Guatimotzin
Encyclopedia
Guatimotzin is an opera
in one act and nine scenes composed by Aniceto Ortega del Villar
to a libretto
in Spanish by José Tomás de Cuéllar. It premiered on 13 September 1871 at the Gran Teatro Nacional in Mexico City
. Described as an episodio musical (musical episode), its plot is based on the defense of Mexico by its last Aztec
emperor, Cuauhtémoc
(also known as Guatimotzin). It was one of the earliest Mexican operas to use a native subject.
, Guatimotzin was one of the earliest Mexican operas to use a native subject and to incorporate indigenous music into its score.
Aniceto Ortega
, who was also a prominent physician and surgeon, worked on the composition in his free time between patients and late at night. His references to native music can be seen especially in the dances "Tlaxcaltec
a" (which quotes a Mexican folk tune, "El perico") and "Tzotzopizahuac". According to Robert Stevenson
, the latter resembles the third movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony rather more than it does indigenous music, but the score would later cause Ortega "to be hailed as a Mexican Glinka
".
The libretto in Spanish verse was written by José Tomás de Cuéllar, a well known poet, playwright, and novelist and the editor of several Mexican periodicals, including La Linterna Magica and La Illustracion Potosina. His fictional works often had a spiritual element and dealt with themes from native Mexican culture. When de Cuéllar became ill at one point, Ortega also worked on parts of the libretto.
Guatimotzin premiered on 13 September 1871 at the Gran Teatro Nacional in Mexico City. It was performed as a benefit for the conductor, Enrico Moderati, by members of Ángela Peralta
's opera company with Enrico Tamberlik
in the title role. The sets and costumes were designed by Riccardo Fontana, based on drawings in the Mendoza Codex
and advice from prominent historians. According to the art historian, Christopher Fulton, the opera's premiere was its sole performance. However, its staging may have influenced the depiction of Cuauhtémoc's torture and death in the bronze relief by Gabriel Guerra on the Cuauhtémoc Monument in Mexico City.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in one act and nine scenes composed by Aniceto Ortega del Villar
Aniceto Ortega
Aniceto de los Dolores Luis Gonzaga Ortega del Villar was a Mexican physician, composer, and pianist. Although he had a distinguished career as a physician and surgeon, he is also remembered today for his 1871 opera Guatimotzin, one of the earliest Mexican operas to use a native...
to a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
in Spanish by José Tomás de Cuéllar. It premiered on 13 September 1871 at the Gran Teatro Nacional in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. Described as an episodio musical (musical episode), its plot is based on the defense of Mexico by its last Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
emperor, Cuauhtémoc
Cuauhtémoc
Cuauhtémoc was the Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521...
(also known as Guatimotzin). It was one of the earliest Mexican operas to use a native subject.
Background and performance history
A romanticised account of the heroic but doomed defense of Mexico by its last Aztec emperor, CuauhtémocCuauhtémoc
Cuauhtémoc was the Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521...
, Guatimotzin was one of the earliest Mexican operas to use a native subject and to incorporate indigenous music into its score.
Aniceto Ortega
Aniceto Ortega
Aniceto de los Dolores Luis Gonzaga Ortega del Villar was a Mexican physician, composer, and pianist. Although he had a distinguished career as a physician and surgeon, he is also remembered today for his 1871 opera Guatimotzin, one of the earliest Mexican operas to use a native...
, who was also a prominent physician and surgeon, worked on the composition in his free time between patients and late at night. His references to native music can be seen especially in the dances "Tlaxcaltec
Tlaxcaltec
The Tlaxcalteca were an indigenous group of Nahua ethnicity that inhabited the Kingdom of Tlaxcala located in what is now the Mexican state of Tlaxcala.-Pre-hispanic history:...
a" (which quotes a Mexican folk tune, "El perico") and "Tzotzopizahuac". According to Robert Stevenson
Robert Stevenson (musicologist)
Robert Murrell Stevenson is an American musicologist. He studied at the college of mines and metallurgy of the University of Texas at El Paso]] , the Juilliard School of Music , Yale University and the University of Rochester ; further study took him to Harvard University , Princeton...
, the latter resembles the third movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony rather more than it does indigenous music, but the score would later cause Ortega "to be hailed as a Mexican Glinka
Mikhail Glinka
Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka , was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition within his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music...
".
The libretto in Spanish verse was written by José Tomás de Cuéllar, a well known poet, playwright, and novelist and the editor of several Mexican periodicals, including La Linterna Magica and La Illustracion Potosina. His fictional works often had a spiritual element and dealt with themes from native Mexican culture. When de Cuéllar became ill at one point, Ortega also worked on parts of the libretto.
Guatimotzin premiered on 13 September 1871 at the Gran Teatro Nacional in Mexico City. It was performed as a benefit for the conductor, Enrico Moderati, by members of Ángela Peralta
Ángela Peralta
Ángela Peralta was an operatic soprano of international fame and a leading figure in the operatic life of 19th century Mexico...
's opera company with Enrico Tamberlik
Enrico Tamberlik
Enrico Tamberlik was an Italian tenor who sang to great acclaim at Europe and America's leading opera venues. He excelled in the heroic roles of the Italian and French repertories and was renowned for his powerful declamation and clarion high notes.-Career:Born in Rome, some sources claim that...
in the title role. The sets and costumes were designed by Riccardo Fontana, based on drawings in the Mendoza Codex
Codex Mendoza
The Codex Mendoza is an Aztec codex, created about twenty years after the Spanish conquest of Mexico with the intent that it be seen by Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain...
and advice from prominent historians. According to the art historian, Christopher Fulton, the opera's premiere was its sole performance. However, its staging may have influenced the depiction of Cuauhtémoc's torture and death in the bronze relief by Gabriel Guerra on the Cuauhtémoc Monument in Mexico City.
Principal roles
- Princess Malintzin (sopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
) created by Ángela Peralta - Cuauhtémoc (tenorTenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
) created by Enrico TamberlikEnrico TamberlikEnrico Tamberlik was an Italian tenor who sang to great acclaim at Europe and America's leading opera venues. He excelled in the heroic roles of the Italian and French repertories and was renowned for his powerful declamation and clarion high notes.-Career:Born in Rome, some sources claim that... - Hernán CortésHernán CortésHernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...
(bassBass (voice type)A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...
) created by Louis Gassier
Sources
- Bonaparte, Roland, Le Mexique au début du 20e siècle, C. Delagrave, 1904
- Cambas, Manuel Rivera, México Pintoresco, Vol. 1, La Reforma, 1880
- de Olavarría y Ferrari, Enrique, Reseña histórica del teatro en México, Volume 3, La Europea, 1895
- Fulton, Christopher, "Cuauhtémoc regained", Estudios de Historia Moderna y Contemporánea de México, No. 36, January–June 2008, pp. 5–47
- García Mora, Carlos and Krotz, Esteban, La Antropología en México: Panorama histórico, Volume 9, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 1988. ISBN 9686038728
- Grout, Donald Jay and Williams, Hermine Weigel, A short history of opera, Columbia University Press, 2003. ISBN 0231119585
- International Musicological Society, Report of the International Musicological Society Congress, Vol. 1, Bärenreiter, 1993
- Price, Curtis Alexander et al., Italian Opera in Late Eighteenth-century London: The King's Theatre, Haymarket, 1778-1791, Oxford University Press, 1995. ISBN 0198161662
- Velázquez, Guillermo Orta, Breve historia de la música en México, Librería de M. Porrúa, 1971
- Werner, Michael S., Concise encyclopedia of Mexico, Taylor & Francis, 2001. ISBN 1579583377