AinAdAmAr - wfs Visual Arts Upper School

Transcription

OperA Philadelphia and
t h e S c h oo l D i s t r i c t o f P h i l a d e l p h i a
present
Golijov
Ainadamar
Fountain of Tears
Academy of Music | final Dress Rehearsal
W e d n e s d ay, F e b r u a r y 5 , 2 0 1 4 A T 6 : 1 5 P. M .
A FA M I L Y G U I D E
TO O P ERA
Opera Philadelphia believes the family is the most important foundation to learning. Let your kitchen
table become a classroom where your children can build their knowledge of opera and the humanities.
As you join in the teaching and learning process with your children, watch their eyes sparkle. Opera is
a communal celebration, so too should be your children’s education.
Pennsylvania’s standards in education call for students to demonstrate what they know and are able to do
and children need to share what they have discovered or learned. Thus, the title of our program is Sounds
of Learning™. It reflects our belief that children must actively be engaged in sharing ideas.
The Sounds of Learning™ workbook and teacher guide will integrate with the local core literacy
curriculum in many ways. Just as opera is a uniquely integrated art, combining orchestra, voice, literature,
drama, and dance, Sounds of Learning™ is an interdisciplinary, student-centered program. The goal of
the Active Learning sections is to have your children engaged in the process of self-teaching. They will
be able to show how they have gained insights into their learning by drawing, writing, and discussing the
issues most relevant to them. In this way, students demonstrate what they can do with what they know.
In reading the libretto, or script, we suggest that you and your family members take turns reading
particular roles. Dr. Ellen Winner of Harvard’s Project Zero found that “drama helps to build verbal
skills that transfer to new materials,” and helps improve not only students’ reading skills but also “oral
and written language development.” ( Journal of Aesthetic Education, v34, #3/4, Fall/Winter, 2000)
In preparing for the opera, we suggest you purchase the Deutsche Grammophon Grammy Awardwinning recordings of this opera. We are grateful to DG for offering us their recording for use in this
program. Together, we hope to build future audiences for, and performers of, the arts. Visit DG on the
web at www.deutschegrammophon.com
G O A L S A N D O B J E C T I V E S O F S O U ND S O F LE A RNIN G ™
Improve literacy achievement by using the opera’s libretto to teach lessons across the curriculum
Understand the plot, characters, and their motivations of the opera
Learn something about the composer and others involved in writing the opera
Make a connection to the historic and social context of the story
Know some key musical elements, recognize certain melodies, differentiate between voices
Understand the role music plays in expressing emotions and heightening the dramatic experience
Understand the various elements of producing opera and the functions of those involved;
e.g. conductor, director, set designer, technical crew, etc.
Develop the ability to make inferences about the opera, production, and performance.
Relate incidents in the opera to those of the present day
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Best Practices in Arts Education is sponsored by
Pennsylvania Alliance for Arts Education,
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
and the Pennsylvania Department of Education
TA B L E O F
C ONTENTS
G ETTIN G REA D Y F OR T H E
O P ERA
4
32
Sequence of the Story
5Theater Anatomy
33
Make Your Own Synopsis
6
34Lorca Analysis: El Niño Mudo
Going to the Opera at the Academy of Music
Opera Vocabulary
A D D ITIONA L
L ESSONS
31Plot the Action in Ainadamar
7Connect the Opera Terms
35Diamond Poems
8The Then and Now of Opera
36
Opera Jeopardy
37Propaganda
RE L ATIN G O P ERA TO
H ISTOR Y :
10Local Roots: Osvaldo Golijov
38Lorca in His Own Hand
39
Supplemental Activities
40Careers in the Arts
11Reluctant Revolutionary: Federico García Lorca
12The Spanish Civil War
14
Bullying and Anti-gay Attitudes
15
Out in Public
16Flamenco: Rhythm of a Nation
L I B RETTO AN D P RO D U C TION
IN F OR M ATION
17The Trouser Role: An Operatic Tradition
18Poetic Inspiration
19
Ainadamar Synopsis
20
Ainadamar Libretto
23
Spanish Heroine Mariana Pineda
25The Falange
27The Real Margarita Xirgu
29
Ainadamar: Meet the Artists
30
Sound Design and the Opera Stage
3
41Glossary
G O I N G T O T H E O P E R A AT T H E
A C A D E M Y O F M USI C
There’s nothing as exciting as attending the opera in a
theater like the Academy of Music, where you’ll see the
final dress rehearsal of Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar. The
Academy is a very special building in that it is the country’s
oldest grand opera house still used for its original purpose
- performing opera! It is a grand opera house with a huge
chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Its four-level design
was based on the famous La Scala opera house in Milan,
Italy.
The Academy opened on January 26, 1857 with a Grand
Ball and Promenade Concert and the first opera performed
there was Verdi’s Il trovatore on February 25, 1857. The
Academy is so important to our nation’s history that it was
made a Registered National Historic Landmark in 1963.
Thousands of world-famous performers have also
appeared on its stage, like Peter Tchaikovsky, Sergei
Rachmaninoff, George Gershwin, Igor Stravinsky,
Arturo Toscanini, Marian Anderson, Maria Callas,
and Luciano Pavarotti. More recently Alvin Ailey, Billy
Joel, Elton John, Savion Glover, Chris Rock, even Mike
Tyson and Jerry Springer have performed there!
When you’re at the Academy of Music for Ainadamar, you
may see several computer monitors and a large table spread
out over the seats in the center of the first floor of the
auditorium. Seated in this area is the production team:
Director, Assistant Director, Costume Designer,
Lighting Designer, and Set Designer, among others.
They’ll be taking notes and communicating via headsets
with the many people backstage who help make operatic
magic. They’ll be able to talk to the crew so changes can be
made right away. Should things goes wrong, the rehearsal
might be stopped or a part repeated to make sure that it is
perfect.
Unlike actors on television or in the movies, performers on
stage are very aware of the audience. They want to share
their love of performing with you. Everything you do in the
audience affects what happens on stage. You can show them
how much you appreciate their work and the opportunity
to come to the rehearsal by being as quiet as possible. Show
your respect for the cast, musicians, the production team,
and everyone in the theater by not talking. Give the artists
and the production your full attention!
DOs and DON’Ts at the OPERA
Here’s some things you can do to make sure everyone in the
theater can enjoy the opera:
Use the bathrooms before the opera begins or at intermission.
Enter and exit the theater in an orderly fashion.
Turn off your cell phones and all electronic devices.
Applaud after the arias; you can shout “Bravo!” for the men and “Brava!” for the women.
Don’t Forget...
Please obey the theater ushers and staff.
No food, gum or beverages are allowed inside the theater.
No photographs or audio/video recording may not be taken during the performance.
No talking or whispering during the performance.
No shoving, jumping, running, spitting or throwing anything in
the theater.
Make your school proud!
A C A D E M Y O F M USI C F UN F A C TS
The auditorium seats 2,897; 14 columns support the
Academy’s tiers; the auditorium is encased within a three
feet thick solid brick wall.
The Academy Chandelier is 25 feet high, 50 feet in
circumference, almost 17 feet in diameter, and 3,500
pounds in weight. It has 23,000 crystals on it, which, if
laid out, could reach from Broad Street to Rittenhouse
Square and back.
The red and gold pattern on the Academy’s stage curtain is
of a pineapple, a Victorian-era symbol for “welcome.”
The first-ever indoor football game was held at the Academy
on March 7, 1889 between the University of Pennsylvania
and Riverton Club of Princeton. At halftime, tug-of-war
matches were held as entertainment.
1,600 people attended the first-ever motion picture screening on
February 5, 1870. The film showed a gymnastics routine,
a couple dancing, and more.
Air conditioning was installed
in 1959.
There was no elevator for the
general public in the
Academy until 1990!
For more information on the Academy
of Music, visit academyofmusic.org.
4
T H E AT E R
ANATO M Y
Opera Singers must act on stage as well as sing! This means that they have to understand the stage set-up. When the director
is rehearsing with the singers, he or she must be clear about where they should be on stage. Otherwise there could be a big
traffic jam! So, special vocabulary is used. Upstage is the very back of the stage (away from the audience) and downstage
is at the front (near the audience). Stage Left and Stage Right may seem to be on the wrong sides as well. Can you figure out
why? You might also wonder about “up” stage and “down” stage. Opera sets are frequently built on a platform or “deck” that’s
lower in the front near the apron and higher in the back near the back stage area. Thus, the lower end is “downstage” and
the higher end is “upstage”. Also, when you visit the Academy of Music, look for the bas-relief portrait of composer Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart at the top of the proscenium.
BACKSTAGE
PROSCENIUM
W
I
N
G
S
UPSTAGE
RIGHT
UPSTAGE
CENTER
W
I
N
G
S
UPSTAGE
LEFT
CENTER
DOWNSTAGE
RIGHT
DOWNSTAGE CENTER
CURTAIN LINE
APRON
ORCHESTRA PIT
Diagram from OPER A America’s MUSIC! WORDS! OPER A! Level II Teacher’s Manual
©1991, OPER A America Inc.
5
DOWNSTAGE
LEFT
OPERA
V O C A B U L AR Y
Act - main sections of a play or opera
Aria - a solo song sung in an opera
Audience - people who watch a performance and sit in the
“house” or auditorium
Ballet - dance set to music within in an opera
Blocking - action on stage
Character - person who is part of the opera’s story
Chorus - music composed for a group of singers or the name
of a group of singers in an opera
Conductor - person who rehearses and leads the orchestra
Duet - a song performed by 2 singers
Orchestra - a group of musicians who play together on various musical
instruments
Overture - a piece of instrumental music played at the beginning of an opera
Program - booklet that contains information about the
opera, composer, performers, the opera company, and
includes advertisements
Recitative - words that are sung in the rhythm of natural speech - a bit like the 18th century version of rap
Rehearsal - time when singers/actors practice with
or without the orchestra; time when musicians practice
together with the conductor
Scene - segments of action within the acts of an opera
T Y P E S O F S I N G E R S:
Soprano - highest pitched female voice
Mezzo-soprano - female voice between soprano and contralto
Contralto - lowest pitched female voice
Tenor - highest pitched male voice
Baritone - male voice between tenor and bass
Bass - lowest pitched male voice
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CONNECT THE
O P ERA TER M S
1. Opera Seria
A. Dance spectacle set to music
2. Baritone
B. Highest pitched woman’s voice
3. Opera
C. Dramatic text adapted for opera
4. Ballet
D. Low female voice
5. Orchestra
E. Comic opera
6. Libretto
F. A drama or comedy in which music is the essential factor;
very little is spoken
7. Duet
8. Aria
9. Soprano
10. Chorus
G. Opera with dramatic and intense plots
H. Music composed for a singing group
I. A composition written for two performers
11. Act
J. A group of musicians who play together on various musical
instruments
12. Contralto
K. Highest pitched man’s voice
13. Tenor
14. Opera Buffa
L. A musical style used in opera and oratorio, in which the text
is declaimed in the rhythm of natural speech with slight melodic
variation
15. Recitative
M. Male voice between bass and tenor
16. Bass
N. A piece of music originally designed to be played before an
opera or musical play
17. Overture
18. Verismo
O. The term describing the realistic or naturalistic school of
opera that flourished briefly in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries; libretti were chosen to depict a ‘slice of life’
P. Deepest male voice
Q. Elaborate solo in an opera or oratorio
R. Main division of a play or opera
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THE THEN AND NOW OF
O P ERA
Have you ever wondered where opera got its start? Back in
the late 1500s, during the height of the Renaissance (14001600), a group of men called the Florentine Camerata got
together to create a new and moving theatrical experience.
They wanted to recreate what the ancient Greeks did
during their legendary dramas. The result was something
entirely new – opera! Most of the early operas were based
on Greek myths. The first opera that we know of was called
Dafne by Jacopo Peri in 1598, but the most famous opera
of this early period that is still performed today is Claudio
Monteverdi’s Orfeo (1607). Certain basic ingredients were
included in opera: songs, instrumental accompaniments,
costumes, dance, and scenery. We still use all of these
ingredients today!
The early operas were first performed in the grand courts
of Italian nobility, but soon opera became popular with the
public, too. As it became all the rage, productions became
more lavish! Soon, theaters began to be built just to mount
operas. These theaters had elaborate stage machinery
to create special effects like flying actors or crumbling
buildings. Not everyone embraced the new form of theater.
Some critics thought that all of the stage antics in opera
detracted from the music and drama. Some people even
believed that seeing too much comedy in opera could make
you immoral!
During the Baroque period (1600 - 1750), Italian opera
spread all over Europe. The Italian style of opera was so
popular that even non-Italians wrote in this style. For
example, Georg Frederic Handel (1685 – 1759) was a
German-born composer who lived and worked in England.
His operas, like Julius Caesar (1724), were written in the
Italian language and used an Italian style of music. The
only nation to create its own national operatic style was
France. Ballet played a large role in the French culture,
and operas often included ballets in the middle of the
opera. The most famous French Baroque opera composers
were Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) and Jean-Philippe
Rameau (1683 - 1764).
The eighteenth century was full of change for both Europe
and opera. This time period was known as the Age of
Enlightenment. People were starting to talk about
new forms of government and organization in society,
especially the ever-growing middle class. Music displayed
this new thinking as composers dropped the Baroque era’s
complicated musical style for simpler, more emotional
music. In less-flashy music, characters could express their
thoughts and feelings more believably. One of the first
operas to use this new style was Christoph Willibald
Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice (1762).
In 1776 the American Revolution changed the world.
A few years later the French had their own revolution
(1789) and the first modern democracies were born. To
match the times in which they were created, audiences
wanted to see characters like themselves on stage, not
gods and goddesses. They also wanted to see issues that
were important to them. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s
The Marriage of Figaro (1786) featured a timely story of
aristocratic class struggles that had both servants and
nobility in lead roles. The ideals of the Enlightenment also
came to the stage in Ludwig van Beethoven’s only opera,
Fidelio (1805), a story about equality and freedom.
In the 1800s opera continued to grow. The Italian tradition
continued in the bel canto movement, which literally
translates to “beautiful singing.” These operas asked
performers to sing complicated groups of fast notes in
the melodies. The most famous bel canto composers were
Gioacchino Rossini (1792 –1868), Gaetano Donizetti
(1797 – 1848), and Vincenzo Bellini (1801 –1835). Their
operas, like Rossini’s popular comedies The Barber of
Seville (1816) and Cinderella (1817), are still some of the
most popular operas performed today.
Photo by Kelly and Massa
By the middle of the century, the Romantic Movement
led many composers to champion their own national
identities. As a result, operas in languages other than
Italian became more common; new works often reflected
pride in a country’s people, history, and folklore. German
operas like Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz (1821),
8
Opera in the twentieth century became even more
experimental. Composers like Giacomo Puccini (La
bohème, 1896), Claude Debussy (Pelléas et Mélisande, 1902),
Richard Strauss (Salome, 1905), and Benjamin Britten
(Peter Grimes, 1945) evolved their national styles. Others,
horrified by the destruction of World War I (1914-1919)
and other aspects of modern life, created music that was
new and drastically dissonant. These operas often explored
either dark psychological topics (Wozzeck by Alban Berg,
1925), or simple and absurd (The Rake’s Progress by Igor
Stravinsky, 1951). American opera had a huge hit with
George and Ira Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess (1935) which
included jazz and blues musical styles.
Today, opera is still growing and expanding. Opera
Philadelphia helps to shape the future of opera by producing
important new works like Argentinian born composer
Osvaldo Golijov’s flamenco-inspired Ainadamar (2003
& 2014), Hans Werner Henze’s Phaedra (2007), which interprets
Greek mythology through the eyes of a World War II
survivor, and Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters (2011) which
explores the lives of the women in a polygamist community.
More recently, Opera Philadelphia co-produced Kevin
Puts and Mark Campbell’s Silent Night (2012), an opera
based on the World War I Christmas Truce. Upcoming
productions include Theo Morrison’s Oscar (2015), based
on the life of Oscar Wilde, and
Cold Mountain (2016), an opera
composed by Philadelphian
Jennifer Higdon and based
on the book of the same
name by Charles Frazier.
Although opera is one
of the oldest musical art
forms, it still remains and
expands today. From the
old favorites to the new
experimental
works
opera continues to be
a moving art form of
the people.
9
Photo by Kelly and Massa
Russian operas like Mikhail Glinka’s A Life for the Tsar
(1836) and French operas like Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Les
Huguenots (1836) started to be performed across Europe. By
using nationalism in his operas like Nabucco (1842), Italian
Giuseppe Verdi became a national hero. In Germany
Richard Wagner took Romanticism to the extreme in a
four-part operatic miniseries based on Norse mythology,
The Ring of the Nibelung (1876), which takes over 15 hours
to perform! The operatic stereotype of the singer in the
Viking helmet comes from these operas.
above: Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell ’s new American opera, Silent Night
below: Up-and-coming soprano Michelle Johnson as Puccini’s Manon Lescaut
far left: Bass Morris Robinson dominates Verdi’s patriotic Nabucco
REA D IN G C O M P RE H ENSION
1. During the Renaissance, on what were many of the first
operas based?
2. What kind of opera spread all over Europe during the
Baroque period? Give one example of this kind of opera.
3. What artistic genre played a huge role in French opera
during the Baroque period?
4. How did the Enlightenment movement during the 18th
century change how composers wrote operas?
5. What new operatic qualities did Mozart’s The Marriage of
Figaro display due to the American Revolution and its
effect in the world?
6. Describe “bel canto” opera and give one example of a
composer who used this style.
7. Nationalism was a prominent feature in the operatic world in
the 1800s. Give an example of a composer who strayed
from the Italian operatic form to write nationalistic operas.
8. What other musical styles did the American opera Porgy
and Bess include?
9. Name three new operas that Opera Philadelphia has or
will produce.
In 2005, Musical America, the national cultural
organization for the performing arts industry, named
Osvaldo Golijov as its Composer of the Year saying that
the composer “emerged as one of the leading figures of
contemporary music, with a multicultural style of exuberant
dance rhythms and raw emotion that connects instantly to
a wide range of audiences.” The New York Times said that
he is one of the few young composers “who will change
the way music is played and heard.” Mark Swed of the Los
Angeles Times said his opera Ainadamar with librettist
David Henry Hwang “is amazing, in its opening distant
trumpet calls, its insinuating dance rhythms, its vital
command of percussion and its arrestingly beautiful arias
for women’s voice. The end is a devastatingly lush trio, with
the voices of Lorca and Margarita from beyond guiding
the way for Nuria...A theater of delirium.”
Osvaldo Golijov (born December 5, 1960) grew up
in an Eastern European Jewish household in La Plata,
Argentina. Born to a piano teacher mother and physician
father, Golijov was surrounded by music as a child classical chamber music, Jewish liturgical and klezmer
music, and the new tango of Astor Piazzolla (1921 – 1992),
an Argentinian tango composer who incorporated elements
from jazz and classical music. After studying piano at the
local conservatory and composition with Gerardo Gandini
(1936 - 2013), a very important Argentinian musical
figure, he moved to Israel in 1983, where he studied with
Ukrainian composer Mark Kopytman (1929-2011) at the
Jerusalem Rubin Academy, and immersed himself in the
colliding musical traditions of that city. Upon moving to
the United States in 1986, Golijov earned his Ph.D. in
Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania, where he
studied with famous American composer George Crumb
(b. 1929), and was a fellow at the important Tanglewood
Festival in Massachusetts, studying with British composer
Oliver Knussen (b. 1952).
In the opera Ainadamar, the story of the hero Federico
García Lorca is told through his muse, or artistic
inspiration, Margarita Xirgu. Golijov’s muse is the famous
American soprano Dawn Upshaw (b. 1960), for whom he
composed several works, including the Three Songs for
Soprano and Orchestra, the opera Ainadamar, the cycles
Ayre and She Was Here, and a number of arrangements.
In 2000, the premiere of Golijov’s
St. Mark Passion took the music
world by storm. The piece featured
the Schola Cantorum de Caracas,
with the Orquesta La Pasión.
For the Carnegie Hall world
premiere of Ayre, Golijov founded
another virtuoso ensemble: The
Andalucian Dogs.
Golijov receives many offers
to write new music from major
ensembles and institutions in the U.S. and Europe. In
addition to the artists mentioned above, he works closely
with ensembles including the Atlanta Symphony, the
Boston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, Silk Road
Ensemble and eighth blackbird; the artist Gronk,
playwright David Henry Hwang, and directors Francis
Ford Coppola (famous for the Godfather films) and Peter
Sellars, who staged critically acclaimed runs of Ainadamar
at the Santa Fe Opera and Lincoln Center.
In January and February 2006 Lincoln Center in New York
City presented a sold-out festival called “The Passion of
Osvaldo Golijov”, featuring multiple performances of his
major works, his chamber music, and late night programs of
music dear to him. In 2007 he was named first composerin-residence at the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York
City. He was also composer-in-residence at the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra, Spoleto USA Festival, the Los
Angeles Philharmonic’s Music Alive series, Marlboro
Music, and many more. Golijov is Loyola Professor of
Music at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA,
where he has taught since 1991. He also taught for several
years at Tanglewood Music Festival, has led workshops
at Carnegie Hall with Dawn Upshaw and teaches in the
summers at the Sundance Composers Lab.
Golijov scored the soundtracks for several movies
including Youth Without Youth, Tetro and Twixt, Darkness
9’11’ and The Oath. Other recent works include Azul, a
cello concerto for Yo-Yo Ma and the Boston Symphony;
Rose of the Winds, premiered by the Silk Road Ensemble
and the Chicago Symphony under Miguel Harth-Bedoya;
She Was Here, a work based on Schubert lieder premiered
by Dawn Upshaw and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra,
and more.
To learn more about this fascinating composer, visit his
website at osvaldogolijov.com.
10
Photo Credit: Tanit Sakakini
LOCAL ROOTS
OS VA L D O G O L I J O V
R E L U C TA N T R E V O L U T I O N A R Y
F E D ERI C O G AR C Í A L OR C A
Federico García Lorca was a very famous writer who used
poetry, plays, and theater to rebel against the powerful
Spanish rich in the early 1900s. His work also took on the
taboo issues of homosexuality and class while challenging
the role of women in Spanish society. His political views
may have been the cause of his execution by the General
Francisco Franco and the new Spanish government in the
summer of 1936.
García Lorca was born on June 5, 1898 in Fuente Vaqueros,
a small town near Granada, Spain. His father was wealthy
landowner who owned a farm in the country and a large
house in the city. His mother was a teacher and a gifted
pianist. García Lorca moved to Granada when he was 11,
but still kept his years in the country close to his heart. The
country represented beauty and the past to him and both
became important themes in his work. He was talented in
the arts and excelled in painting, music and poetry. His
friendship with the Spanish composer Manual DeFalla
(1876 –1946) led him to Spanish folklore, which became one
of his inspirations in his early poetry.
In 1915, García Lorca studied law, literature, and music
composition at Sacred Heart University. He was never
a good student and didn’t fit well into university life. His
friends would describe him as a smiling uninterested man,
but under the surface there was a sadness and frustration
with life: a feeling which eventually emerged in his poetry.
While he transferred schools and enrolled in the Residencia
de estudiantes to study philosophy and law in Madrid in
1919, he avidly continued to write plays and poetry and his
writing career took off, like a meteor. However, his first
staged play, El maleficio de la mariposa (The Butterfly’s Evil
Spell), closed after only four performances in 1920.
Still, fame and success were around the corner for the
young writer. His first book of poems was published in
1921, containing themes of religious faith, loneliness and
nature. At this time, he also began writing poems for his
anthology Poema del cante jondo (“Poem of the deep song”,
not published until 1931), which contained a poem about
f lamenco, which greatly inspired him. His passion for the
art form helped re-popularize the it throughout the country.
García Lorca’s poetry raised an appreciation of reality to new
heights, showing his love for realism, which is a practical
understanding and acceptance of the actual nature of the
world, rather than an idealized or romantic view of it. Over
the next few years, he published poetry collections including
Canciones (Songs) and Romancero Gitano (Gypsy Ballads),
which became his best known book of poetry.
García Lorca’s most famous play, Mariana Pineda, written
in 1927, opened to great fame in Barcelona. Taking place
11
100 years earlier, it describes a
woman in love with a revolutionary
hero, who gives her life rather than
reveal her lover’s location to the
authorities. The stage sets of both
Mariana Pineda and El maleficio
de la mariposa were done by García
Lorca’s good friend and inspiration,
Salvador Dalí, a famous Spanish
painter (1904 –1989).
After Dalí rejected García Lorca’s
advances, the young writer became deeply depressed because
of his homosexuality. His family arranged for him to spend
a year in New York City, where he studied at Columbia
University. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 happened
during García Lorca’s time in the city. It deepened the poet’s
disapproval of urban commercialism and inspired him to
write the collection Poeta en Nueva York (A Poet in New
York, published posthumously in 1942). It was a departure
from his previous poetry, which focused mostly on folklore.
In 1930, García Lorca returned to Spain during the Second
Spanish Republic, which was a free society. In 1931, he
was appointed as director of Teatro Universitario la
Barraca (The Shack), a university theater group. During
these tours he wrote some of his best known plays, Bodas de
Sangre (Blood Wedding), Yerma and La Casa de Bernarda
Alba (The House of Bernarda Alba), which all fought against
ideals of the wealthy Spanish society and challenged the role
of women in society.
García Lorca lived in his summer house in Granada from
1926 to 1936. When the Spanish Civil War broke out in
July of 1936, he knew he would be mistreated because of
his political views, despite that he felt that his art was not
political. On the same afternoon that his brother-in-law,
the mayor of Granada, was shot, Lorca was arrested. It is
thought that Lorca was shot at the Fuente Grande (Great
Fountain), by Nationalist militia, outside of Granada on
August 18, 1936. He was 38 years old. His assassination
at Fuente Grande forms the inspiration for the opera,
Ainadamar, or the Fountain of Tears. Controversy still
surrounds García Lorca’s death as there is speculation that
his sexual orientation played a role in his death as well as his
possible association with Marxist Popular Front.
His memory lives on to this day in his plays and poetry. He is
still well admired for his bravery and social activism. Some
even honor him as a martyr for the Spanish people. This
aspect of his legend is seen in this Ainadamar production.
T H E S PA N I S H
C I V I L WAR
In the 1930s, through his poetry, Federico García Lorca became an advocate for the revolution during the Spanish Civil War
and was labeled a communist, even though he didn’t mean to be political in his poetry and in his actions. He eventually was killed by
the Nationalists (or Fascists) in 1936 for his supposed political beliefs and possibly his homosexuality. Due to the importance of the
Spanish Civil War in Lorca’s life, and therefore, in our opera named for the site where he was killed, we’ll look at the important events
surrounding the war.
King Alfonso the 8th (XIII) (1886 – 1941) was the king of Spain from 1886 until 1931. His father, King Alfonso
the 7th (XII), was king of Spain from 1874 to 1885, after the monarchy came back into power for the first time.
In 1931, the monarchy was defeated, King Alfonso XIII fled the country, and the democratic Second Spanish
Republic was established.
Afterwards, there was a good deal of political conflict as the parties on opposite sides became more and more
divided.
By the 1936 elections, the social revolutionaries, the Popular Front, won at the polls. They began an uprising
against religious leaders and landowners and began to attack the church.
On July 18th, 1936, an army rebellion started and the civil war began, and General Francisco Franco (1892
–1975) began a military takeover against the elected government.
General Franco gained support from other Fascist governments (an attitude that favors governmental control
of private business, control of all opposition, and extreme love for one’s country) including Italy and Germany and
gradually took over most of Spain with their help.
The Republican forces fighting against Franco were troubled by many problems: limited supplies, bad weapons,
and lack of aid from other countries.
In April 1937, to help Franco combat one of the last regions of Spain not under his control, a force of
German planes bombed the historical town of Guernica, with a death toll of around 100,000 civilians.
Between March and June 1938, General Franco continued his fight, took hold of Catalonia (a region of Spain)
and captured the city of Barcelona in January of 1939, where the Republican army finally surrendered.
On October 1, 1939, General Franco became the Generalissimo of The Fascist Army and Head of State where
he stayed until 1975.
S PANIS H C I V I L WAR V S . A M ERI C AN C I V I L WAR
Spanish
Civil War
Revolutionaries fighting
against fascism and
dictatorship of
General Franco
12
conflict of values
between sides
both free states
American
Civil War
Southern states (slave)
seceding from
the Northern states (free)
Key Political Parties of the Spanish Civil War:
The Nationalists vs. the Republicans
THE NATIONALISTS
(General Franco’s supporters and the ultimate winners)
The Carlists: supported returning the descendants of Don
Carlos to the throne of Spain. They wanted a return to the
traditional “ultra-Catholic” monarchy.
The Catholic Church: Catholic party who members
switched to the Falange in 1936.
The Falange: small fascist party founded in 1933.
Supported the new ideas in styles and art, and fought for
the lower classes. The Falange lost support in the 1936
election leading up the Spanish Civil war and all that
were left of the party were a small group of young activists.
In 1937, General Franco seized power, took over as the
leader of the Falange and the army of Spain gave the party
its full support. As a result, it was the only political party
allowed by General Franco, who led Spain into a military
dictatorship between 1939 and 1942. This movement
developed into the National Movement that survived until
Franco’s death until 1975. In the opera, Ainadamar, there
is a voice of “Radio Falange,”which the librettist created
to instill a sense of what the oppressive government of the
time sounded like. All the messages from Radio Falange
were printed actually in a number of Spanish newspapers
in 1936 and were quotations from Falangist officers.
The Monarchists: supported returning the descendants of
Queen Isabella II to the throne of Spain. Became the focus
of the Republican opposition.
THE REPUBLICANS
(Anti-Franco revolutionaries, were defeated)
Alfonso XIII of Spain
A C TI V E L EARNIN G
1. How does democracy compare to fascism (the movement of
General Francisco Franco)? Are there any similarities between
the two? Fill in the Venn Diagram on page 11.
2. Where does Fascism exist in the world today? How do you
think we can fight the ideals of Fascism in our world?
3. How does the Spanish Civil War compare to the American
Civil War (see Venn Diagram) if at all?
4. Add these words or phrases to the Venn diagram to the left:
no foreign powers
“bad guys” won
The Anarcho-Syndicalists: anarchist (anti-government)
movement supported by the industrial workers of Barcelona.
Worked in secret and formed the Anarchist Militias.
The Catalans and Basques: Thought of themselves as
separate from Spain with their own languages and cultures.
Wanted to form their own nation.
an “industrial” war
militaristic
used bombs
750,000 deaths
500,000 deaths
militaristic
oppressed people
slavery
The Communists: founded in 1921, small, highly efficient
and was supported by Stalinist Russia. Exerted more and
more power as the other parties lost support.
The Marxists: revolutionary anti-Stalinist
(supports social and economic equality) Party
Marxist
The Republicans: social-democratic group
Socialists: most powerful Republican political force,
which after the war was dominated by the Communists.
General Francisco Franco
13
supported by foreign powers
“bad guys” lost
B U L L Y I N G A N D A N T I - G AY
ATTITU D ES
Have you ever been teased by another student at school to the point where you felt threatened and really
bad about yourself? Have you seen someone being pushed around and made fun of until they no longer
want to come to school anymore? This is called bullying and it is a very real problem in American schools
today. What do you think you can do to help stop bullying?
Bullying is defined as the use of one’s strength or popularity
to injure, threaten, or embarrass another person. Bullying
can be physical, verbal, or social. It is not bullying when
two students of about the same strength argue or fight.
Student bullying is one of the most frequently reported
problems at school. Bullying is the number one discipline
problem in middle schools. Up to 25% of U.S. students
are bullied each year. As many as 160,000 may stay home
from school on any given day because they are afraid of
being bullied, at least 1 out of 3 teens say they have been
seriously threatened online and 60% of teens say they have
participated in online bullying.
Not only is bullying in general a huge problem in school,
but anti-gay bullying specifically is on the rise, and the
most tragic consequence of this kind of bullying has been a
rash of teen suicides in the last few years. Statistics suggest
that students hear anti-gay remarks about once every
14 minutes during the school day on average. Anti-gay
bullying is something everyone should be concerned about;
the victims are not just students who are actually gay. The
abuse is also directed at straight kids who don’t quite fit
gender norms. Tomboyish girls and guys who show interest
in activities like gymnastics or dance are often called the
same names as their gay and lesbian classmates.
It’s not only verbal attacks that these students are enduring,
but physical ones too. 61% of gay youth report feeling
unsafe in their school environment and 1 in 6 gay teens will
be physically assaulted so badly that medical attention is
needed. Compared to kids bullied for other reasons or not
bullied at all, those targeted because they were thought to
be gay were much more likely to have considered suicide in
the past year, to have been depressed in the past year and to
say they don’t feel good about themselves.
14
Clashing with the rise of anti-gay bullying, acceptance
of homosexuality is greater than ever. A 2013 Gallup
poll shows that 59% percent of Americans think it’s OK
to be gay. Kids can join gay-straight alliance groups at
more than 4,000 high schools and more than 150 middle
schools nationwide and find advice and support online.
Yet according to the Journal of Adolescent Health, about
one-third of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender teens
(LGBT) report an attempt at suicide. Why are so many
still driven to try to take their own life?
“Despite recent cultural shifts, kids still get the
overwhelming message from society that homosexuality is
not acceptable,” says Scott Quasha, PsyD, a professor of
school psychology at Brooklyn College. It’s not uncommon
to hear politicians and preachers talk down about LGBT
people as they debate gay civil rights. Homosexuality is
compared to incest, brutality, even violent crime. “This
trickles down into the schools, where bullying occurs,” says
Dr. Quasha. “A gay child is an easy target for classmates
looking to make trouble.”
Federico García Lorca, the subject of the opera
Ainadamar, was suspected of having been executed
during the Spanish Civil War due partly he did not
hide that he was gay. This kind of discrimination
still exists today and even though homosexuality
in America in general is more tolerated, students
are being threatened and bullied every day in their
schools because of their sexual orientation.
According to research, teachers and school leaders
need to promote comfortable and safe environments.
“While family and peer support have important positive
effects for gay youth and reduce feelings of suicide and
depression, you cannot ‘support away’ these toxic effects of
bullying,” Brian Mustanski, an associate professor in the
department of medical social sciences at the Northwestern
University Feinberg School of Medicine said. “Schools
and communities need to put in place policies and practices
that make schools and neighborhoods safe for all kids”.
OUT IN P U B L I C
1. After the high number of suicides of bullied gay youth in the
recent years, in September 2010, syndicated columnist and author,
Dan Savage created a YouTube video with his partner to inspire
hope for youth facing harassment. He created ItGetsBetter.
org and the website became a place for people to submit
videos so that young people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or
It’s become much more acceptable to come “out of the
closet” and let the world know that you are gay, lesbian,
bisexual or transgender. Here’s a very small list of some
public figures throughout the centuries who have done so,
sometimes standing up to bullies and facing great struggles
because of their bravery.
Clay Aiken, musician
Adam Lambert, musician
Alvin Ailey, dancer
Don Lemon, journalist
Alexander the Great, king
Jane Lynch, actor
Pedro Almodóvar, filmmaker
Luke Macfarlane, actor
Gillian Anderson, actor
Rachel Maddow, journalist
Babydaddy, musician
Rita Mae Brown, writer
Josephine Baker, entertainer
Ricky Martin, musician
Lance Bass, musician
Ian McKellen, actor
Nate Berkus, designer
Kate McKinnon, comedienne
Leonard Bernstein, composer
Michelangelo, artist
Matt Bomer, actor
Wentworth Miller, actor
Anne Burrell, chef
Amanda Moore, supermodel
Carmen Carrera, model
Martina Navratilova, athlete
Sam Champion, weather anchor
Rosie O’Donnell, comedienne
Mary Cheney, personality
Frank Ocean, rapper
nepc.colorado.edu/files/Biegel_LGBT.pdf.
Margaret Cho, comedienne
Suze Orman, financier
Tabatha Coffey, hair stylist
Jim Parsons, actor
3. Talk to your classmates about creating a gay-straight alliance
Chris Colfer, actor
Cole Porter, composer
Jason Collins, athlete
Zachary Quinto, actor
Anderson Cooper, journalist
Lisa Raymond, athlete
your friends about why it’s not OK to bully LGBT students.
Orlando Cruz, athlete
Robert Reed, actor
Wilson Cruz, actor
Sally Ride, astronaut
4
Merce Cunningham, dancer
Thomas Roberts, journalist
transgender (LGBT) can see how love and happiness can be a
reality in their future. Watch a few of these videos on YouTube
(http://www.itgetsbetter.org/)
and
discuss
with
your
classmates how they make you feel. Does your opinion about students
who may be gay or lesbian change after seeing the videos? Do the
videos help you to understand what they (or you) are going through?
2. What is something that you can do to help prevent anti-gay bullying?
What can your school do? What is your school already doing to help
LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) students? Do they have a
school policy against LGBT bullying? Talk to your school counselor
about making a policy to fight LGBT bullying. For an example of how
to make a policy or ideas on how to make your school safe, see the
article Safe at School: Addressing the School Environment
and LGBT Safety through Policy and Legislation:
groups or a support group for these students. Create more awareness
of LGBT students’ plight by making anti bullying posters, or talking to
The Trevor Project is the leading national organization
focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among lesbian,
Tom Daley, athlete
Maurice Sendak, writer
gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBT) youth. The
Matt Dallas, actor
Brian Sims, politician
lifeline is available anytime, day or night, at: 866-488-7386 or
David Daniels, opera singer
Stephen Sondheim, musician
866-4U-TREVOR
Ellen DeGeneres, comedienne
Gertrude Stein, writer
Vicky Galindo, athlete
Andrew Sullivan, journalist
The Trevor Project is determined to end suicide among LGBT youth
Federico García Lorca, writer
Wanda Sykes, comedienne
by providing life-saving and life-affirming resources including our
Sara Gilbert, actress
Shaun T., personal trainer
nationwide, 24/7 crisis intervention lifeline, digital community and
Allen Ginsberg, poet
George Takei, actor
advocacy/educational programs that create a safe, supportive
Jonathan Groff, actor
Lily Tomlin, actor
and positive environment for everyone. More information at:
Bob Harper, personal trainer
Esera Tuaolo, athlete
www.thetrevorproject.org
Neil Patrick Harris, actor
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, actor
Jennifer Higdon, composer
Michael Urie, actor
Langston Hughes, writer
Junior Vasquez, musician
Cheyenne Jackson, actor
Johnny Weir, athlete
Elton John, musician
Walt Whitman, writer
Orlando Jordan, athlete
Oscar Wilde, playwright
Billie Jean King, athlete
Tennessee Williams, playwright
Isis King, model
Chely Wright, musician
T.R. Knight, actor
Darren Young, athlete
Sources cited:
- health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2013/05/16/anti-gay-bullying-tied-to-teendepression-suicide
- www.ed.psu.edu/educ/epcse/counselor-education/newsletters/CounseLion_030211.pdf
- www.lhj.com/relationships/family/raising-kids/gay-teens-bullied-to-suicide/
- mazzonicenter.org/resources/trevor-project-crisis-hotline-lgbtq-youth
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gay,_lesbian_or_bisexual_people
- nepc.colorado.edu/f iles/Biegel_LGBT.pdf
- www.itgetsbetter.org/
15
FLAMENCO:
R H Y T H M O F A NATION
Flamenco is a form of Spanish folk music and dance from
the region of Andalusia in southern Spain. It originated
in the 18th century and supposedly started among the
gypsies in that region. Later in the 18th century, flamenco
became popular among the mainstream Andalusian society,
and gets some of its roots from this culture. It includes
cante (singing), toque (guitar playing), baile (dance) and
palmas (hand claps). Flamenco is often associated with
the Romani people of Spain and many famous flamenco
artists are of this ethnicity. Flamenco has recently become
internationally popular, and now there are more flamenco
academies in Japan than in Spain!
When flamenco began, there was no musical accompaniment,
only a stick that was rhythmically tapped on the ground.
The subjects of the early songs were about the hard lives of
the gypsies like lost love, imprisonment and death.
Flamenco music was influenced from the beginning by
Hindi and Arabic music through the gypsies. Most
historians agree that gypsies originated in India. It appears
that the gypsies may have migrated to the Persian countries
in the 5th century where they had an excellent reputation
as musicians, entertainers, and metalworkers. After passing
through Egypt they made their way to Europe, first to
Greece and the Balkans in the 1200s and then Eastern
and Western Europe in the following centuries. Extensions
of vowels, melismas (one syllable sung over many different
notes), expressions of deep feelings, and the priority of
emotions over lyrics, all stem from characteristics of Hindi
and Arabic music. Expressions such as ay, layli, layla, lolailo,
lereli, and lerele were common among traditional flamenco
songs which may have come from the Arabic language.
Flamenco music was sung
without accompaniment in
the first part of the 18th
century.
During
the
19th century, guitar was
used, and then the guitar
became a solo instrument.
Since the beginning of
the 18th century,
most flamenco
performers
have
been
professionals.
Flamenco occurs in four settings - in the juerga (an
informal, spontaneous gathering, rather like a jazz “ jam
session”), in small-scale cabaret, in concert venues and
in the theatre, or through a zambra or spontaneous
celebration.
The compás (rhythm or meter in Spanish) is the key to
flamenco music. If there is no guitarist available, the
compás is rendered through hand clapping (palmas) or
by hitting a table with the knuckles. Flamenco music
uses simple walking rhythms or 12-beat rhythms. A good
example of a 12 beat pattern in a song is “America” from
West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein.
There are four styles of flamenco. El Baile Flamenco is
known for its emotional intensity, erect upright stance,
expressive use of the arms and rhythmic stamping of the
feet. In Flamenco Puro, the dance is always performed solo,
and is improvised rather than choreographed. Classical
Flamenco is the style most frequently performed by
Spanish flamenco dance companies and it is danced largely
in a proud and upright way. There is little movement of
the hips, the body is tightly held and the arms are long,
like a ballet dancer. In fact many of the dancers in these
companies have trained in ballet as well as flamenco.
Flamenco has been highly influenced by classical ballet
and in some cases the two dance forms have been joined in
the early part of the 20th century. Flamenco Nuevo is a
recent style of flamenco in which dances are choreographed
and are influenced by other styles. The dancers wear much
simpler costumes and rarely use props.
1. Listen to some clips of Flamenco music. What do you hear in
the music? Does it sound like other music that you have heard
before? http://tinyurl.com/ainadamar-1
http://tinyurl.com/ainadamar-2
2. After watching the clips above, how are flamenco dance
moves different than those used in ballet or hip-hop?
3. Clap along to the rhythm of the 12-beat pattern while you list to
“America” from West Side Story. This type of rhythm is common in
flamenco music: http://tinyurl.com/wss-america
Photo: Gilles Larrain, Wikipedia
16
THE TROUSER ROLE:
AN O P ERATI C TRA D ITION
Out onto the stage walks a young, slim, attractive man.
He saunters seductively to the female lead and grabs her
around the waist; their eyes lock in a loving gaze. The couple is entrancing and you lose yourself in their passion.
Then you hear the man sing and you wonder why the voice
sounds so high, so pretty. You look closer and you realize
that it’s not a man at all. The singer is a woman playing
a man! It’s a standard operatic convention known as the
trouser role.
In the opera Ainadamar, the main character, Federico
García Lorca is played by a woman. Composing the role
specifically for a woman rather than a man happened almost accidentally. In a 2006 in terview with National
Public Radio, Golijov recalled hearing an audition tape by
mezzo-soprano Kelly O’Connor, who would eventually be
cast as Lorca in the opera’s world premiere, saying, “When
I heard that I thought maybe she could be Lorca. And then
I looked at her picture... I say well... she looks exactly like
Lorca and I just grabbed the phone (to call librettist David
Henry Hwang) and I said, David, how about if we have
Lorca sung by a woman? She sounds like what I think Lorca would have sounded, but she looks like him. And David
said okay. So that’s how it went.”
Performing en travesti (literally, “in disguise”) is an
operatic tradition dating back to the earliest days of opera.
The trouser role, also known as the synonymic “breech” or
“pants” role, is simply a male role performed by a woman.
In many seventeenth and eighteenth century operas, most
heroic male roles were written for high voices, but were
sung by male castrati, or men who underwent a surgical
procedure to stop their voice from changing when they
were a boy. This practice started as women weren’t allowed
to sing in church at the time and the castrati’s high voice
enabled a higher range of pitches in the all-male chorus.
This practice was also important in the early development
of Italian opera. At the height of their popularity, castrati were among the most famous and highly paid men in
Europe, the rock stars of their day. They were champion
vocal athletes who could jump up to high notes and sing
intricate high-speed vocal passages.
By 1830 however, the practice of using castrati had virtually disappeared from the stage as castrati were no longer
the superstars they had been a century earlier. Still, the
surgical procedure was outlawed in 1861
17
As the castrati performers disappeared, women began to
sing their heroic male roles. In fact, some female singers
specialized in these roles.
The coming of the romantic tenor as opera’s “leading man”
reduced the number of trouser roles, but some composers
still chose to honor the tradition as late as 1890.
From the dawn of opera, women were sometimes cast as
boys or young men. Outside Italy, these parts were mostly
confined to pre-adult characters. Some very important
trouser roles appear in French, English, Russian, Czech
and German operas, especially those of composer Richard
Strauss, who’s operas premiered in the early 1900s.
Aside from a few roles in recent operas such as Ainadamar
(Lorca), and the title role in Joseph Merrick: The Elephant
Man, trouser roles are not seen frequently in contemporary
opera. The trouser role has been used famously on Broadway in the title role of Peter Pan. For the most part, opera
composers today do not use a female to sing a male role.
Today, trouser roles are being recast as men who sing as
countertenors. Countertenors train their voices using falsetto, which creates a high pitched sound in the range of
a female singer. Still, casting directors are left with the
problem that if you cast a woman in a pants role, you have
an actor that looks like a woman, but sounds like a boy.
Contrarily, a man cast in pants role would look like a man,
but sound like a woman (as a countertenor). Since most
of the trouser roles are boys, this dilemma still is a tough
choice, and not a very clear one.
1. Farinelli was the most famous castrato that ever lived. Born
Carlo Broschi (1705-1785), he was treated much like we treat
rock stars today. Research his most famous roles, and who has
played them in more modern times.
2. Make a vocal range map: research the average range of
notes each voice part (ie. soprano, contralto, etc.) can sing.
Draw a picture of a piano keyboard, writing the letter of the note
on each key. Mark the picture with arrows for each voice part.
Where do the ranges overlap?
POETIC
INS P IRATION
Both Golijov’s opera Ainadamar and Lorca’s play Mariana Pineda being with the line “Ay! Qué día tan triste en
Granada, que a las piedras hacía llorar” (Oh! What a sad day in Granada, that the stones did mourn). The line come
from a popular Spanish children’s poem about Mariana Pineda. Learn more about the Spanish heroine on page 24.
What does this poem mean? Hear a recording of this song at http://tinyurl.com/pinedasong.
Mariana Pineda
18
Marianita solita en su cuarto
Little Mariana all alone in her bedroom,
la bandera se puso a bordar
set about to embroider the flag
la cogieron con ella en los brazos
they caught her with it in her arms
su delito no pudo ocultar.
she could not hide her crime.
¡Oh, traidora cómo me engañaste
Oh, traitor, how did you deceive me
¡Oh, traidora no fuiste leal
Oh, traitor, you were not loyal
que el registro que en tu casa hubo,
the evidence that was in your house,
varias muertes tendrá que costar.
will have cost several deaths
Yo os pido por Dios, realistas,
I ask you in God’s name, Realists,
si en algo puedo conseguir,
if I may accomplish something,
que a mis hijos les den empleo
that my children find employment
y a mí que me dejen morir.
and that they let me die.
Marianita ya la llevan presa
Little Mariana is now being hauled away
y la gente llorando atrás
and the people crying behind
y los hijos llorando decían:
and her crying children said:
Vuelve a casa querida mamá.
Come back home dear mom.
Marianita sola en el cadalso
Little Mariana alone on the gallows
en la muerte se puso a pensar
began to think about death
y los mismos realistas decían:
and the very same Realists said:
¡Quién pudiera darte libertad!
Who could give you freedom!
Ay! Qué día tan triste en Granada,
Oh, what a sad day in Granada
que a las piedras hacía llorar
that would make even the stones cry
al ver que Marianita se muere
upon seeing Little Mariana die
en cadalso por no declarar.
on the gallows for she refused to confess
AINADAMAR:
S Y NO P SIS
Ainadamar is an Arabic word meaning “fountain of tears” and is a natural spring located in the hills above the city of Granada, the
site where the poet and playwright Federico García Lorca was executed in 1936. Ainadamar tells the story of the playwright’s life and
death through the eyes of his muse, actress Margarita Xirgu.
When the Spanish Civil War began, Xirgu was on tour in South America and she spent the rest of her life there in voluntary exile. Told
in three images of flashbacks by Xirgu, the opera utilizes flamenco-accented orchestra sounds as Xirgu, who had a close working
relationship with Lorca, reflects on her meetings with Lorca and his final execution for his progressive political ideals. The opera revisits
themes from his most famous play, Mariana Pineda, premiered in 1927, a historic drama about a 19th century Spanish folk heroine who
was executed, similarly, for her political ideals. Margarita Xirgu played the title character in this play. The opera begins in the 1960s,
with an 81 year old Xirgu about to go onstage for what will be her last performance of Mariana Pineda.
F IRST I M A G E : M A R I A N A
SE C ON D I M A G E : F E D E R I C O
Uruguay, April 1969: Preparing for a performance, a group
of young actresses sing the opening balada of Lorca’s play,
Mariana Pineda. Margarita Xirgu looks back forty years
to the premiere of Mariana Pineda, as she tries to convey
the brilliance of this young author to her student, Nuria.
She has a flashback of her meeting with Lorca in a bar in
Madrid where he describes his play to her for the first time.
It was inspired by a statue of Mariana Pineda that he saw
as a child in Granada. Mariana was martyred for sewing a
revolutionary flag and refusing to reveal the identity of the
revolutionary leaders, including her lover, who deserted
her as she then struggled to die with dignity. Margarita
compares the eerie foreshadowing of the fate of Mariana
and Federico’s subsequent execution. Ramón Ruiz Alonso,
the Falangist who executed Lorca, interrupts the flashback.
Over the state radio we hear the Falangists extinguish the
beginnings of the revolution.
The actresses sing the balada from Mariana Pineda again.
Margarita is taken back to the summer of 1936, the last
time she saw Lorca. The Spanish Civil War has begun
and the revolutionaries are in danger. Margarita begs
Lorca to come with her theater company to Cuba, but
he refuses and stays in Granada to write new plays and
poetry.
The news of Lorca’s murder is an early warning to the
world. Margarita imagines Ruiz Alonso arresting Lorca
and leading him, a bullfighter, and teacher to Ainadmar,
the fountain of tears, and making them confess their sins
and then shooting them all.
T H IR D I M A G E : M A R G A R I TA
The play starts one more time as Margarita is dying and
the actresses sing the balada once again. She tells Nuria
that an actor only lives for a moment but that the voice of
the people will never die. The Spanish fascist head of state
and military ruler, Francisco Franco, has never permitted
Margarita Xirgu, the image of freedom, to come back to
Spain, but Margarita has kept the plays of Lorca alive in
Latin America while they were forbidden in Spain.
Lorca’s spirit enters the room to comfort Margarita and
they walk toward delirium. Margarita dies as her courage
and humanity are passed on to Nuria and the young
actresses as they walk onto stage. Margarita sings the final
lines to Mariana Pineda “I am the fountain from which
you drink.” The performance can now begin.
19
O S VA L D O G O L I J O V:
AINA D A M AR L I B RETTO
FINAL DRESS REHEARSAL — WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2014 AT 6:15 P.M. AT THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC
English Libretto, David Henry Hwang © 2005. Reprinted with permission of Mr. Hwang and the Steven Barclay Agency.
Words underlined in the libretto are def ined in the glossary in the back of the guide.
M A RGA RI TA X I RG U (m ar- g ar- EE - t a SHEER- g o o).......................... M aría Hin ojo s a M o nt e n e gro, so p rano
FED ERI CO GA RCÍ A LO RC A (fe d - e r- EE - co g ar- CEE - ah LOR- ka)................. M arin a Pard o, m ez zo -so p rano
N U RI A ( NOO - re e - ah).......................................................................................S arah S h afe r, so p rano
RU I Z A LO NSO (ro o - EE Z ah - LON -zo)............................................................... A lf re d o Teje d a, cant a o r
1ST SO LO N I ÑA ...............................................................................................Justine Aronson, soprano
2N D SO LO N IÑA ..............................................................................................Kell y Ann Bixby, soprano
JOSE TRIPALDI.............................................................................................................Patrick Guet ti, b ass
M AESTRO.................................................................................................Andrew B ogard, b ass-b aritone
TORERO....................................................................................................................John Viscardi, tenor
CO N D U CTO R.............................................................................................................Corrado Rovaris
STAG E D I RECTO R..........................................................................................................Luis d e Ta vira
SCEN I C D ESI G N ER....................................................................................................Philip p e A m an d
COST U M E D ESI G N.........................................................................................To lit a & M aría Figu e ro a
L I G H T I N G D ESI G N...................................................................................................Philip p e A m an d
VI D EO D ESI G N.........................................................................................................J ulián d e Ta vira
CH O REO G R A PH ER.......................................................................................................St e ll a A rauzo
CH O RUS M AST ER.....................................................................................................Elizab et h B ra d en
Co-production from the Fundación Ópera de Oviedo, Festival Internacional de Música y Danza de Granada y Festival Internacional de
Musica de Santander
Margarita Xirgu rushes
off stage to change costume
during a performance as
Mariana Pineda
20
c d Ex c e r p ttrack 1
WATER AND HORSE PRELUDE
BALLAD: ¡Ay! Qué día tan triste en
Granada
F IRST I M A G E : M ARIANA
BALLAD
(From the darkness, we hear the voices of girls singing the
opening ballad from Lorca’s play Mariana Pineda.)
G IRLS
“What a sad day it was in Granada. The stones began to
cry, they could not make Mariana speak in Cadalso, so
she must die.” “…the bells tolled and tolled.”
(Lights reveal Margarita Xirgu, a veteran actress, in the
wings backstage at the Solís Theatre in Uruguay, in 1969.
Dressed as Mariana Pineda, she looks out onto the stage,
where the girls sing. Nuria, Margarita’s favorite student,
stands by her side.)
M A R G A RI T A
My whole life in such a place: alone, in the wings of a
theatre, waiting to become Mariana Pineda again.
G IRLS
“What a sad day it was in Granada, etc.”
(The stage transforms so the “ backstage wing,” where
Margarita stands, becomes the main playing area, and the
“stage,” where the girls sing, becomes the background.)
M A R G A RI T A
Federico, my child, my womb aches! As if he’d been my
son …as real to me today as the day I first took his hand –
soft like a baby, yet he was already a man.
G IRLS
M A R G A RI T A
Look at me, Nuria, look at me now! To grow old, my
child, is one fate he escaped. Ah! Mariana, your eyes
G IRLS
Mariana Pineda, your eyes shine brighter than stars in the
night …
21
M A R G A RI T A
See my eyes? They have dried, after shedding rivers of
tears. And yet, here I am. Night after night, I continue to
play these roles he has left me.
G IRLS
Mariana Pineda
M A R G A RI T A
Ah, the Republic was only a dream when we premiered
Mariana.
G IRLS
Your eyes, Mariana …
M A R G A RI T A
I was young …
NURI A
Yes …
M A R G A RI T A
Twenty years old …
NURI A
Maybe thirty …
M A R G A RI T A
All right, a bit older.
NURI A
Tell me more …
G IRLS
Mariana Pineda, your eyes give us the light in Granada!
Mariana, you’ll be the mother of a new, free people!
M A R G A RI T A
Yes, the Republic was a dream, yes, a beautiful dream of
freedom for my people! Mariana Pineda, your dream…
was only a dream …
M A R G A RI T A
How tragic, when young flesh is mangled and hot
blood shoots forth like a fountain. How tragic, what
destruction! Why did we suffer that fate? Why was our
Spain not born, the Spain of Mariana and Federico? The
Spain of freedom we dreamt was choked, massacred
buried by the Falange.
NURI A
Margarita, tell us about the first time you met him at the
“Albor” bar in Madrid.
T H E “A L B O R ” B A R I N M A D R I D
LORC A
Margarita Xirgu, the proletarian queen of the Spanish
Theatre, greetings!
M A R G A RI T A
Wow, Federico, this whiskey tastes like gasoline!
LORC A
Fuel for your fire, Margarita! For you are the one and the
all – the most tragic and heroic: you are Electra, Salome,
furious Antigone and Lady Macbeth – Not Ophelia, but
Hamlet himself!
M A R G A RI T A
But now, I’ll be yours. I’ll play Mariana Pineda. Because
this great woman, murdered one hundred years ago, has
come back to life in your folk drama, bringing with her
the pure air of freedom that our people today must breathe.
LORC A
No, Margarita, my play is not political …
M A R G A RI T A
No? Then why did you write it?
LORC A
Because …I’ve been in love with Mariana since I was nine
years old.
ARIA TO THE STATUE OF MARIANA:
Desde mi ventana
LORC A
From my bedroom window I looked out at her statue. In
Granada she was called the “Symbol of Revolutionary
Purity,” and yet, for me, she was never so cold, never so
gray, not nearly so pure. To me, Mariana was light and
warmth and, most of all, love.
S T A T UE
My eyes are the stars in your deepest night.
LORC A
From my window on sleepless nights I would gaze out
upon her face. Her lips would grow red, her breath come
warm and sweet, and then she would place a kiss on my
lips that sent me drifting off to sleep.
S T A T UE
My eyes are the stars in your deepest night.
M A R G A RI T A
Ah, Federico, my child! How could I have any idea then
how true to Mariana’s story his short life would be?
LORC A
She died for the Revolution, yet the Revolution betrayed
her, for all she really wanted was love, only love!
NURI A
Perhaps he already knew somewhere in that poet’s soul
that his fate and hers would be as one.
M A R G A RI T A
… would be as one.
D E AT H O N H O R S E B A C K
(Margarita envisions the fascist Ruiz Alonso arriving to
arrest Lorca.)
RUI Z A LONSO
Give him up, the one with the swollen head!
SE C ON D I M A G E : F E D ERI C O
Margarita begins to tell Nuria about meeting Lorca
22
Ballad (We return to the Solís Theatre in Uruguay where
Margarita in the wings awaits her entrance.)
SPANISH HEROINE MARIANA PINEDA
Mariana
de
Pineda
Muñoz
(September 1804–26 May 1831),
known as Mariana Pineda, inspired
and captivated the imagination of
the young García Lorca, as her
gazed at the statue out of her out of
his window. Mariana was a Spanish
heroine who was executed during
the revolt against the Spanish government during the 1820s and 30s.
At a young age she was married to a
liberal Spanish army officer, but was
widowed with two children shortly
afterwards in 1822. Later, Mariana
became very involved in liberal causes. In 1828 she assisted
Lorca sings to the statue of Mariana Pineda
in Captain Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor’s escape from
prison. He was a noted liberal who had been condemned to
death for taking part in an insurrection (a violent uprising against
G IRLS
an authority or government) against the king, and was also Mariana’s cousin. In 1831, a liberal flag was found in her home
and she was arrested for treason (the crime of betraying one’s
R A DIO F A L A N G E
Our youth must be ready to shed their blood generously
for the sacred cause of Spain. Whoever is not with us is
against us. We’ll exterminate the seeds of the revolution,
even in the wombs of their mothers. Long live death! I
want to tear out my eyes
country) and conspiracy (agreement between two or more per-
M A R G A RI T A
I want to tear out my eyes so I don’t see him suffer. I
wanted to save him, but couldn’t. I wanted to take him
away from the bombs, take him to Cuba and crown him
in glory, but I couldn’t.
life showed parallels to hers in that he was executed for his politi-
NURI A
Teacher, don’t talk like that. You are keeping him alive…
M A R G A RI T A
… alive, among the dead, who cannot rest, like shivering
seeds, bleeding tears, tears, endless tears.
NURI A
Teacher, don’t talk like that! He stays alive because you
and he shared the same fever: the fever of a theatre that
transforms lives …
23
sons to commit a crime at some time in the future). At her trial,
Mariana refused to betray her collaborators and was executed on
May 26th, 1831.
García Lorca wrote a play based on Mariana Pineda’s life, which
in turn, is the basis for the story of the opera Ainadamar. His own
cal beliefs against the Spanish government during the Spanish
Civil War of the 1930s. There have been a few more operas
written that were based on Mariana Pineda’s life. Between 1965
and 1969 the French composer Louis Saguer (1907–1991)
composed an opera on the subject. The work premiered in 1970
in Marseille and was awarded the Grand Opera Prize of Monaco (1970). In 2007, Flavio Testi wrote a one act opera with
a libretto based on Federico García Lorca’s play about Pineda.
Ainadamar opens with the first line of Lorca’s play. We’ll hear an
offstage chorus sing: “¡Ay! Qué día tan triste en Granada, que
a las piedras hacía llorar, al ver que Marianita se muere en el
cadalso por no declarar. Las campanas, las campanas...” This
text will be projected onto the stage in the opening scene of the
opera.
M A R G A RI T A
Nuria, dear Nuria, his death is the reason I teach. And yet
I would give anything if I could have changed his fate. If
only I had convinced him to come with us when we toured
Mariana, to Havana …
NURI A
To Havana
DUET: A Havana
LORC A
To Havana, ah! With my skull open to the sun, sand tasting
like rum. The breeze is my shepherd, I shall not want.
M A R G A RI T A
To Havana, ah! Black angels, naked, agony of an
impossible sex, of the punctured dream and your laughter,
like a peach…split open…
LORC A
Ah! To Havana …
M A R G A RI T A , LORC A
To Havana, to Havana, you and I, to Havana, without
war. Joy, chorus and drums, ah!
M A R G A RI T A
To Havana, you and I …
LORC A
To Havana I won’t go!
M A R G A RI T A
You won’t come?
LORC A
No.
M A R G A RI T A
No?
LORC A
I won’t go.
DUET: Quiero cantar entre las
explosiones
LORC A
I want to sing amidst the explosions, I want to sing an
immense song: Spain is a bull burning alive. I see blood
running down the streets, and I walk singing, crowned
with thorns. Spain is a river of mourning, a people draped
in a black veil …
M A R G A RI T A
I don’t want you to stay, I don’t want to see you wounded,
I don’t want to see your tears. Come with me!
LORC A
I will stay among the dead, singing my immense song. A
song for the silenced and the dead. I will stay here…with
my singing and with my weeping.
M A R G A RI T A
I don’t want you to suffer, I don’t want your laughter like
a split peach, to die, not you, pure youth …
R A DIO F A L A N G E
For each one of us they kill, we will kill them tenfold
and more. They think they can escape. If they hide under
the ground, we will dig them up. And if we find them
dead, we will kill them again. Don’t be afraid: I give you
permission to kill them like dogs, and your hands will be
clean. We’ll exterminate the seeds of the revolution even
in the wombs of their mothers. Long Live Death!
A RREST
RUI Z A LONSO
Bring him to me! By God! The one with the swollen head!
T HE ROS A LES W OMEN
But what crime did he commit?
RUI Z A LONSO
He has done more damage with his pen than others have
with their pistols! (Lorca hides in a room among the women
of the Rosales family.)
M A R G A RI T A
When I close my eyes, I see his last moments.
T HE ROS A LES W OMEN
What crime did he commit?
24
LORC A (to the Rosales women)
I don’t want to kiss you! I don’t want to think we shall
never see each other again.
THE FALANGE
The Falange, or the Spanish Phalanx of the Assemblies of
the National Syndicalist Offensive, was the official name
RUI Z A LONSO
Bring him to me!
for the Spanish Fascist Party at the beginning of the 20th century.
M A R G A RI T A
They accused him –
minister of Spain in the 1920s. In the opera, Ainadamar,
L A S ROS A LES
time sounded like. All the messages from Radio Falange were
RUI Z A LONSO
The one with the swollen head!
It was founded in 1933 by Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, the son of General Miguel Primo de Rivera, the prime
there is a voice of “Radio Falange,” which was created
to instill a sense of what the oppressive government of the
quotations from Falangist officers and taken from a number of
Spanish newspapers from 1936.
Shortly after its founding, the Falange didn’t have clearly defined beliefs like the other political parties. It was not a typical
M A R G A RI T A
They mocked him –
republican party, which focused on bringing communism
L A S ROS A LES
daily life were becoming outdated in the new economic, so-
RUI Z A LONSO
An enemy of Spain!
oligarchy — a small group of people who together govern a
M A R G A RI T A
They lied —
RUI Z A LONSO
Communist!
M A R G A RI T A
They defamed him –
to Spain. The Falange party was modernist. Traditional forms of
art, architecture, literature, religious faith, social organization and
cial, and political conditions of an emerging fully industrialized
world. They fought for the lower classes, and opposed both
nation or control an organization, often for their own purposes
— and communism, the Marxist-Leninist version of a classless society in which capitalism is overthrown by a working-class
revolution that gives ownership and control of wealth and property
to the state. As a result, the Falange lost support in the 1936 election leading up the Spanish Civil War,and all that remained
of the party were a core of young activists, many in the organization’s student group, the SEU.
At the start of the Spanish Civil War, Jose Antonio Primo de
Rivera was seized by Republicans and executed on November
20, 1936. During the war, 60% of the pre-war Falangists lost
their lives, more than any other political party. In 1937, General
Franco seized power, took over as the leader of the Falange and
the army of Spain gave the party its full support. The law was used
to unite the Falange with the Carlist Party and was renamed
Traditionalist Spanish Falange. As a result, it was the only
political party allowed by Franco, who led Spain into a military
dictatorship between 1939 and 1942. The Traditionalist Spanish
Falange developed into the national movement that survived until
Franco’s death until 1975. Today, Spain still has a minor Falangist
faction, mainly the Falange Española de las JONS, however
not very well supported by the public.
Ruiz Alonso and the Falange come to arrest Lorca.
25
L A S ROS A LES
RUI Z A LONSO
A lover of Russia!
M A R G A RI T A
…when in truth, the only things he loved were poetry,
freedom…and, sometimes, Rafael.
T h e F o u n t a i n o f Te a r s
VOICES OF T HE FOUN T A IN
“Ainadamar,” great fountain…“Ainadamar,” the fountain
of tears.
M A R G A RI T A
So up that hillside you carried your cross; on his left, a
schoolteacher, on his right, a bullfighter, and the fountain
itself began to cry.
CO N FES SI O N
(A schoolteacher, a bullfighter, and the fascist Tripaldi enter
into Margarita’s vision.)
T RI P A LDI (offers Lorca a cigarette)
As a Catholic it is my duty to tell you you’ll be executed.
Come, make your final confession.
I’ll help you as I’ve helped so many others.
VOICES OF T HE DE A D A ND T HE ONES
T O BE K ILLED
Saint Mary, Holy …
LORC A
“Father, forgive me –” But I haven’t done anything!
T RI P A LDI (corrects Lorca, gently)
Father, forgive me …
LORC A
Father, forgive me, for I have sinned. Father, I have not
obeyed you…Mother, I knew this prayer, Mother, I can’t
remember the words… Mother, I don’t want to die!
T RI P A LDI
Father, forgive! I have not loved you with all my heart…I
have not loved my neighbor as myself…There is no God.
There is only the bull! There is no God! There is only my
cape! Only my sword, only my mother, drowning in my
blood …
T E A CHER
Thirteen thousand schools opened in just two years!
Children can read now, they will ask questions …
Gunshot Interlude and Lament for the
Death of Federico
Lorca is murdered via a firing squad. Above the gunshots, we
hear a flamenco voice crying out, “Oh my God, what a great
pity! Federico died!“
Nuria imagines that she meets Lorca
in a dream-like sequence
26
T H IR D I M A G E : M AR G ARITA
THE REAL MARGARITA XIRGU
In the opera Ainadamar, the story
BALL AD
of Federico García Lorca is
(Traumatized by her vision, Margarita collapses.)
told through Margarita Xirgu,
G IRLS
was greatly popular throughout
NURI A (concerned)
Margarita, look at me …Teacher, you are not well. You
must rest, you cannot go on with this performance.
Born in 1888 in the Catalonia
G IRLS
She would become Lorca’s unofficial muse, or inspiration.
M A R G A RI T A
Nuria, what have I taught you?
NURI A
Teacher …
a Catalan stage actress who
her country and Latin America.
region of Spain, she began her
theater career in 1906 and made her first movie in 1910. She
met the poet and playwright Federico García Lorca in 1926.
He found her a riveting actress, describing her as “an actress
who breaks the monotony of the footlights with breezes of innovation, who flings handfuls of fire or pitchers of cold water onto
the dozing public.” The two would remain great friends.
Her most important contribution to Lorca’s legacy was the spread
of Lorca’s plays all over the world. Notable plays in which she
M A R G A RI T A
“Actors are like roses…”
appeared include Como tú me Deseas, La Casa de Ber-
narda Alba, and Mariana Pineda.
The actress was on tour with her theater company in South
NURI A
“Actors…”
America in 1936 when the Spanish Civil War broke out.
General Francisco Franco’s dictatorship forced her to chose
M A R G A RI T A
“… who open for the blink of an eye!”
NURI A
“…who open for the blink of an eye, not like statues or
paintings.”
M A R G A RI T A
Yes, you have learned. Go on …
NURI A
“When our voices are silenced, we vanish from memory.
When those around us die, we are gone.”
M A R G A RI T A
Thank you. Now help me … I must go onstage.
You emerge from my fountain
(Lorca emerges bathed in light. He exhorts Margarita in her
final moments like an angel of forgiveness.)
27
exile rather than return to her native Spain. She lived in Argentina, where she staged the world premiere of García Lorca’s La
casa de Bernarda Alba in 1945, and later in Uruguay.
Xirgu learned of Lorca’s execution just before a performance of
his play Yerma. She changed her final line from “I myself have
murdered my own children” to “They have murdered my child.”
She starred in the 1938 Spanish film version of García Lorca’s
Bodas de sangre (Blood Wedding), the only film version of a
García Lorca play to star an actress who had appeared in his
works onstage. The film was shown on Argentine TV in 1966
and can be seen on YouTube at http://tinyurl.com/xirgubodas
Xirgu died in Maldonado in 1969, after she had become a
Uruguayan citizen according to civil rights granted for exiles. In
1988 the Catalan government repatriated her remains and they
are now buried in Molins de Rei.
LORC A
Margarita, you emerge from my fountain, bathed in the
water and light of my poetry. Your spirit lives in each one
of your students. You and Mariana are already one and
the same. Take her hand
NURI A (to Lorca)
Come, take her hand. Stand by her side. Come, take my
hand. Stand beside me…I’ll follow your steps. Take us by
the hand…
G IRLS ’ VOICES
Come, take my hand. Stand by my side. I’ll follow your
steps. Take her by the hand…Come …guide us…
M A R G A RI T A
You see, Federico? I never returned to Spain. But here in
Latin America, you are still alive. I keep you alive…you are
alive in me.
LORC A
You never returned to Spain…I know, I feel it: You have
kept me alive. I give you my thanks and I love you. Now
come, come: It is time!
D ELIRIOUS SUNSET
(Interlude of orchestra and light – guided by two Arab guitars)
G IRLS
Mariana, your dark eyes…Here is my blood
TRIO: Doy mi sangre
M A R G A RI T A , NURI A , LORC A
Here is my blood shed for thee, drink it and tell my story.
This is how I die, submerged in the voices of those who
have loved me and those not yet born.
FINALE: Yo soy la libertad
NURI A , LORC A
Freedom!
NURI A
Pure freedom …
M A R G A RI T A , LORC A
Freedom!
M A R G A RI T A
True freedom! I see the world now with the eyes
of multitudes. Farewell, farewell, beloved Granada.
(Margarita dies.) I am freedom
VOICE OF M A R G A RI T A
I am freedom, I am the source, the fountain from which
you drink. I am freedom, wounded and bleeding hope.
G IRLS
“What a sad day it was in Granada. The stones began to
cry. What a sad day it was in Granada. The bells tolled
and tolled.”
Here is my blood shed for thee, drink it and tell my story. This is how I die,
submerged in the voices of those who have loved me and those not yet born.
28
English Libretto, David Henry Hwang © 2005. Reprinted
with permission of Mr. Hwang and the Steven Barclay Agency.
AINADAMAR
M EET T H E ARTISTS
The Catalan soprano, María Hinojosa Montenegro, made her debut at the age of sixteen interpreting main roles of more than twenty zarzuelas and was nominated as Best Musical Actress in
Spain. She has recorded several contemporary operas such as Primary Colors by Agustí Charles,
Anna Cruse by Eduard Resina, RMSonce and The Game of Life by Francesc Martí. Upcoming
productions include Rodelinda by Handel in Santiago, Tito Manlio by Vivaldi with Accademia
Byzantine at Krakow’s festival and Wien, Vivaldi and Handel arias at Beaux Arts in Brussels,
Concertgebouw of Brugge, Champs-Elysées in Paris and Theater an der Wien. The role of Margartia Xirgu in Golijov’s Ainadamar marks Ms. Montenegro’s Opera Philadelphia debut. Visit her
online at www.mariahinojosamontenegro.com
Mezzo-soprano Marina Pardo is well versed in both early and contemporary music alike. She has
performed Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas (Sorceress), L’ incoronazione di Poppea by Monteverdi (Nerone)
and Handel’s Giulio Cesare (Sesto/Cornelia). She has recorded for the label K617, which distributes
Harmonia Mundi. She has appeared in numerous productions such as Le nozze di Figaro (Cherubino), Die Walküre (Grimgerde), Carmen (Mercédès), and La traviata (Flora). Marina Pardo has
also carved a niche among the leading performers of zarzuela, singing over twenty roles. As Ms.
Pardo specializes in performing pants roles, where a woman plays the role of a male character, the
role of Federico García Lorca in Ainadamar suits her well. Check out www.marinapardo.com to
learn more about Marina.
Soprano Sarah Shafer made her Opera Philadelphia’s debut as Papagena in The Magic Flute last
April and returns to sing Nuria in Ainadamar. She recently made her professional operatic debut as
Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro at the Glyndebourne Festival. Other roles for this coming season include her American debut with Opera Memphis singing Adina in L’elisir d’amore. A graduate
of Curtis Opera Theatre, she boasts many credits to her name that include over fifteen productions
and a variety of roles including Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Elizabeth Zimmer in Henze’s
Elegy for Young Lovers, Ilia in Idomeneo, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Sofia in Il Signor Bruschino,
and Mélisande in Impressions of Pelléas. Visit the soprano’s website at sarahshafersoprano.com/
Alfredo Tejada, flamenco singer, is from Granada, Spain. His gypsy mother was a “cantaora”
performing in “El Jaleo”. After 4 years of musical studies, the guitarist Luis Millan discovered Mr.
Tejado and introduced him to the flamenco circles of Granada, after which he won a few awards
in different Andalusian competitions. Mr. Tejada worked in the cave of Rocio del Sacro Monte
in Granada. Golijov’s Ainadamar marks Mr. Tejada’s Opera Philadelphia debut. See Alfredo in
performance on his YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/elpoeta2
The Antonio Gades Company has been one of the great pillars of Spanish dance and flamenco
since its inception. Based legendary choreographer Antonio Gades’ repertoire, the Company
boasts a private school based on Antonio Gades’ teachings. Today the company, under the artistic
direction of Stella Quaternary, brings several generations of artists who continue the Gades style
of dance which is defined and refined in the traditions and culture of the Spanish people. Gades
made the Spanish dance a universal style with a wide expressive power that takes you to all corners
of the world without words. The Antonio Gades Company performs throughout Spain and has
taken the Spanish public art cities and capitals of Russia, China, Japan, England, USA, France,
Italy and Turkey. The show attracts and caters to all audiences regardless of age, nationality or
cultural level. Learn more at www.antoniogades.com
29
SOUND DESIGN:
ON T H E O P ERA STA G E
s o u n d d e • s i g n (sahoon d dih-zah yn ) n . the process of specifying, acquiring, manipulating
or generating audio elements. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking, television
production, theatre, sound recording and reproduction, live performance, sound art, post-production, and
video game.
Sound design might not seem to have anything to do with
opera, an art form that revels in an acoustic, unamplified
celebration of the human voice and musical instruments.
Opera singers train their voices to soar out over an orchestra.
Their high notes, low notes, loud notes and soft notes all
need to be heard perfectly in the auditorium without the
use of a microphone. Singers train for years and years to
perfect this ability.
Well, at least that’s the case for most operas! Composer
Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar is different. Our singers
use microphones in this opera, but not because they can’t
be heard without microphones. Golijov wanted to add
special audio effects to the singers’ voices and there are
moments in the opera where the human voice joins with
sound effects or is changed through sound design.
He also uses sound effects to heighten the drama in
unexpected ways. Ainadamar begins with an element of
sound design. In the Water and Horse Prelude, we hear
the sound of deep water. It’s the fountain where Lorca
was killed. This sound effect was prerecorded and is part
of an audio package of sound effects we hear throughout
the opera. Then we hear distant trumpets and a trombone,
wailing in a flamenco-like blaze. The trumpet’s call is
modified through sound design to appear even further way,
as if it’s crying like the soul of Spain itself. As the reverb
and delay of the trumpets slowly fade away, we hear a horse
racing towards us. The measured panting of the horse and
his rhythmically-defined gallop sounds like Lorca’s heart
beating for all of Spain. The horse gallops through the
country, then on cobblestone, until the orchestra finally
joins him in an explosion of percussion. The sounds join
together to become a flamenco dance.
Another bracing use of sound design in Ainadamar is when
we first hear the voice of Ramon Ruiz Alonzo, an historical
figure who arrested and executed Lorca. For this character,
Golijov assigns the part not to an opera singer, but to a
flamenco singer. Lorca loved the flamenco tradition, and
perhaps no other musical style is as operatic as flamenco.
The extreme emotion of flamenco, combined with the
fascist message of Ruiz Alonso, adds to the drama of the
scene. While his voice is not altered through electronic
means, Golijov’s unconventional choice of a flamenco
singer is as much a part of the opera’s sound design as the
digitally changed elements are.
30
Later in the opera we hear a speaking voice coming from
a loudspeaker. It’s the official voice of Radio Falange, the
fascist political party which was ultimately taken over by
the dictator General Francis Franco. The pre-recorded
messages are shrill, distorted and oppressive. They’re meant
to show how all-consuming the government had become.
The message is also dramatic, “Whoever is not with us is
against us. We’ll exterminate the seeds of the revolution,
even in the wombs of their mothers. Long live death!”
In some cases, Golijov uses amplification of the singer’s
voice for expressive effect. We hear things that we could
never hear if Margarita’s voice were not amplified. For
example, in Margarita’s “Quiero arrancarme los ojos”, (I
want to tear out my eyes), and in her death scene, we can
hear the singer’s expressive sobs and emotional breathing
to dramatic effect.
Finally, one of the most dramatic and creative moments
of the score is the use of gunshots at Lorca’s execution. In
liner notes to the 2006 DG recording of the opera, Golijov
recounts, “I thought: for the murder of Lorca … let’s start
with just one gunshot! So I traced in a library of sounds
a gunshot from the 1930s, and we hear that gunshot,
and we hear the shell falling to the ground. And then I
thought: let’s do a whole, entire piece based on this sound,
where one gunshot becomes thousands and thousands of
gunshots that killed thousands of people... then it becomes
this semiflamenco dance of bullets. And on top of it we hear
a heart-breaking lament (for the death of Lorca)...on top of
the gunshots, (symbolizing)...the flamenco voice of pain.”
All of these sound effects, in combination with the use of
flamenco music, create one of the most unique operatic
and theatrical experiences ever. Golijov uses sound design
to capture the heart of a poet, the oppression of a fascist
government, and the mourning of the loss of a nation’s soul.
1. On YouTube find two examples of sound effects used a
popular movie which add to the dramatic impact of the scene.
PLOT THE ACTION IN
AINA D A M AR
Directions: Fill in the required information for each section below in numerical order. Use the information that appears with each
section to help you proceed. It’s okay to write through the gray diagonal line in two of the sections.
2. As the story continues, the Rising Actions
introduce complications and problems for the main
characters. These difficulties create suspense!
3. The Climax of
the story is when
the reader is most
interested in how the
story will end. The
suspense is at its
peak, but the outcome
is not yet known.
3. Climax
2. Rising Actions
4. Falling Action
4. Falling Action appears at the ending of the
story. Suspense has been eliminated and these
events show characters’ lives returning to normal.
1. The Exposition
1. The Exposition appears at the beginning of the story. It introduces us to the setting, characters and background information.
31
5. Resolution
5. The Resolution is the final solution to the problem or conflict. In stories with happy endings it’s called the denouement.
Tragic endings are called catastrophe.
SEQUENCE OF THE
STOR Y
The sequence of a story or play is very important for understanding the content. The sequence of events explains how things happen
and when they happen. After reading the libretto, place the following events in order. Re-number the events from one to ten in the
order that they occur in the opera. As the opera in divided into “images” rather than “acts,” write the image in which you find that
event.
______ 1. Margarita begs Lorca to come to with her to Cuba after the Spanish Civil War begins. .
Image ___
______ 2. Margarita has a flashback of meeting Lorca in a bar in Madrid. Image ___
______ 3. The play starts again as Margarita is dying and the balada is repeated.
Image ___
______ 4. Lorca, a bullfighter, and a teacher are executed by Ruiz Alonso.
Image ___
______ 5. Margarita compares the eerie foreshadowing of the fate of Mariana Pineda and Lorca.
Image ___
______ 6. Margarita tells Nuria that an actor only lives for a moment but the nation’s voice will never die.
______ 7. Lorca describes his play, Mariana Pineda, to Margarita for the first time.
______ 8. Ramon Ruiz Alonso interrupts Margarita’s flashback and calls for the head of Lorca.
Image ___
______ 9. As Margarita dies, Lorca’s spirit comes to her and together they walk toward the light. Image ___
______ 10. Margarita sings the final lines of Mariana Pineda “I am the fountain from which you drink.”
Image ___
Image ___
Image ___
What is the most important event in the opera? Pick what you feel is the most important event from the ten moments
above. Discuss why you feel this scene is important with your classmates. How could you cause a change in this
scene and affect the rest of the story’s plot? Discuss this new view of the opera with your classmates or write a new
ending to the opera.
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32
MAKE YOUR OWN
S Y NO P SIS
A synopsis is a concise summary or brief statement of events. In
1. In a small group, examine the main characters of Ainad-
writing a synopsis, the main points or ideas are written and the
amar. How did the actions of the characters move the plot for-
supporting details are left out. To do this successfully, we must
ward? What were the most important things which happened?
make judgments on what are the most important facts or details.
Often you are asked after a day of school, “How was your
2. Make a word bank of the main characters. List important ad-
day?” or “What did you learn today?” You know how to answer
jectives which describe their character traits. Then list the verbs
these questions because you know what the important things you
or action words which highlight their actions.
did were.
CHARACTERS
DESCRIPTIVE ADJECTIVES
ACTIONS
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(Use additional paper if necessary.)
33
L O R C A A N A LY S I S :
E L NI Ñ O M U D O
Lorca’s writings are known for themes of nature and the country-
Tex t o f Po e m :
Translation:
El niño busca su voz.
The little boy was looking for his voice.
(La tenía el rey de los grillos.)
(The king of the crickets had it.)
En una gota de agua
In a drop of water
buscaba su voz el niño.
the little boy was looking for his voice.
draws conclusions. The major difference in reading poetry is the
No la quiero para hablar;
I do not want it for speaking with;
attention paid to the meaning of the words, the expressive quali-
me haré con ella un anillo
I will make a ring of it
ties of sound and rhythm, and the precise language and grammar
que llevará mi silencio
so that he may wear my silence
choices made by the author. Let’s use the following questions to
en su dedo pequeñito.
on his little finger
En una gota de agua
In a drop of water
1. What does the title (The Little Mute Boy) suggest?
buscaba su voz el niño.
the little boy was looking for his voice.
2. After you have read the poem once, write an immediate
(La voz cautiva, a lo lejos,
(The captive voice, far away,
se ponía un traje de grillo.
put on a cricket’s clothes.)
side, and colorful if somewhat challenging imagery. Read Lorca’s
poem, El Niño Mudo (The Little Mute Boy) to the left and analyze
its meaning.
Analyzing poems is like analyzing stories. The reader observes the
details of the author’s use of language, makes connections, and
help interpret this “children’s story-like” poem:
response to the poem: what do you think it means?
3. Write what each line of the poem means in your own words.
4. Why are the verses written in a pattern of 4 lines, 4 lines, 2
lines, 2 lines?
5. Why does the speaker in the poem shift from third person
13. How does the information that you read about Lorca’s life
connect to the meaning of the poem?
point of view (someone looking in from the outside) to first person
14. Now that you have done some further analysis of the poem,
(from the perspective of the main character) and then back to
write again about the author’s meaning.
third?
6. The main characters in the poem are the little boy and the
king of the crickets. Why would Federico García Lorca use a
cricket as a character in a poem about a mute boy?
7. What are the words that deal with sound in the poem?
8. What figurative language devices does the poet use (metaphors)?
H AI K U :
Now that you have completed a close reading of the poem, can
you write one of your own using a different poetic form? Let’s try
a HAIKU!!
Haiku poetry, a Japanese poetic form, uses ideas from nature
just as Federico García Lorca did in “The Little Mute Boy”. The
format of a Haiku is as follows:
9. Are certain words meant to be symbolic (to represent some-
5 syllables
thing else)?
7 syllables
10. Notice the active words (verbs) in the poem and write them
down. Why does Lorca use them?
5 syllables
On a separate piece of paper, write an original Haiku poem
that expresses your thoughts on a specific theme from nature.
11. Notice the use of parenthesis on the second line of the
poem and in the last two lines. Why do you think the author
I L L USTRATE :
used them?
Often, volumes of poetry contain graphic designs or illustrations
12. Why does the little boy want to make a ring of his voice
instead of using it to speak with?
34
to reflect the meaning of a poem. Can you draw a picture or
design on a piece of paper to represent the meaning of the
poem “The Little Mute Boy”?
DIAMOND
P OE M S
Diamond poems, also called diamantes, are a fun exercise to include in your poetry unit or do anytime! They can be used to integrate
poetry into almost any teaching theme -- for example, students might write weather diamond poems, my community diamond poems, or
favorite sports diamond poems. The diamond poem format could be a tool students use to express feelings about math too -- their love
of math or their fear of it.
The diamond poem’s format is simple, but it challenges students to expand their vocabulary and learn about the parts of speech.
Diamond poems are seven-line poems that take on the shape of a diamond because of the way they are created. For purposes of this
lesson, the first line and the last line of the poem are the same word:
• Line 1 of a diamond poem is the poem’s subject; it is usually a single word
-- a noun.
• Line 2 is made up of two adjectives, which describe the subject in Line 1.
(How does it look or feel? How does it make you feel?)
• Line 3 is made up of three participles -- verbs that end in the -ing suffix
that convey actions related to the subject of the poem.
• Line 4 has four nouns related to the subject of the poem in Line 1.
• Line 5 comprises three more participles.
• Line 6 is made up of two more adjectives.
• Line 7 is the subject (as in Line 1) repeated.
Example:
tornado
forceful, powerful
whipping, churning, whirling
thunderstorm, whirlwind, funnel, cyclone,
destroying, wrecking, killing
violent, uncontrollable
tornado
1. Create your own diamond poem about a subject of your choosing.
2. Create a diamond poem either individually or as a class about a topic from Ainadamar,
i.e. the Spanish Civil War, Federico García Lorca, or Flamenco.
_____________________________
________________________________________
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________________________________________
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35
OPERA
J EO PAR D Y
Jeopardy is one of the most popular game shows in television network history. Contestants are given clues in answer
form, but have to phrase their responses like a question. For example, the correct response to the first block would be
“What is Dafne?” How well can you do on the other questions? Search the articles in the book to find the correct responses! Teachers have a copy of the answers in their teacher guide.
Opera Then
Academy of
and Now
Music
Opera Terms
García Lorca
Ainadamar
Spanish
Civil War
Flamenco
originated in
Famous opera
The first opera
written
house that the
a solo song sung
Lorca’s mother’s
Academy was
in an opera
occupation
designed after
Word meaning
“fountain of
tears”
King of Spain
the 18th century
right before the
with this group
Spanish Civil
of people who
War begins
have roots in
India
Renaissance
President when
operas were
the Academy
based on these
was built
Country in which
The first opera
ballet played
presented in the
a large role in
Academy on
opera
2/25/1857
Opera move-
The year an
ment to make
elevator was
opera about
installed at the
common people
Academy
New operas that
often reflected
pride in a
country’s people,
history, and
folklore
person who
rehearses
and leads the
orchestra
a group of
musicians who
play together on
various musical
instruments
a piece of
instrumental
music played at
the beginning of
an opera
Victorian symbol
words that are
for “welcome,”
sung like natural
seen on the
speech - the
Academy’s
18th century ver-
curtain
sion of rap
an important
Lorca’s muse, a
influence from
Catalan actress,
his childhood
through who
that he used in
eyes the story of
his poetry
the opera is told
the Spanish
composer that
led Lorca to
Spanish folklore
military coup
inspired some
against the
of the music for
Second Spanish
Ainadamar
Republic
his first book
which the title
of poems was
role is played by
published
Margarita Xirgu
unique rhythm
ments that
pattern in
helped General
flamenco music -
Franco take over
in “America” from
Spain
West Side Story
The city where
Style of flamenco
surrendered to
expressive arms
General Franco
and rhythmic
female voice
famous play
in this Cuban
musical styles
Academy stage
36
flamenco music
to whom she
1889 on the
Academy
that is key to
tells Lorca’s story
and popular
this at the
rhythm or meter
that has erect
Lorca to join her
about WWI
Spanish term for
upright stance,
Lorca’s most
people attended
gypsies
army finally
highest pitched
Philadelphia
early on with the
the republican
was held in
duced by Opera
used in flamenco
acting student,
The sport that
1870, 1600
type of govern-
musical
accompaniment
Margarita Xirgu’s
An American
Xirgu wants
city.
On February 5,
the church
musical style that
opera with jazz
The opera pro-
landowners and
He began a
Lorca’s play in
U.S. city
who began an
uprising against
the dance and
the year that
Lorca visited this
the social
revolutionaries
in 1939
feet stamping
political group
style of flamenco
that wants a
in which the
return to the
dance is always
ultra catholic
an improvised
monarchy
solo
The location
Margarita sings
the political
type of classical
lowest pitched
where Lorca
these final lines
movement that
dance that influ-
male voice
was killed by the
of Mariana
became the
ences flamenco
Nationalists
Pineda
Fascist party
today
P R O PA G A N D A
Propaganda is a form of marketing that was used heavily in the
Spanish Civil War by the both the Fascists and the opposition.
Transfer 1: You know and trust me, sports figure or actor.
The campaigns were made up of brightly colored posters that were
Goal: belief in the quality or integrity of the product or idea due
littered throughout Spain’s business districts in Spain and became
to faith in the personality selling it.
part of the visual landscape during the war. “Every space must be
used to incite the spirit in its fight against the enemy,” stated an article
in the newspaper ABC on October 30, 1936. The British writer
Christopher Caudwell wrote home from Barcelona in December of
1936: “On almost every building there are party posters: posters
against Fascism, posters about the defense of Madrid, posters appealing for recruits to the militia...and even posters for the emancipation of women and against venereal disease.”
Propaganda is used in commercial media and by political groups
to sell everything from soap to political candidates, to opera tickets. When a manufacturer or a politician begins to sell a product
or an idea, a campaign is started.
Advertising is a big business. Tens of millions of dollars each
year to sell their product. In fact, a 30-second commercial to
be played during the 2014 Super Bowl will cost $4 million!
Campaigns use billboards, jingles, and ads on television, radio,
and in newspapers to convince the public that their product, is
Transfer 2: I’m beautiful and you will be, too, if you....
Goal: convince public that physical attractiveness can be bought.
Transfer-testimonial: any combination of the above.
Plain folks: average Joe, next-door neighbor, friend.
Goal: middle-class viewer identifies with and trusts in the advertiser.
These techniques are used on you every day. Are you wise enough
to recognize the techniques being used to try to convince you?
A critical thinker knows how to get the facts and base decisions
on them. Some will seek information about a product from the
magazine Consumer Reports; some will turn to major news programs for background information on politicians and their beliefs.
It is a critical thinking skill to remain an independent thinker in the
fast-paced media world of political and commercial propaganda.
trustworthy. If you purchase their product or vote for their candidate, you beleived their claim.
Here are some of the methods used most frequently to convince
others to do what the advertiser wants:
Emotional Words: best, greatest, new, improved, fantastic.
Goal: gain public attention.
Name Repetition: “Drink Cherry Ale soda. Cherry Ale is
refreshing. Cherry Ale is sweet. Cherry Ale is cool. Cherry Ale is
caffeine free and a great way to beat the heat.”
Goal: name recognition of brand name “Cherry Ale.”
1. Use these techniques to create a poster for a new product
line focused on your age group (or an advertisement for Ainadamar).
a. Think of commercials which gain your attention--how
could you use their methods to sell your idea? In which shows or
publications would you advertise your product?
b. Work with other students who have different strengths.
One can illustrate while someone else can write the copy.
Another student could coordinate the project. If you have a great
idea, let us know!
2. Use the internet to find Spanish Civil War propaganda
posters, or check out the activities section on page 41. How do
Bandwagon: Everyone is doing it, so it must be good!
they compare to the images from posters from wars that America
Goal: to get the buyer to feel personally validated by membership
fought? Do you see some of the techniques mentioned above
in a group, the primary benefit to be obtained by supporting the
used in these posters?
product or candidate. The key word is “everybody” or “everyone.”
Testimonial: Documentation showing stated claims as true.
Stars will sell or endorse a product or candidate.
Goal: belief in the product’s or idea’s trustworthiness.
37
Sources Cited
http://libraries.ucsd.edu/speccoll/visfront/intro.html
LORCA IN HIS OWN
H AN D
Federico García Lorca had many talents in poetry, music, and art. Below and are some of his sketches. Salvador Dalí was a great
friend and collaborator of Lorca’s. Pick one of the sketches below and describe it in 50 words. How does it relate to its title? What
feeling does it invoke? Is it good or bad and why?
Top left: Self Portrait of the Poet in New York
Top right: Sailor
Lower left: Music and mask
Middle right: Salvador Dalí
Bottom right: Signature
38
S U P P L E M E N TA L
A C TI V ITIES
Looking to find other ways to get ready for Ainadamar with your friends or family? Here’s a list of great books, activities, museums to
visit, music resources, and creative and fun art projects.
NON - F I C TION B OO K S :
•
•
•
•
•
The Collected Poems: A Bilingual Edition by Federico García Lorca
In Search of Duende by Federico García Lorca
Romancero gitano by Federico García Lorca
Three Tragedies by Federico García Lorca
Sketches of Spain by Federico García Lorca
•
•
•
Federico García Lorca by David Johnston
Federico García Lorca by Ian Gibson
The Civil War in Spain by Robert Goldston
A C TI V ITIES :
History:
•
The Spanish Civil War was littered with posters and propaganda from both sides, trying to
persuade the masses to join each side. Complete the propaganda lesson on page 39 and view
historic posters at this link:
http://libraries.ucsd.edu/speccoll/visfront/intro.html
•
Create student tableaus (students freeze in positions for a particular scene from the show) like a frozen event in time. One person reads the paragraph that describes the scene in the
tableau. All other students absorb the words and the visual.
Music and Video:
•
•
•
Ainadamar CD: Dawn Upshaw | Kelly O’Connor | Robert Spano | DG
Blood Wedding DVD : Flameco version of Lorca’s play bythe Antonio Gades
The Context of Music: The Spanish Civil War
http://americansymphony.org/the-context-of-music-the-spanish-civil-war/
•
Practice clapping these different flamenco rhythms with accents on bolded beats:
There are three types of 12-beat rhythms, which vary in their layouts, or use of accentuations:
soleá, seguiriya and bulería.
1. Peteneras and Guajiras: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12.
2. The seguiriya, liviana , serrana, toná liviana, cabales: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
3. See the link in the Wikipedia article to hear different syncopations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamenco
Art:
•
•
•
39
Go to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and look at their collection for the Spanish Civil War,
including Pablo Picasso’s famous painting of Guernica.
Look at García Lorca’s drawings at http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/10/lorcasdrawings.html and google images of his paintings. Compare and contrast his style of art with
other artists at the time.
Create your own drawing in the style of Lorca.
CAREERS IN THE
ARTS
It takes a lot more people to put on an opera than just the singers on the stage. All of the people who have the jobs below work
together to help the opera come to life. If you’re interested in a job in the arts, here are just some of the jobs that could help you have
a career in the arts!-
CAREERS IN THE ARTS
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Accompanist
Actor/Actress
Advertising Director
Announcer
Architect
Architectural Model Builder
Artist
Artistic Director
Art Festival Coordinator
Art Teacher
Arts Administrator
Arts Consultant
Arts Ed. Curriculum Writer
Audio Engineer (recording)
Band Director
Book Designer
Book Illuminator
Box Office Director
Business Manager
Casting Director
Choir Director
Choreographer
Cinematographer
Clothing Designer
Comedian
Commercial Artist
Composer
Computer Graphics Design
Concert Singer
Conductor
Contract Specialist
Copyright Specialist
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Costume Buyer
Costume & Mask Designer
Creative Consultant
Critic
Cutter (costumes)
Dancer
Dialect Coach
Dramaturg
Draper (costumes)
Dresser (theater)
Extra (background actor)
Fashion Designer
First Hand (seamstress)
Fundraiser (Development)
Furniture Designer
Graphic Designer
House Manager (theater)
Illustrator (fashion, book, etc.)
Instrumentalist
Librettist
Lighting Designer
Makeup Artist
Manager (arts organizations)
Master Electrician (stage)
Model Builder
Mold Maker
Music Contractor
Music Copyist & Transcriber
Music Editor
Music Librarian
Music Teacher
Musician
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Musicologist
Orchestrator
Painter
Photographer
Producer (theater, TV, movies)
Proofreader (music)
Props Buyer
Props Designer
Public Relations Specialist
Publicist
Publisher
Scene Painter
Scenic Designer
Sculptor
Set Decorator
Set Dresser
Shop Foreman (stage)
Singer
Special Effects Coordinator
Stage Carpenter
Stage Director
Stage Hand
Stage Manager
Stitcher (costumes)
Stunt Coordinator
Theater Director
Ticketing Agent
TV Camera Operator
Videographer
Vocalist
Wardrobe Mistress
Wigmaker
Which of the careers listed above are interesting to you? Where do you think you could go to learn more about it?
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GLOSSARY
O F TER M S
A C T ( A K T ) N . One of the main divisions of a play or opera
a c c u s e d ( u h - k y oozd) adj. charged with a crime,
E l e c t r a (ih-l ek- truh) n . Classical Mythology: the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra who provoked her brother
Orestes to kill Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus.
ag o n y ( ag- u h - n ee) n . extreme pain; intense physical or
e m e r g e (ih-m urj) v. to come forth into view or notice, as
from concealment or obscurity.
A LLE G RO ( U H - LEG-ROH) ADV. musical term for fast and
cially some future event or events.
wrongdoing, fault.
mental suffering.
lively.
a m i d s t ( u h - m i d st) prep. in the middle of; surrounded by;
among.
A ND A N T E (AHN-DAHN-TEY) ADV. a musical term meaning
in moderate slow time.
A n t i g o n e ( a n - tig-uh-n ee) n . Classical Mythology: a
daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta who refuse to comply with her
uncle, King Creon, by performing funeral rites over her brother,
Polynices, and was sentenced to be immured (v. to enclose within
walls) alive in a cave.
A N T A G ONIS T ( AN-TAG-O-NIST ) N . an adversary or op-
ponent of the main character or protagonist in an opera, play, or
other drama.
A RI A ( A HR - EE- U H ) N . an operatic song for one voice.
B A R ( BA H R ) N . a division of music, marked by two bar lines,
containing a set number of beats
e n v i s i o n (en-vi zh -uhn) v. to picture mentally, espee x e c u t e (ek-si-kyoot) v. to murder; assassinate.
e x h o r t (ig-zawrt) v. to urge, advise, or caution earnestly.
e xt e r m i n at e (ik -stur-muh-ney t) v. to get rid of by
destroying; destroy totally.
Fa l a n g e (fah-l ah n -he) n . the official state political
party in Spain from 1936 until disbandment in 1977.
f a s c i s t (fash -is t) n . a person who believes in a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly
suppressing opposition and criticism, taking over all industry,
commerce, etc., and emphasizing support for one’s country and
often racism.
f at e (fey t) n . something that unavoidably happens to a
person; fortune; lot.
f l at (fl at) adj. a half-step lower than the corresponding
note or key of natural pitch.
B A RI T ONE ( B A R - I- TO HN) N . the range of the male voice
f o r t e (fawr- tey) a dv. a musical term meaning loudly.
B A SS ( B E YS ) N . the lowest male singing voice.
for very loud.
between tenor and bass
BE A T ( B EET ) N . the basic pulse of a piece of music
f o r t i s s i m o (f o r -tee-see-mo h) adv. a musical term
i m m e n s e (ih-m en s) adj. vast; huge; very great.
Ca d a l s o ( C A - D AL-SO ) n . a Spanish dialect spoken in the
Ha m l e t (ham-l i t) n . The protagonist of the William
Shakespeare tragedy, Hamlet.
c h o r d ( k aw r d ) n . a group of notes played at the same time
La d y Ma c b e t h (l ey-dee muhk -b eth ) n . Lady Macbeth is a character in Shakespeare’s Macbeth (c.1603–1607). She is
the wife to the play’s protagonist, Macbeth, a Scottish nobleman.
After pushing him into committing regicide (the killing of a king),
she becomes Queen of Scotland, but later suffers pangs of guilt for
her part in the crime. She dies off-stage in the last act, an apparent
suicide.
town of Cadalso.
in harmony.
c h o r u s ( k aw r - uh s ) n . 1. a group of singers. 2. a piece of
music for these.
c h r o n o l o g i c a l (kron -o-loj-i-kuhl ) adj. a
method of arrangement that puts events in order of occurrence.
c o n f e s s i o n ( kuhn -fe sh-uhn ) n . acknowledgment;
avowal; admission.
c o n t r a l t o ( k u h n - t ral - toh) n . the lowest female
singing voice.
d e s t r u c t i o n ( dih-str uhk-s huhn ) n . the act of reducing (an object) to useless fragments, a useless form, or remains,
as by rending, burning, or dissolving; injure beyond repair or
renewal; demolish; ruin; annihilate.
d r ap e ( d r e yp ) v. to cover or hang with cloth or other fabric,
especially in graceful folds.
41
k e y (kee) n . the basic note of the main scale used in a piece
of music. In the key of G, for example, G is the fundamental note;
the music often returns to it and comes to rest on it.
l a m e n t (luh-ment) n . a formal expression of sorrow or
mourning , especially in verse or song; an elegy or dirge.
l a r g o (lahr -goh) adv. & adj. a musical term meaning
in slow time and dignified style.
l i b r e tt o (li-bret -o h) n . the words of an opera or other
long musical.
41
m a j o r (me y -jer) adj. music in a major key uses a major
scale, in which the first three notes are the key note followed by
intervals of a tone and then another tone (for example, A, B, C).
It often has a cheerful, strong sound.
m a n g l e (mang-guhl ) v. to injure severely, disfigure, or
mutilate by cutting, slashing, or crushing.
m a s s a c r e ( mas-uh-ker) v. to kill unnecessarily and
broadly.
m i n o r ( mahy -n er) adj. Music in a minor key uses a minor scale, in which the first three notes are the key note followed
by intervals of a tone and then a semitone ( for example A, B, C).
It often has a sad, melancholic sound.
m o c k ( mA Hk) v. to attack or treat with ridicule, hate.
m o u r n i n g (maw r -n in g) n . expression of sorrow for a
person’s death, especially by the wearing of black clothes or a black
armband, the hanging of flags at half-mast, etc.
P RO T A G ONIS T (P ROH -TA G-UH -NIST) N . the leading
character in an opera, play, story, etc.
p u n c t u r e d (puh n gk-ch erd) ADJ. pierced or perfo-
rated, as with a pointed instrument or object.
R e v o l u t i o n (RE V-uh-l oo-shun) n . an overthrow
or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established
government or political system by the people governed.
Sa l o m e (suh-l oh -mee) n . the Daughter of Herodias (c.
AD 14 – between 62 and 71), is known from the New Testament.
Christian traditions show her as a likeness of dangerous female
seductiveness, notably in regard to the dance mentioned in the
New Testament, which is thought to have had an erotic element
to it, and in some later versions it has further been known as the
Dance of the Seven Veils.
SC A LE (SKEYL) N . a series of notes arranged in descending or
ascending order of pitch.
m u l t i t u d e s (muhl- t i- toods ) n . a great number of
SEMI T ONE (SEM-EE - TO H N) N . a half step or half tone, an
n at u r a l (nach-er -uhl ) adj. a note that is neither flat-
SH A R P ( # ) (SH AH RP ) N . any note a semitone higher than
another note. Also, slightly too high in pitch.
people gathered together.
tened nor sharpened.
o c tav e (ok- t iv) n . a note that sounds twice as high in
pitch as another is an octave above the other note, and has the
same letter naming it.
o m e n ( o h-muhn ) n . anything perceived or happening that
is believed to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the
future; portent.
o m n i p o t e n t (o m-nip-uh- t uhn t ) adj. almighty or
infinite in power, as God.
o p e r a (op-er -uh) n . a play in which the words are sung to
musical accompaniment.
Op h e l i a (Oh-fe e l-yuh) n . daughter of Polonius, sister
to Laertes, and rejected lover of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s tragedy
Hamlet.
o p u s ( oh-puhs ) n . a musical compostion numbered as one
of a composer’s works (usually in order of publication).
o r c h e s t r a (aw r-kuh-s t ruh) n . a large body of people
playing various musical instruments, including stringed and wind
instruments.
OVER T URE (OH -VER -C HER ) N . an orchestral composition
forming a prelude to an opera or ballet.
P I A NISSIMO (PEE-UH-NEES -EE-MOH) adv. a musical
term meaning very softly.
interval midway between two whole tones.
SO P R A NO (SU H -PRAN-OH ) N . the highest female or boy’s
singing voice.
S T A G E (STEYJ) N . a platform on which an opera, play, etc. are
performed for an audience.
S T A G IN G (STEY-JIN G) N . the presentation or production
on the stage.
s u b m e r g e d (suhb -m urjd) adj. under the surface of
water or any other enveloping medium; inundated.
SYM P HONY (SIM-F UH -NEE) N . a long elaborate musical
composition (usually in several parts) for a full orchestra.
SYNO P SIS (SI-NOP-SIS) N . a summary, a brief general
survey.
t e n f o l d (ten -f o hld) adj. ten times as great or as much.
T ENOR ( TEN -ER ) N . the highest male singing voice.
t o l l e d (tohld) v. to cause (a large bell) to sound with
single strokes slowly and regularly repeated, as for calling a congregation to church, or especially for announcing a death.
T ONE (TOH N) N . 1. an interval equal to two semitones. 2.
the sound quality of an instrument or voice.tragic (traj-ik) adj.
extremely mournful, melancholy, or pathetic.
t r a n s f o r m s (trans-faw rm s) v. to change in form,
P I A NO (PEE-AN-OH) adv. a musical term meaning softly.
appearance, or structure.
P LO T ( P LOT) N . the sequence of events in an opera, story,
t r a u m at i z e d (trou-muh-tah yzd ) n . having had an
p r o l e ta r i a n (pro h-li-ta ir -ee-uhn ) n . pertaining to
or belonging to the class of those who earn their living by manual
labor or who are dependent for support on daily or casual employment; the working class.
v a n i s h (va n-ish) v. to disappear from sight, especially
novel, etc.
P RES T O (PRES - TO H) ADV. a musical term meaning very fast.
42
experience that produces psychological injury or pain.
quickly; become invisible.
VERISMO (VUH -RI Z-M OH ) N . realism in opera.
v e t e r a n (vet-er -uhn) n . a person who has had long
service or experience in an occupation, office, or the like.
THE S CH O O L DI S TRICT
O F PHIL A DELPHI A S CH O O L
REF O R M C O M M I S S I O N
Joseph A. Dworetzky, member
Feather Houston, member
Wendell E. Pritchett, member
Sylvia P. Simms, member
William R. Hite, Jr., Ed.D
Superintendent of Schools
Penny Nixon
Chief Academic Officer
Dennis W. Creedon, Ed.D.
Deputy Chief, Academic Enrichment & Support
Sounds of Learning™ was established by a
generous grant from The Annenberg Foundation.
Dedicated funding for the Sounds of Learning™
program has been provided by:
Corrado Rovaris,
John P. Mulroney Music Director
Michael Bolton,
Vice President of Community Programs
Programs Department ©2014
1420 Locust Street, Suite 210
Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A. 19102
Tel: 215.893.5927
Universal Health Services
www.operaphila.org/learn
Anonymous
Michael Bolton
Vice President of Community Programs
bolton@operaphila.org
Hamilton Family Foundation
Wells Fargo Foundation
$10,000 to $19,999
The ARAMARK Charitable Fund
The Hirsig Family Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation
O PER A PHIL A DELPHI A
Opera Philadelphia Community
$20,000 to $49,999
Eugene Garfield Foundation
David B. Devan,
General Director & President
Written and produced by:
Fax: 215.893.7801
Adrienne Bishop
Community Programs Assistant
bishop@operaphila.org
Morgan Stanley Foundation
Special thanks to:
$5,000 to $9,999
Dr. Dennis W. Creedon
Creator, Sounds of Learning™
Curriculum Consultant
Alpin J. & Alpin W. Cameron Memorial Trust
Ethel Sergeant Clark Smith Memorial Fund
GlaxoSmithKline
Dr. Daniel Darigan
Curriculum Consultant
Citizens Bank
$1,000 to $4,999
Mary Beth Hegeman
Consultant
Mutual Fire Foundation
Nancy Werner
Consultant
The McLean Contributionship
Louis N. Cassett Foundation
David Kelly
Consultant
Deutsche Grammophon
Maureen Lynch
Operations Manager
Academy of Music
Opera Philadelphia is supported by major grants from The William Penn Foundation,
The Pew Charitable Trusts, and The Lenfest Foundation.
Additional support is provided by the Independence Foundation and the Horace W.
Goldsmith Foundation.
Opera Philadelphia receives state arts funding support through a grant from the
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
43
Cornell Wood
Head Usher
Academy of Music
Academy of Music Ushers
Karma Communications
Design Concept and Cover Design
Kalnin Graphics
Printing
o p e r ap h i l a . o r g

AinAdAmAr - wfs Visual Arts Upper School

Transcription

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