The program showcases Spanish-themed operas, highlighting the cultural heritage of Spain in addition to Cuban music.
Daniel Daroca, the music director of the Opera Atelier, says that the title of the evening evokes a sense of the past.
"It immediately transports us to the realm of nostalgia, as it poetically evokes our exile from Spain, followed by our departure from Cuba (here, Cuba symbolizes any of the sister republics of Latin America). For Latin Americans, Spain serves as an anchor, tethering us to the roots of the Arcadia from which we sprang," Daroca says.
The program includes selections from operas such as Il Trovatore, Don Carlo, Ernani, and Carmen, as well as selections from zarzuela, often referred to as the Spanish equivalent of operetta. "Selections that are representative of specific themes," Daroca adds. "In 'Tu che le vanitá' from Verdi's Don Carlo, Elisabetta decries the futility of life, a central theme in Spanish literature, and comments on her involuntary exile. The aria also indirectly reveals the exploitation of women, traded as pawns in political marriages. There is much richness in the text, translated later by the composer into exalted music."
Soloists include Jorge Arcila, Yetzabel Arias, Marinel Cruz, Greisel Domínguez, Eglise Gutiérrez, Carlos Jimeno, Erzhan Kulibaev, Silvia Ludueña, and Carlos Silva, accompanied by pianists Eva Garrucho and Daroca.
The evening will also pay homage to Cuban musicians who have left their mark on the world stage, introducing rhythms like rumba, bolero, guaracha, mambo, son cubano, and salsa. Throughout the program, classical melodies by composers such as Ernest Lecuona, who composed more than 600 works, and the also-prolific Jorge Anckermann, will be featured.
Greisel Dominguez, opera singer and choir director of Voices of Miami, says that the Miami chorus, which has been part of the community since 2014, has frequently collaborated with the Opera Atelier.
Singers Silvia Ludueña and Carlos Silva perform during the Opera Atelier's "Spain, My Love" program in 2021.
Photo by Javier Fontanella
According to Dominguez, the group is "spreading its wings" with more collaborations, such as the one with FIU, and performances with groups like the Opera Atelier. "Sometimes this type of music can be thought of as old fashioned, but we work to erase this frame of mind. We do this by increasing people's knowledge and desire of opera, Zarzuela, and classical music in all its forms."
Founded in 2011, the Opera Atelier is dedicated to revitalizing opera and promoting aesthetic education, Daroca says."[We] strive to go beyond the trappings, the empty gestures, and the common places that sometimes mire the art form. Instead, TOA seeks to engage the audience in universal and contemporary themes."
Its "Culture for the Mind and the Heart" underscores the group's commitment to education by staging diverse works, including classics and experimental pieces like Miami Transfer or La voix humaine by Poulenc. They also create original operas for children performed by children, such as The Not So Little Prince and Frau Haydn in Trouble.
A series presented in collaboration with the Miami-Dade Public Library, according to Daroca, was dedicated to creative women. Entitled "No Room of Her Own," after Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, Daroca says that "the activities brought to the fore the prejudices and difficulties women encountered solely because of their gender."
Daroca invites audiences unfamiliar with opera to get an introduction with "Spain, My Love; Cuba, My Love," as the program will be an enticing entry point into the art form.
"Opera, at its core, is sung drama, and this production combines rich variety and theatrical elements," he says. "Brilliant zarzuela selections provide a fiery contrast while the music of Cuba will submerge the audience in moments of nostalgia."
– Jonel Juste, ArtburstMiami.com
"Spain, My Love; Cuba, My Love." 8 p.m. Saturday, September 30, at the Miracle Theatre, 280 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables; 786-560-6845; theoperaatelier.org. Tickets cost $20 to $45 via actorsplayhouse.org.
