List of Argentine operas
Encyclopedia
This is a list of operas by Argentine composers. Argentina
's first native born opera
composer was Francisco Hargreaves (1849-1900) who composed La gatta bianca (1875) and Los estudiantes de Bologna (1897), followed by Zenón Rolón
(1856-1902) who composed several operas as well as operetta
s and zarzuela
s. The works of many of the composers from this generation were first performed outside Argentina. Native Argentine opera was to develop much more with the massive European (mainly Italian) inmigration in the late 19th century and even more with the opening of the Teatro Colón in 1908 where most of the 20th century operas listed here had their world premieres. Some of the first operas to treat Argentine subjects or national themes were Arturo Berutti's Pampa (1897) based on the life of Juan Moreira
and Yupanki (1899) based on the life of Inca warrior Manqu Inka Yupanki
. Also notable in this genre were Felipe Boero
's Tucumán (1918) set during the Battle of Tucumán
and El matrero (1929). Considered by many to be the quintessential Argentine opera, El matrero had a libretto
based on gaucho
folk tradition and incorporated Argentine folk melodies and a traditional gaucho dance. The Spanish playwright Federico García Lorca
was also the inspiration for several Argentine operas. His plays, La zapatera prodigiosa and Bodas de sangre
, were the basis of operas by Juan José Castro
, while Osvaldo Golijov
's 2003 opera Ainadamar
is based on events in the playwright's life.
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
's first native born opera
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...
composer was Francisco Hargreaves (1849-1900) who composed La gatta bianca (1875) and Los estudiantes de Bologna (1897), followed by Zenón Rolón
Zenón Rolón
Zenón Rolón was an Afro Argentine musician and composer. Born in Buenos Aires, he composed approximately 80 works including operas, operettas, zarzuelas and sacred music. Rolón also founded a music publishing company which published numerous works by contemporary Argentine composers...
(1856-1902) who composed several operas as well as operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
s and zarzuela
Zarzuela
Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...
s. The works of many of the composers from this generation were first performed outside Argentina. Native Argentine opera was to develop much more with the massive European (mainly Italian) inmigration in the late 19th century and even more with the opening of the Teatro Colón in 1908 where most of the 20th century operas listed here had their world premieres. Some of the first operas to treat Argentine subjects or national themes were Arturo Berutti's Pampa (1897) based on the life of Juan Moreira
Juan Moreira
Juan Moreira is a well-known figure in the history of Argentina, an outlaw, gaucho and folk-hero, was indeed one of the more renowned Argentinian rural bandits.-Early life:...
and Yupanki (1899) based on the life of Inca warrior Manqu Inka Yupanki
Manco Inca Yupanqui
Manco Inca Yupanqui was one of the Incas of Vilcabamba. He was also known as "Manco II" and "Manco Cápac II" . Born in 1516, he was one of the sons of Huayna Cápac and came from a lower class of the nobility.Túpac Huallpa, a puppet ruler crowned by conquistador Francisco Pizarro, died in 1533...
. Also notable in this genre were Felipe Boero
Felipe Boero
Felipe Boero was an Argentine composer and music educator. He is most famous for composing the opera El Matrero, considered one of the national operas of Argentina; among his other works is the opera Tucumán, about the Battle of Tucumán. He also was interested in education policy...
's Tucumán (1918) set during the Battle of Tucumán
Battle of Tucumán
The Battle of Tucumán was a battle fought on 24 and 25 September 1812 near the Argentine city of San Miguel de Tucumán, during the Argentine War of Independence. The Army of the North, commanded by General Manuel Belgrano, defeated the royalist troops commanded by General Pío de Tristán, who had a...
and El matrero (1929). Considered by many to be the quintessential Argentine opera, El matrero had 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...
based on gaucho
Gaucho
Gaucho is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas, chacos, or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Chile, and Southern Brazil...
folk tradition and incorporated Argentine folk melodies and a traditional gaucho dance. The Spanish playwright Federico García Lorca
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
was also the inspiration for several Argentine operas. His plays, La zapatera prodigiosa and Bodas de sangre
Bodas de sangre
Blood Wedding is a tragedy by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1932 and first performed in Madrid in March 1933 and later that year in Buenos Aires...
, were the basis of operas by Juan José Castro
Juan José Castro
Juan José Castro was an Argentine composer and conductor.Born in Avellaneda, Castro studied piano and violin under Manuel Posadas and composition under Eduarno Fornarini, in Buenos Aires. In the 1920s he was awarded the Europa Prize, and then went on to study in Paris at the Schola Cantorum under...
, while Osvaldo Golijov
Osvaldo Golijov
Osvaldo Noé Golijov is a Grammy award–winning composer of classical music.-Biography:Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family that had emigrated to Argentina in the 1920s from Romania and Russia.Golijov has developed a rich musical language, the result of...
's 2003 opera Ainadamar
Ainadamar
Ainadamar means "Fountain of Tears" in Arabic, and is the first opera by Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov. The libretto is by American playwright David Henry Hwang. It premiered in Tanglewood on August 10, 2003. After major revisions, the new version premiered at the Santa Fe Opera on July 30,...
is based on events in the playwright's life.
19th century
- Il fidanzato del mare by Héctor Panizza; opera in one act to a libretto by Romeo Carugati; premiered 15 August 1897, Teatro de la Ópera, Buenos AiresBuenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
20th century
- Medioevo latino by Héctor Panizza; opera (triptych) in three acts to a libretto by Luigi IllicaLuigi IllicaLuigi Illica was an Italian librettist who wrote for Giacomo Puccini , Alfredo Catalani, Umberto Giordano, Baron Alberto Franchetti and other important Italian composers. His most famous opera librettos are those for La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Andrea Chénier.Illica was born at...
; premiered 17 November 1900, Teatro Politeama Genovese, GenoaGenoaGenoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
- AuroraAurora (opera)Aurora is an opera in three acts by the Argentine composer Héctor Panizza set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Hector Quesada. Composed in 1907, Aurora became the second national opera of Argentina, after Felipe Boero's more popular El Matrero. Although its plot is set in Argentina,...
by Héctor Panizza; opera in three acts to a libretto by Luigi Illica after Hector Quesada; premiered 5 September 1908, Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires (revised version in Spanish premiered 1945)
- Tucumán by Felipe BoeroFelipe BoeroFelipe Boero was an Argentine composer and music educator. He is most famous for composing the opera El Matrero, considered one of the national operas of Argentina; among his other works is the opera Tucumán, about the Battle of Tucumán. He also was interested in education policy...
; opera in one act to a libretto by Leopoldo Díaz; premiered 29 June 1918, Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires
- Ariana y Dionysos by Felipe Boero; opera in one act to a libretto by Leopoldo Díaz; premiered 7 August 1920, Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires
- Raquela by Felipe Boero; opera in one act to a libretto by Víctor Mercadante; premiered 26 June 1923, Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires
- Las Bacantes by Felipe Boero; opera in three acts to a libretto after EuripidesEuripidesEuripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
, translated by Leopoldo Longhi; premiered 19 September 1925, Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires
- El matrero by Felipe Boero; opera in three acts to a libretto by Yamandú Rodríguez; premiered 12 July 1929, Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires
- Siripo by Felipe Boero; opera in three acts to a libretto by Luis Bayón-Herrera, after Manuel de Lavardén; premiered 8 June 1937, Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires
- Bizancio by Héctor Panizza; opera (poema dramático) in three acts to a libretto by Gustavo Macchi after Auguste Bailly, premiered 25 July 1939, Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires Buenos Aires
- La zapatera prodigosa by Juan José CastroJuan José CastroJuan José Castro was an Argentine composer and conductor.Born in Avellaneda, Castro studied piano and violin under Manuel Posadas and composition under Eduarno Fornarini, in Buenos Aires. In the 1920s he was awarded the Europa Prize, and then went on to study in Paris at the Schola Cantorum under...
; opera in three acts after Federico Garcia LorcaFederico García LorcaFederico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
; premiered 1943, UruguayUruguayUruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
- Proserpina y el extranjero by Juan José Castro; opera in three acts after Omar del Carlo; premiered 17 March 1952, La ScalaLa ScalaLa Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
, MilanMilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
- Zincalí by Felipe Boero; opera in three acts to a libretto by Arturo Capdevila; premiered 12 November 1954, Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires
- Bodas di sangre by Juan José Castro; opera in three acts after Federico Garcia Lorca; premiered 9 August 1956, Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires
- Don RodrigoDon RodrigoDon Rodrigo is an opera in three acts by Alberto Ginastera, the composer's first opera, to an original Spanish libretto by Alejandro Casona. Ginastera composed the opera on commission from the Municipality of the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first performance was at the Teatro Colón,...
by Alberto GinasteraAlberto GinasteraAlberto Evaristo Ginastera was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered one of the most important Latin American classical composers.- Biography :...
; opera in three acts to a libretto by Alejandro CasonaAlejandro CasonaAlejandro Rodríguez Álvarez, known as Alejandro Casona was a Spanish poet and playwright born in Besullo, Spain, a member of the Generation of '27. Casona received his bachelor's degree in Gijon and later studied at the University of Murcia. After Franco's rise in 1936, he was forced, like many...
; premiered 24 July 1964, Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires
- Bomarzo by Alberto Ginastera; opera in two acts to a libretto by Manuel Mujica LáinezManuel Mujica LaínezManuel Mujica Láinez was an Argentine novelist, essayist and art critic.-Biography:...
; premiered 19 May 1967, Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
- María de Buenos AiresMaría de Buenos AiresMaría de Buenos Aires is a tango opera with music by Ástor Piazzolla. and libretto by Horacio Ferrer which premiered at the Sala Planeta in Buenos Aires in May 1968....
by Ástor PiazzollaÁstor PiazzollaÁstor Pantaleón Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player. His oeuvre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music...
; opera (tangoTango musicTango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...
operita) to a libretto by Horacio Ferrer; premiered May 1968, Sala Planeta, Buenos Aires
- Beatrix CenciBeatrix CenciBeatrix Cenci is an opera in two acts by Alberto Ginastera to a Spanish libretto by the composer and William Shand, based on the historical family of Beatrice Cenci, the Chroniques italiennes by Stendhal, and The Cenci by Percy Shelley. The first performance was on 10 September 1971 by the Opera...
by Alberto Ginastera; opera in two acts to libretto by the composer, William Shand, and A. Girri; premiered 10 September 1971, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing ArtsJohn F. Kennedy Center for the Performing ArtsThe John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...
, Washington, D.C.
- Barabbas by Alberto Ginastera; opera after Michel de Ghelderode (begun 1977, unfinished)
21st century
- AinadamarAinadamarAinadamar means "Fountain of Tears" in Arabic, and is the first opera by Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov. The libretto is by American playwright David Henry Hwang. It premiered in Tanglewood on August 10, 2003. After major revisions, the new version premiered at the Santa Fe Opera on July 30,...
by Osvaldo GolijovOsvaldo GolijovOsvaldo Noé Golijov is a Grammy award–winning composer of classical music.-Biography:Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family that had emigrated to Argentina in the 1920s from Romania and Russia.Golijov has developed a rich musical language, the result of...
; opera in three images to a libretto by David Henry HwangDavid Henry HwangDavid Henry Hwang is an American playwright who has risen to prominence as the preeminent Asian American dramatist in the U.S.He was born in Los Angeles, California and was educated at the Yale School of Drama and Stanford University...
; premiered 10 August 2003, Tanglewood Music FestivalTanglewood Music FestivalThe Tanglewood Music Festival is a music festival held every summer on the Tanglewood estate in Lenox, Massachusetts in the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts....
(revised version premiered 30 July 2005, Santa Fe OperaSanta Fe OperaThe Santa Fe Opera is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe in the U.S. state of New Mexico, headquartered on a former guest ranch of .-General history:...
)