Placido Domungo
Anthing he does is superb. The true sense of Spanish color and culture was in "Gato Montes" at all times. What a wonderful zarzuela! Please, MORE ZARZUELAS!
Delightful Spanish zaruela/operetta. Terrific music.
I really love "ethnic operas", by which I mean works from a specific region, written in that language, using their folk idioms, and stories and characters. In this group I include Czech opera, Polish opera (Moniuzcko), Mussorgsky, Finnish opera (recent), and the Spanish zarzuelas. The local color, language, characters, and musical language of each of these really catch my attention.
This work by Manuel Penella is certainly a fine one. I have seen it called an opera, an operetta, and a zarzuela (a Spanish form of opera with spoken dialogue, much like the French opera comique). No matter. It doesn't matter what you call it, just enjoy the pleasure of the music.
This dvd is from a performance in Los Angeles made for PBS television, and it is very good. Placido Domingo (who apparently performed one of children's roles when he was about 8), is terrific as the matador "El Macareno" (NOT the dance) in love with Solea. She loves him back.
BUT into the...
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