert of favorites from the world of opera and zarzuela. Regular readers can guess what excited us the most. In light of the facts that we get to hear a lot of arias and duets from the operatic canon but rarely get a taste of the delicious works from the world of zarzuela, it was the end of the program that captured our heart, and the encore which left us ecstatic.
Readers who are unfamiliar with this traditional Spanish art form and its evolution in the New World would do well to learn more than we have space for here. Let us just mention that zarzuelas involve elaborate and convoluted plots mostly about (like Italian operas of the 19th century) love and patriotism. What is outstanding about zarzuelas is the presence of gorgeous melodies, similar to works of that period, even those that were composed in the early 20th century. What is unique is the presence of a very large cast including dancers, a feature that makes zarzuela a costly and difficult art form to produce here in the United States. We must content ourselves with the occasional aria or duet.
The singers from the young artist program of Teatro Real made a fine showing also in the operatic genre but please allow us in our enthusiasm to wax rhapsodic over the zarzuela portion of the program. Morena Torroba's Luisa Fernanda was produced here in NYC a couple years ago by Opera Hispanica and it is a real winner. From this work we heard "Lucha la fe por el triunfo" performed by lyric baritone Enrique Torres Dominguez who surely conveyed the aspect of the dashing military man Xavier.
Following this we heard the familiar "No puede ser" from Sorozabal's La tabernera del puerto, sung by tenor Eduardo Pomares. Even more striking was a surprise encore featuring all four singers in the Habanera "Todas las mananitas" from Manuel Penella's Don Gil de Alcala--and what wouldn't we give to see this zarzuela performed in its entirety!
We already knew how beautifully integrated were the four voices because the program had ended officially with "Libiamo" from Verdi's La Traviata which always sends the audience out on a high note-- so to speak.
Speaking of high notes, we enjoyed both sopranos --Lucia Iglesias and Carmen Larios. We were particularly impressed by Ms. Iglesias' apt interpretation of the role of Musetta in "Quando m'en vo" from Puccini's La Boheme. She captured every nuance of Musetta's teasing of Marcello without tawdry overacting.
Carmen Larios delivered Juliet's waltz "Je veux vivre" from Gounod's Romeo et Juliette in fine French. The program notes provided a clear answer to the question of both soprano's musicality. They each studied piano from an early age; that may be a clue. Their duet "Sull'aria" from Mozart's Nozze di Figaro with Ms. Larios enacting the Countess and Ms. Iglesias taking the role of Susanna was a highlight of the evening. The different colors of their respective voices made the duet particularly appealing.
The two men also had a duet--everyone's favorite of course being "Au fond du temple saint" from Bizet's Les pecheurs du perles. In spite of the well chosen and well performed program, it is the zarzuela pieces that we will remember and hold closest to our heart. The accompanist for the evening was Gonzalo Villarreal who opened the program with a piano solo from Manuel de Falla's The Three Cornered Hat.
© meche kroop
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