Atlántida (opera)
Atlántida (Atlantis) is an opera by Manuel de Falla based on the Catalan poem L'Atlàntida by Jacint Verdaguer.
Atlántida started in the 1920s as a cantata, but grew over 20 years to become a full opera.[1] Falla died in Argentina before it was finished, leaving a loose collection of sketches. The long work of editing and completion was undertaken by Ernesto Halffter.[2]
When finally completed, the opera appeared in 1962 at the Liceu, Barcelona, in a concert version conducted by Eduard Toldrà and with Victoria de los Ángeles. The same year it was presented in a staged production at La Scala, Milan, under the baton of Thomas Schippers with Lino Puglisi, Giulietta Simionato and Teresa Stratas, then in Berlin and Buenos Aires, and America conducted by Ernest Ansermet.
The opera has three major singing roles: the narrator Corifeo (baritone), an old man who tells Columbus of the sinking of Atlantis, Queen Pyrene (mezzo-soprano), and Queen Isabella (soprano), then minor roles such as the three-headed Geryones (three tenors).[3]
Recordings
- Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos EMI 1976
- complete: Simon Estes, María Bayo, Teresa Berganza Coral Universitat de less Illes Balears. Coro Polifonico Universitario de la Laguna. Orfeon Navarra Reverter. Orfeon Universitario Simon Bolivar. Pequenos Cantores de Valencia. Joven Orquesta Nacional de España. Edmon Colomer Valois 2CD
References
- ↑ Nancy Lee Harper Manuel de Falla: his life and music 2005 "Falla envisioned a one-act scenic cantata, with accompanying murals, although the initial idea became modified through time. He drew on literary and historical sources that may be classified into six categories: (1) Atlantis legend;"
- ↑ Saturday review: 45 4 Cairns Collection of American Women Writers – 1962 "Long awaited, even longer deferred (Ernesto Halffter took nearly as long to complete and edit it as Manuel de Falla, who died in 1946, took to create it)"
- ↑ Time, 1962