Before the emergence of Daniel Catán, whose Rappaccini's Daughter (1991) and Florencia en el Amazonas (1996) have had considerable exposure and success, Mexican opera had passed largely under the radar of most opera lovers. Urtext's excellent new recording of La Mulata de Córdoba (1948) by José Pablo Moncayo (1912-1958) helps fill in that gap in awareness. La Mulata was Moncayo's only opera, and it appears to be sui generis. The term "magical realism" was not used in connection with Latin American literature until the 1960s ...
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Before the emergence of Daniel Catán, whose Rappaccini's Daughter (1991) and Florencia en el Amazonas (1996) have had considerable exposure and success, Mexican opera had passed largely under the radar of most opera lovers. Urtext's excellent new recording of La Mulata de Córdoba (1948) by José Pablo Moncayo (1912-1958) helps fill in that gap in awareness. La Mulata was Moncayo's only opera, and it appears to be sui generis. The term "magical realism" was not used in connection with Latin American literature until the 1960s, but it seems to be the most apt description of the work of Xavier Villaurrutia, who, in collaboration with Agustín Lazo, devised the libretto based on his poem of the same name. The story begins in Córdoba, where Soledad, a mysterious, ageless woman appears to cause the death of her beloved. The scene abruptly changes to Mexico, where the Inquisition condemns her to death for refusing to reveal her parentage. Before she is executed, she draws a picture of a boat on a wall, into...
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