* Notes *
The Bay Space premiere of Héctor Armienta’s Zorro (Eugene Brancoveanu and Xavier Prado pictured, {photograph} by David Allen) opened final evening at Opera San José in a eye-catching manufacturing with lovely enjoying and singing. The orchestra sounded splendid beneath Maestro Jorge Parodi.
The opera is earnest and heartfelt, the music fairly nice and unchallenging. Mariachi, flamenco, and corrido have been nicely built-in within the rating and the plot saved shifting at a superb tempo. The 2 love triangles (love rhombus, maybe) that anchor the narrative definitely held one’s consideration. The libretto is in Spanish and English, which may very well be complicated, I felt like I needed to preserve my eyes on the supertitles extra typically than I normally do.
The orchestra was very collectively, the strings sounded significantly good, as did the harp, guitar, and percussion. All of the transitions appeared to go easily, I did not discover any false begins or lack of cohesion in any way. It was spectacular for a prima, particularly of a brand new opera like this one. Parodi clearly ready nicely.
The singers are at all times the spotlight of any efficiency at this opera home, and this was no exception. From prime to backside it was a superb forged. I favored soprano Arianna Rodriguez within the small position of Luisa and her buffoonish love curiosity bass-baritone Jesús Vicente Murillo (Sergeant José Maria Gomez). It was fascinating to listen to mezzo-soprano Deborah Martínez Rosengaus (Toypurina) in a brand new work, as I’ve solely heard her sing obscure Baroque operas in tiny venues.
Baritone Eugene Brancoveanu is at all times so lovely to listen to, his voice is so constant and strong. His position of Octavio Rivera y Moncada was unremittingly evil, and he was booed by the viewers on the finish. Mezzo-soprano Melisa Bonetti Luna was the extremely noble and self-sacrificing Carlota de Obragón, she had a stunning Act II aria concerning the ache of her unrequited love.
Soprano Maria Brea was beautiful and fiery as Ana Maria Soza, the mestiza beloved of the title character. Her excessive notes have been incisive and hovering. Tenor Xavier Prado (Diego de la Vega / Zorro) additionally sang nicely, he is plaintive and robust all through his vary. He additionally was in a position to effortlessly leap up on a desk and was convincing as a swashbuckler.
* Tattling *
The viewers loved the efficiency very a lot, the patrons of this opera firm are devoted and fairly heat.
There was some gentle speaking at the beginning of Act II, however it died down pretty rapidly.
