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2009 El Gato Montés: A Victim in Spain's Struggle to Establish A National Operatic Identity Karen Esquivel

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COLLEGE OF MUSIC

EL GATO MONTÉS: A VICTIM IN SPAIN‟S STRUGGLE TO ESTABLISH

A NATIONAL OPERATIC IDENTITY

By

KAREN ESQUIVEL

A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music

Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2009

The members of the committee approve the treatise of Karen Esquivel defended on June 19, 2009.

______Stanford Olsen Professor Directing Treatise

______Alice-Ann Darrow Outside Committee Member

______Larry Gerber Committee Member

The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members.

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I dedicate this treatise to:

my parents, Anthony and Consuelo Esquivel, who instilled in me a hunger to be my best;

my sons, Matthew, Emmanuel and Christian, who have always been my inspiration; my beloved husband, Gustavo Castro, who lovingly supports me, not only in words, but in

actions, and shares with me the same passion for family, music and the Lord;

and to our Lord, who blesses us with every good gift.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to extend my thanks to my committee members, Dr. Alice-Ann Darrow and Prof. Larry Gerber for their insights and to Prof. Stanford Olsen, for his unending encouragement and ability to cut to the core of each problem. I am grateful for the generosity of the Florida State University Graduate School, which provided me with the means to go to Spain and experience first-hand all that I had only read about in books. Once in Spain, I came in contact with many people who shared their gifts and stories with me. My special thanks go to the anthropologists Maria Rubio and Paz Civantos, who invited my husband and me into their home, spending sleepless nights in musings about Andalucía, the gypsies and music. My deepest respect and appreciation goes to Pedro Amaro, cantaor, who claimed us as family and took us to our first juerga. My gratitude also goes to: Marta Herrera, soprano and musicology student, for her time and enthusiasm; Victor Sánchez, for taking time to share his vast knowledge of Spanish opera; Ramón Regidor, for providing me with a rare copy of the Rosario Pi version of El Gato Montés; and finally, María Luz González and Emilio Casares, from the Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales, for dozens of correspondences, sharing from years of experience in Spanish opera and for their unexpected generosity in furnishing scores and recordings. Their passion for Spanish music is inspiring.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………………. vi

List of Musical Examples……….…………………………………………………………….. vii

Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………... ix

1. CHAPTER 1: A Missed Opportunity: The Beginnings of Spanish Opera………………… 1

2. CHAPTER 2: Nationalism in Spanish Opera in the Face of Foreign Influences………….. 5

3. CHAPTER 3: A Burning Desire in an Ocean of Indifference……………………………... 15

4. CHAPTER 4: Manuel Penella and His Adventures in Lyric Composition………………... 21

5. CHAPTER 5: El Gato Montés: The Opera, its Characters and Storyline…………………. 26

5.1 Character list……………………………………………………………... 27

5.2 Storyline………………………………………………………………….. 28

5.3 Analysis…………………………………………………………………... 33

6. CHAPTER 6: El Gato Montés and its Reflection of Andalusian Society…………………. 40

7. CHAPTER 7: Gitanos, Cante Flamenco and Duende: The Bared Soul of Andalucía…….. 44

8. CHAPTER 8: The Corrida and its Pasodoble……………………………………………... 50

9. CHAPTER 9: The Concept of the “Españolada”- the Barriers Against the Critical

Success of El Gato Montés and Spanish Opera…………………………….. 62

10. CHAPTER 10: Summary………………………………………………………………….. 67

BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………. 68

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH…………………………………………………………………… 71 v

LIST OF FIGURES

2.1 Photograph of a panel of wall from the Alhambra palace……………………………… 12

5.1 Original edition of El Gato Montés…………………………………………………….. 26

8.1 Torero and bull…………………………………………………………………………. 50

8.2 Banderillero with capote……………………………………………………………….. 52

8.3 Picador with puya………………………………………………………………………. 53

8.4 Banderillero……………………………………………………………………………. 54

8.5 Torero with muleta and estoque………………………….…………………………….. 55

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LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES

Chapter Five:

Example 5:1. Act I, Scene I, meas. 1-8………………………………………………………… 35

Example 5:2. Act I, Scene I, meas. 26-30……………………………………………………… 35

Example 5:3. Act I, Scene I, meas. 324-327…………………………………………………… 36

Example 5:4. Act I, Scene I, meas. 362-366…………………………………………………… 36

Example 5:5. Act I, Scene I, meas. 647-651…………………………………………………… 37

Example 5:6. Act I, Scene I, meas. 668-672…………………………………………………… 37

Example 5:7. Act I, Scene I, meas. 989-993…………………………………………………… 38

Example 5:8. Act I, Scene I, meas. 1222-1225………………………………………………… 38

Example 5:9. Act I, Scene I, meas. 1347-1350………………………………………………… 39

Example 5:10. Act I, Scene I, meas. 1430-1433……………………………………………….. 39

Chapter Seven:

Example 7:1. Act I, Scene I, meas. 1556-1562………………………………………………… 47

Example 7:2. Act I, Scene I, meas. 1169-1172………………………………………………… 48

Chapter Eight:

Example 8:1. Act I, Scene I, meas. 210-213…………………………………………………… 56

Example 8:2. Act I, Scene I, meas. 486-496…………………………………………………… 57

Example 8:3. Act II, Scene I, meas. 268-285…………………………………………………... 58

Example 8:4. Act II, Scene II, meas. 367-382………………………………………………….. 59

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Example 8:5. Act II, Scene II, meas. 383-390………………………………………………….. 59

Example 8:6. Act II, Scene II, meas. 411-435………………………………………………….. 60

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ABSTRACT

The task of creating Spanish opera in a musical environment which was hostile and critical has been a consternation and challenge for almost every Spanish composer with a desire to create a Spanish national operatic identity. The opera El Gato Montés, by composer-librettist Manuel Penella Moreno (1880-1939) premiered in 1916. The work achieved great public success in and outside of Spain, including a 10 week sold-out performance run in New York City in 1920. Penella‟s talent for composing lovely melodies is manifest in the music for El Gato Montés. The libretto is dramatic and effective. Its appeal to the public at large was demonstrated with its triumphant premiere and following successful performances. Ultimately, this opera met the same fate as the great majority of Spanish operas. It was set aside and forgotten. The only exception to this pattern was Manuel de Falla‟s (1876-1946) La vida breve (1913). The purpose of this study is to present Penella‟s El Gato Montés as an exceptional example of Spanish opera and present a brief history of the development of this genre, from its birth with the opera La púrpura de la rosa by Juan Hidalgo de Polanca in 1660, through the premiere of El Gato Montés in 1916. An analysis of the work will identify and discuss the variety of characteristics of Spanish society, culture and music which are incorporated in the opera, and make the opera a distinctly Spanish work. These characteristics include: the representation of Catholic morality and customs, machismo, familial aspects of a matriarchal society, the gypsies of Southern Spain and their cante flamenco, and the bullfight with its associated musical form, the pasodoble. Several of the criticisms that appeared at the time of the opera‟s premiere will be discussed, including the accusation that the opera was nothing more than an “españolada,” an artificial caricature of the true Spain. It is the author‟s opinion that El Gato Montés is a work worthy of consideration as an important contribution to Spanish music and the operatic repertoire.

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CHAPTER ONE

A MISSED OPPORTUNITY: THE BEGINNINGS OF SPANISH OPERA

Spain appears to have been detached from the cultural developments in Italy and France, be it by some form of voluntary aloofness and protectionism, or perhaps geographical by isolation, similar to that of England, with its own delayed development of an operatic style. There is some question as to whether the Spanish were truly interested in procuring their own operatic tradition, with the integration of their own native musical idioms. Louise Stein, a musicologist who has provided many insights into the development of Spanish musical theater, has explained the lack of prestige musicians suffered that seems to have been a prevalent attitude in Spain during the early development of opera in the seventeenth century. She affirms, in regards to the musicians‟ cultural endeavors:

Spanish musicians have left us virtually no self-conscious literature describing their lives, their thoughts about music, or their aesthetic priorities. By themselves, these facts reveal a great deal about the subordinate position of the musicians in Spanish society, in comparison to the dramatists and stage designers with whom they worked. The leaders in cultural affairs, the thinkers who left unmistakable marks on their society, were writers, dramatists, and visual artists, not musicians.1

Ms. Stein also states:

…opera in Spain was nearly always received as a genre supported by the elite and promoted by foreigners, such that its status as an “appropriate” national genre has been a matter of continued controversy…Since opera has generally been considered the greatest

1 Stein, Louise K. Songs of Mortals, dialogues of the Gods: Music and Theatre in Seventeenth-Century Spain. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993, 8.

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contribution of the epoch in European music, Spain seemed to have “lagged behind” or missed the mark altogether by not “achieving” this particular genre…From this perspective (whether stated or implied) the musical theater that flourished in seventeenth- century Madrid with hybrid genres (spectacle plays, zarzuelas, and mythological semi- operas) appears to consist only of failed attempts at opera, since these genres “should” all have led to the formulation of an operatic tradition in Spain.2

There apparently existed a link between the zarzuela3 and the contrasting strong promotion and development of pure drama and the literary arts, the musical venue being a secondary and almost decorative element. In the early years of the rule of King Philip IV (1605-1665), opera, as a court entertainment, was unheard of. There had been an attempt to introduce through-sung opera in 1627 with the opera La selva sin amor, a pastoral in the Italian style, with a text by Lope de Vega (1562-1635) and music by the Italian court musician, Filippo Piccinini (1575-1648). The piece‟s primary draw was the use of theatrical machinery and special effects for which the Spanish had a craving. Unfortunately, these effects were not enough to interest Spanish audiences or garner support from royalty. The opera was not a success. The Italian monadic style did not capture the public‟s fancy and it did not stimulate interest in any other attempts at through-sung opera.4 What followed was the incorporation of music and dance into popular theater. Lope de Vega‟s successor at court, Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681) wrote many plays with music that could be more aptly referred to as semi-operas, essentially plays with the interjection of songs and short recitative sections. Eventually, this combination of music and drama evolved into the zarzuela. The themes of the zarzuelas were generally for light consumption, frequently with mythological personalities and comedic rustics, joined in a mythological-pastoral confection.

2 Stein, Louise K. Opera and the Spanish Political Agenda. Acta Musicologica, Vol. 63, Fasc. 2. (Apr. – Dec., 1991), 125-126. A footnote in the Stein article quotes Emilio Cotarelo, a twentieth-century scholar, making statements to the effect that zarzuela was a superior genre and that opera was a result of seducing influences (“seductor influjo”) from the Italians, opposed to the literature and the genuinely Spanish dramatic music, and, as such, not to be considered a national art form. 3 The term zarzuela is used to describe the Spanish lyric composition which incorporated music, dialogue and dance, reaching its zenith in the mid to late 1800s. This form is in the same category as the French comédie lyrique, the German Singspiel and the English ballade. There are also striking similarities with the Viennese operetta and American Music Theater. 4 In this treatise I use the term “through-sung opera” to refer to a lyric theater composition that does not use spoken dialogue.

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The first zarzuela was El laurel de Apolo, which premiered in 1627, composed by Juan Hidalgo de Polanco (1614-1685), court musician at the court of Philip IV.5 An appeal to national pride appears to have instigated the composition of the first through-sung Spanish opera with music and text by a Spaniard. The Peace of the Pyrenees Treaty of 1659, with the consequent royal wedding between María Teresa of Habsburg, daughter of Philip IV, and the King of France, Louis XIV, had finally been negotiated. Both countries were busy with the preparations for the royal celebration. Although actual fighting had ceased, the sense of rivalry apparently had not abated. For the celebration, the French had commissioned Francesco Cavalli to prepare an opera in Italian with a prologue in French, Ercole amante. Word of the French plan had come to Spain. It was important that there be a display of wealth and luxury, as well as cultural equality, if not superiority for the occasion. The idea of presenting a work in a foreign language to celebrate such an important occasion was out of the question, as was the idea of being out-done by the French. In 1660, Hidalgo premiered the first through-sung one-act opera in Spanish by a Spanish librettist (Calderón) and a Spanish composer (Hidalgo). The opera was titled La púrpura de la rosa. Its first performance was in the Coliseo del Buen Retiro of Madrid, January 17, 1660. There is no surviving score, but the libretto has survived. In the loa, or dedication, there are several references to the justification of the choice of this unfamiliar musical genre. The personages presented in the loa are Zarzuela, representing the palace, Alegría and Tristeza, representing happiness and sadness, Vulgo, the common spectator, and Música. They explain the cause for the celebration and a little of the presentation. When Tristeza questions the ability of the Spanish audience to accept an opera, Vulgo explains that it will be short in length and that one must take some risk in accomplishing great things. The most famous and telling quote from the loa are Calderón‟s words: “It is to be all in music; for it is meant to introduce this style, so that other nations will see their refinements rivaled.”6 The success of the opera is apparent by the number of performances given on diverse politically significant occasions. On August 25, 1679, it was presented for the newly-arrived

5 Webber, Christopher. The Zarzuela Companion. Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. 2002, 1. 6 Stein, Louise K. Songs of Mortals, dialogues of the Gods: Music and Theatre in Seventeenth-Century Spain. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993, 208.

3 queen, Marie-Louise d‟Orleans. On January 18, 1680, the opera was again presented as part of the continued celebration of the marriage of King Carlos II and Marie-Louise d‟Orleans and the birthday of the Archduchess Maria Antonia. Calderón and Hidalgo quickly followed their initial success with a second opera, Celos aun del aire matan (Dec. 5, 1660), the earliest surviving Spanish opera with a score for all three acts. In the best of circumstances, Hidalgo‟s work would have led to the establishment of a Spanish operatic movement, introducing Spain as an important contributor to the art of opera in Europe. However, the arrival of Baroque Italian opera in Spain in 1703, supported primarily by the nobility, ended that possibility. In 1737, Philip V (1683-1746) invited the famous Italian castrato Carlo Broschi, known as Farinelli, to Spain to perform. Farinelli was given credit for curing the King of depression, which led to him being granted a royal apartment and unlimited resources. Farinelli remained at the Spanish court in the service of Philip V and Ferdinand VI (1713-1759) for more than two decades. With the arrival of Farinelli, the preference for purely Spanish entertainment diminished at court. Philip V was not well-versed in Spanish, his primary languages being French and Italian. Walter Starkie, in his book Spain: A Musician’s Journey through Time and Space, Vol. I, states:

When Philip V had come to Spain as King in 1701 he knew hardly a word of Spanish and he only stayed in Madrid about seven months before setting out for Barcelona to receive his bride María Luisa of Savoy. As she knew no more Spanish than her husband the prospect ahead for Spanish literature was not promising as far as royal patronage was concerned. At court nothing was spoken but French, and the King, owing to his love for his Italian wife, preferred Italian actors and singers to any other, and gave special privileges to an Italian theatrical company…7

With the establishment of Italian opera as the chosen lyric art form at the Spanish court, opera became the entertainment of the elite and nobility. No other successful presentations of a through-sung Spanish opera exist until the 1840s.

7 Starkie, Walter. Spain: A Musician’s Journey through Time and Space, Vol. I. Geneva. Edisli-Editions Rene Kister, 1958.

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CHAPTER TWO

NATIONALISM IN SPANISH OPERA IN THE FACE OF FOREIGN INFLUENCES

Although a lasting interest in Spanish National Opera blossomed in the 1840s, this movement was preceded by an important edict that was established in 1786 known as the Reglamento para el mejor orden y policia del teatro de la ópera (Rule for the better order and policing of the theater of opera). This law set up the presentation of Italian operas for the specific purpose of securing income in support of the Royal Hospitals. It also was to put an end to an apparent problem of disorderly conduct during operatic presentations, giving guidelines and reforms in matters from the composition of the operas and the behaviors of the audience to the actual architecture of the theaters. One important factor in the Reglamento was the promotion of Spanish artistry. James Radomski states in his book Chronicle of the Life of a bel canto Tenor at the Dawn of Romanticism:

Finally, in discussing works to be performed, the Reglamento indicates that already in 1786 there were efforts to promote a Spanish National Theatre by supporting not only Spanish works, but Spanish actors and musicians as well…This was the beginning of a reaction to the „oppression‟ of Italian music which had dominated Spanish society for over a century. Italian opera had flourished in Spain since the advent of the Bourbons in 1701.8

One of the early composers to take advantage of this change of attitude towards Spanish music was Manuel del Pópulo Vicente Rodriguez García (1775-1832). Although his work as a

8 Radomski, James. Manuel García (1775-1832): Chronicle of the Life of a bel canto Tenor at the Dawn of Romanticism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2000, 22.

5 pedagogue and tenor gained him an important place in operatic history, he was also known as a prolific composer. Only one of his works composed in Spanish had measurable success, the one- act monologue opera El poeta calculista composed in 1805. Later, García resorted to composing in Italian and French for foreign audiences and of these works the Italian opera Il califfo di Bagdad (1813) has been recovered and recently presented. It was not until 1828 that he returned to composing in his native language. During a three year stay in Mexico, the people there demanded works in Spanish. But his works were not well received, perhaps not so much due to poor quality as much as to an anti-Spanish sentiment that was prevalent there. The Mexican revolution against Spanish rule took place in 1821 and by 1828 Spaniards were at the point of being driven out from the country.9 Another composer of great fame during the late 1700s was Vincente Martín y Soler (1754-1806). Martín y Soler had great success with his Italian operas and his best known opera, Una cosa rara, actual had the compliment of having a theme incorporated into the Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) opera, Don Giovanni. Martín y Soler eventual obtained the position of court composer in the Russian court at St. Petersburg, where he composed several operas in Russia. As in many other parts of Europe, the influence of Italian opera was strong in Spain. In his dissertation entitled Foreign Influence in the Zarzuela, William Muir Bussey demonstrates the foreign musical devices used in the zarzuelas of the early and mid-eighteenth century. According to Dr. Bussey, the primary influences in Spain were from Italy and France, the first due to its similarity in language and culture, and the second due to its physical proximity. The early zarzuelas of this time period had, in general, all the characteristics of Baroque opera, with vocal melismatic text setting, cadenzas, da capo arias and heroic characters (there was even a “heroic zarzuela” genre). There did exist some composers who resisted the “Italian Invasion” and adhered to more Spanish musical styles. But the genre of Baroque zarzuela apparently fell into disfavor with the public and was obsolete by the 1760s. Quoting Dr. Bussey:

As long as the public was interested in such spectacles or the court was willing to shoulder the burden of mounting such a work, this type of zarzuela was a cost-effective venture for the companies and the municipal government. However, with the shift in

9 Ibid., 218.

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court taste away from the zarzuela in the 1730s and the apparent public indifference for such mythological and allegorical plots, the financial risks for producing a zarzuela became too great. This change in popular taste paralleled similar trends in the rest of Europe as seen in the rise of opera buffa in Italy... It is this turning point in dramatic taste with its attendant effect on musical style that shaped the development of the zarzuela in the second half of the eighteenth century.10

The direction of opera in Italy continued to effect the development of the zarzuela in Spain, as noted in Dr. Bussey‟s observation:

Judging by the rapid decline of the zarzuela between 1740 and 1760, the public apparently wanted something more entertaining and less edifying than the heroic, baroque, palace productions with their allegorical plots and classical allusions. Italian opera buffa fulfilled a similar desire on the part of Italian audiences during this period as opera in Italy began to become a more public, less aristocratic genre. To some extent, opera buffa also satisfied the need for lighter entertainment in Spain. During the early 1760s the majority of so-called zarzuelas were actually Spanish versions of Italian operas. 11

Although evidence of a romanticized concept of nationalism could be identified in literature and plastic arts, music did not seem to have the same drive to establish its own sense of nationalism in Spain. Not only was the foreign influence prevalent in the zarzuelas of the day, but also in opera. In his Doctoral dissertation entitled The quest for national opera in Spain and the re-invention of the zarzuela (1808-1849), Dr. Roland J. Vásquez makes the following observation:

…while Spanish poets, playwrights, novelists, critics, journalists and artists were involved in this process, Spanish musicians seemed conspicuously absent from it…In part, this was because traditional Spanish genres, like the tonadilla, had in effect ceased to function as a viable medium for Spanish composers. The primary reason for this was not that Spanish composers were not active, but that they were working in the shadow of a musical phenomenon that claimed a lion‟s share of the attention of audiences and critics alike - Italian opera.12

10 Bussey, William Muir. Foreign Influence on the Zarzuela: 1700-70. University of Michigan. 1980, 192-193 11 Ibid., 209-210. 12 Vásquez, Roland. The quest for national opera in Spain and the re-invention of the zarzuela (1808-1849). Dissertation. Ithaca: Cornell University.1992, 67. 7

In an effort to maintain a career as a composer of operas in Spain, many Spanish composers chose to go with the flow of the Italian current and write in the Italian language and style. One of the most successful of these composers was Ramón Carnicer y Batalle (1789– 1855). Dr. Vásquez states:

As a conductor and manager, Carnicer was an important figure in the re-establishment of the Italian opera troupes in both Barcelona and Madrid in the years following the war. But Carnicer had no interest in trying to revive the Spanish theatrical genres or in developing a specifically Spanish school. Rather he chose to make his career by following the public‟s clear preference in music, that is, by writing Italian operas. Carnicer‟s considerable success as an opera composer was achieved by his facile ability to write operas indistinguishable in pattern and style from those of his Italian contemporaries.13

But the Italians were not the only ones bringing their influences to bear on the Spanish lyric tradition. The later zarzuelas from the mid-nineteenth century also borrowed considerably from the German Singspiel, the French opéra comique and the Viennese operetta traditions, not only in their usual mixture of dialogue and music, but especially in their light-hearted themes and musical style. Paradoxically, the promoters of zarzuela declared the zarzuela as the only strictly Spanish lyric form, ignoring its history of foreign musical influences. In the article, “Zarzuela and the Anti-musical Prejudice of the Spanish Enlightenment,” Rafael Lamas makes the following observation:

During the last third of the eighteenth century, the Madrilenian society, particularly the emerging classes of professionals and civil servants who would constitute the prime theater audience in the following century, began to favor dances and songs of native musical genres such as the zarzuela and tonadilla escénica over the aristocratic preference for the refined arias of Italian opera seria which dominated the aristocratic stages since the beginning of the 1700s. This is not surprising, as all around Europe a favorable sensitivity toward autochthonous culture was boosting hybrid musical genres that combined elements of popular and high culture. Examples of this include the Italian opera buffa, the French opéra comique, and the German Singspiel. What is notable, however, is that while these European genres led during the following century to the creation of a national opera, the Spanish zarzuela did not. Whereas “Spain” is found everywhere in modern opera (from Mozart‟s Don Giovanni to Rossini‟s Il barbiere di

13 Ibid., 71-72.

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Siviglia; from Beethoven‟s Fidelio to Verdi‟s Don Carlo to Bizet‟s Carmen), Spanish authors did not produce an operatic voice in the same terms as their European colleagues.14

Although this “operatic voice” did not come to fulfillment, what did begin was what has come to be known as the “Golden Age” of the zarzuela, which started in the 1840s and continued into the 1900s. Although the zarzuelas were influenced by foreign operetta models, the majority of them were based on the humor and musical style most popular in Madrid. They included dance forms such as tonadillas, fandangos and habaneras and examples exist from every region in the country.15 The “anti-opera” faction, who promoted zarzuela as Spain‟s only true national operatic form, had the advantage of having access to a prominent theater, the Teatro de la Zarzuela, which was built in Madrid in 1856. Ironically, the design of the building is in the style of La Scala in Milan. The other established theater built in 1818, the Teatro Real, also in Madrid, presented operas primarily from foreign composers, such as Donizetti, Rossini and Verdi. Only these productions had access to the best singers available. One of the principal factors in the stunted development of a national operatic voice can be traced back to understandable confusion regarding a specific national musical identity in Spain. The establishment of a national musical style was complicated by the fact that the country of Spain is an amalgamation of various cultures and languages. The country is comprised of a number of distinct regions: Andalucía, Aragon, Asturias, Balearic Islands, Basque Country (with its own language, Basque), Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y Leon, Catalonia (with its own language, Catalán), Extremadura, Galicia (with its own language, Gallego), Madrid, Murcia, Navarra, La Rioja, and the Valencian Community (with its own dialect of Catalán known as Valenciano). These separate regions were united under duress through a series of wars and treaties, even though each region has a distinct identity in matters of culture, politics and even language in some cases. In general, Northern Spain was more influenced by neighboring Europe, with a Roman origin, whereas in the southern region of

14 Lamas, Rafael. “Zarzuela and the Anti-musical Prejudice of the Spanish Enlightenment”, Hispanic Review, Volume 75.1, Winter 2006 15 Webber, Christopher. The Zarzuela Companion. Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. 2002, 5

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Andalucía there is strong evidence of a Phoenician/Arabian foundation that set the ground work for a melding of Iberian, Gypsy, Arabian and Jewish cultures. This cultural mixture gave birth to the artistic expression known as flamenco, which seems to be the one art form that is popularly recognized as distinctly Spanish. Flamenco combines regional musical and dance styles, and a specific vocal style known as cante flamenco. This music incorporates the Phrygian mode, an improvisational style, with many ornaments and flourishes centering around one single pitch. The poetry has a sense of tragedy, with topics that deal with loss, sorrow and pain. The exoticism of flamenco style captured the attention of the Europeans, who flocked to Andalucía during the Romantic period to experience firsthand this culturally blended musical and dance style. Some of the more recognized composers who fell under the spell of Andalucía were Debussy, Glinka, Bizet and even the Spanish composers Granados, Falla and Albéniz. Unfortunately, this mix of cultures was contrary to the desire of the northern Spaniards to present the country as unified and preserve the idea of “purity of blood.” Since the time of the Reconquista of 1492, Spain had been attempting to rid itself of what was considered the undesirable elements of the Gypsies, Moors and Jews. Laws were passed as far back as 1449 which required Spaniards to have clear documentation that traced their ancestry to non-Jewish or non-Muslim roots in order to qualify for various positions within the government, the military or even be able to attend college. All these statutes were eliminated slowly over the centuries. During the regime of General Francisco Franco (1892-1975), which lasted from the end of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) up to Franco‟s death in 1975, this mentality once more came into play. The focus returned to the establishment of one people, one religion (Catholic), and one language, that being Castilian. In Northern Spain, the use and instruction of Catalan, Gallego and Basque was actually forbidden. The great irony is that it was this unique combination of ethnicities and cultures found especially in Andalucía which produced what has been, musically speaking, the most universally and readily recognized “Spanish” art form: flamenco and its cante flamenco vocal style. One of the early attempts at a Spanish opera that incorporated Andalusian folk music and ambiance was written by the Italian composer Basilio Basili (1803-1890). Basili dedicated himself unsuccessfully to the establishment of Spanish opera. His opera, Los contrabandistas, which premiered in Madrid on April 10, 1841, was innovative in the sense that it used a Spanish 10 libretto and incorporated dance rhythms and music style from Andalucía, including an aria entitled, “La canción del gitano” (“The song of the gypsy”). Concerning its premiere, the following review appeared in the Revista de teatro (magazine of the theater): “On Saturday the 10th Sr. Basili‟s opera entitled El contrabandista16 was premiered at the Liceo de Barcelona.17 Its music, purely Spanish, was listened to with the greatest enthusiasm, and there was scarcely a number which did not receive great applause.”18 Unfortunately, the full score has disappeared. Emilio Casares19, Director of the Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales (ICCMU) in Madrid, explained that many of these old manuscripts were actually sent to Cuba, where there was a strong interest in Spanish opera. Casares suspects the Basili score can be found there. The opera Laura y Gonzalo by Ramón Carnicer y Batalle also had its premiere in 1841. As previously mentioned, Carnicer had great success with his operatic works composed in the Italian-style, which have a very strong resemblance to the work of Rossini, but lacked any Spanish folkloric elements. La Conquista di Granata, by Emilio Arrieta (1821-1894), which premiered in 1850, is another example of the many Spanish operas composed in Italian. This opera has a musical style which brings to mind the operas of Donizetti and Verdi, especially in the choruses, but Arrieta did add elements of what came to be known as alhambrismo into the arias of one of the main characters, Zulema, the daughter of the Moorish Sultan. Alhambrismo was a movement that began in the 19th century that promoted the adoption of the Moorish influences in architecture and culture into what was considered an authentic nationalistic musical style.

16 Apparently there exists some confusion over the title, some referring to the opera as “El contrabandista” and others as “Los contrabandistas.” The second is the correct form. 17 The Liceo de Barcelona is a conservatory, with one of the most important theaters in Spain. 18 Vázquez, Roland J., The quest for national opera in Spain and the re-invention of the zarzuela (1808-1849). Cornell University, 1992, 178. 19 Conversations with Emilio Casares, Director, Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales (ICCMU), Mar. 11, 2009, Madrid, Spain.

11

Figure 2.1. Photograph of a panel of wall from the Alhambra palace

The epitome of the architectural style of the Moors is a palace in Granada known as La Alhambra. The walls of the different buildings are covered with intricate carvings, as seen in the picture of a panel taken by the author at the Alhambra palace. The florid architectural style is reflected in the music influenced by alhambrismo through the use of elaborate roulades, appoggiaturas, triplet figures and the descending Phrygian cadence. Other than this colorful use of a more nationalistic musical influence, the opera La conquista di Granata is Italian in style. The practice of using Italian texts and musical style apparently improved the likelihood of having the one‟s work presented in the Teatro Real. Such works had an enthusiastic public reception, but they could not compete with the flow of government-supported Italian operas that flooded the theaters. Most of the operas written by Spanish composers were only given one or two performances and those were presented with the secondary singing talents of the company. Felipe Pedrell (1841-1922), a Catalan composer and musicologist, was another individual who was a major contributor to the development of Spanish opera. His ideas of Spanish musical nationalism in opera and music in general had an enormous influence on the likes of Manuel de Falla, Isaac Albéniz, Joaquín Turina and Enrique Granados, a few of Spain‟s most well-known 12 and successful composers. His opera Los Pirineos (1890-91) had a modest response at its premiere. Pedrell‟s greater contribution has been his pamphlet Por Nuestra Música, algunos observaciones sobre la magna cuestión de una Escuela Lírico Nacional (For our music, some observations on the issue of a National Lyric School), which was written as an introduction to his opera. Even more important was his role in inspiring his students to create a style based on distinctly Spanish cultural elements. Pedrell‟s frustration with the state of Spanish opera is evident in this quote from Por Nuestra Música:

¡la ópera española! cuyos ensayos y tentativas se repiten por lo menos una vez cada lustro «siempre inaugurados con el mismo entusiasmo frenético á las primeras audiciones, siempre seguidos bien pronto del mismo olvido é indiferencia.» 20

(Spanish opera! Those rehearsals and attempts which repeat at least once every five years “always premiered with the same frenetic enthusiasm at the first hearings, always followed very quickly by the same forgetfulness and indifference.”)

He continues later in this same work to criticize Spain‟s failure to establish an operatic tradition, and to disparage those who composed Spanish operas which were indistinguishable from an Italian opera of the day, as well those who composed in the popular idioms of the tonadilla, zarzuela and farsea flamenco:

…cuando ya otras naciones nos señalaban el rumbo que debíamos haber emprendido para salir del estado de embotamiento estético en que nos tenía la ópera italiana, logramos, que no fue poco lograr, levantar un tanto, no la opera, sino la zarzuela, propiamente tan. El balance de nuestra productividad musical de un siglo á esta parte presenta este menguado contingente: la tonadilla, la zarzuela y la farsea flamenco moderna ó la misma tonadilla en otra forma, que es la vulgaridad rayana en chocarrería, la degeneración más innoble en que pueda caer un espectáculo.21

(…when already other nations have shown us the course that we should have learned to get out of the state of esthetic dullness in which Italian opera had us, we achieved, which was not little to achieve, to raise up a little, not opera, but the zarzuela, exactly so. The balance of our musical productivity of a century in this part presents this diminished

20 Pedrell, Felipe. Por Nuestra Música. Bellaterra: Publicaciones de la Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona.1991, 7- 8. 21 Ibid., 19, 20. 13

group: the tonadilla (little ditty), the zarzuela and farsea flamenco moderna (modern flamenco farce) or the same ditty in another form, which borders coarseness in its vulgarity, the most ignoble degeneration in which a spectacle can fall.)

Pedrell declares his criteria in the composition of opera with a truly nationalistic style:

…que no será únicamente un drama lírico con argumento español, sacado de nuestras historias, leyendas ó costumbres: que no será un drama lírico escrito en castellano; que no bastará para ello intercalar en tales composiciones algunos canto populares genuinos, que, auxilio de la indumentaria, den un aparente barniz de característico á lo que es en su origen y en sus mejores partes de una escuela extranjera…lo que importa es que la materia primera se mantenga intacta: que al molde común se le imprima el sello particular: que, si no el sistema, sea peculiar la inspiración. Esto es lo que en realidad se halla en las escuelas líricas que ostentan orgullosas el derecho de usar calificativo nacional y propio, aunque mutuamente se influyan.22

(…that it will not be only a lyrical drama with Spanish argument, taken from our histories, legends or customs: that it will not be a lyrical drama written in Castilian; that it will not suffice for it to intersperse in such compositions some genuine popular song that, with the aid of the clothing, will give an apparent outward varnish of characteristic to what is in its origin and in its better parts, of a foreign school…what is important is that the basic material be maintained intact: that the common mold be printed to the private seal: that, if not the system, that the inspiration be distinct. This is what in reality is found in the lyrical schools that show off proudly the right to use national and unique qualities of their own, although they are mutually influenced.)

Pedrell‟s own major work, Los Pirineos, was written much in the style of Richard Wagner, whose work he admired. Pedrell expressed a firm belief in the Wagnerian model, consisting of the use of leitmotifs, a libretto written by the composer, the incorporation of musical folk idioms into the fabric of the piece and having a continuous flow of music, unlike the typical Italian numbers opera. All this was, from Pedrell‟s viewpoint, essential in creating a work of high artistic quality that would reflect Spanish culture in a sincere and honorable manner and present a worthy product to represent Spain in the operatic world.

22 Ibid., 9, 10.

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CHAPTER THREE

A BURNING DESIRE IN AN OCEAN OF INDIFFERENCE

Spanish lyric art forms became an obsession with a handful of Spanish composers in the late 1830s through the early 1900s. In the 1840s there was a revival of the neglected zarzuela which fostered a fresh interest in the composition of new works. Simultaneously there was a pro- opera faction which pushed for the development of a national operatic tradition. The development of the zarzuela had been studied extensively by the Spanish composer and musicologist Francisco Asenjo Barbieri (1823-1894), who not only succeeded in tracing the historical context of dramatic music in Spain and collecting manuscripts and primary sources, but also composed numerous popular zarzuelas himself.23 For this sizeable contribution to the investigation of zarzuela, Barbieri is commonly considered by Spanish musicologists as the “Father of Spanish Lyric Theater.” It is interesting to note that Barbieri‟s initial contact with lyric music was Italian opera. Early in his training as a musician, he sang in the chorus and performed small roles in Italian operas presented in the Teatro del Circo. Barbieri himself confessed that it was by virtue of his voice being small that he escaped being hissed at for the lesser quality of his singing.24 He even made a few unsuccessful attempts at writing Spanish opera before turning to zarzuela. The major motivating factor in Barbieri‟s investigations of the history of zarzuela was an effort to legitimize the art form, laud the national character of the music and promote what he considered to be a more purely Spanish musical culture. In spite of the influence of foreign musical styles on the zarzuela, Barbieri‟s goal was to establish it as the one true Spanish lyric art form, discouraging any interest in the development of through-sung opera, stating that it was

23 Webber, Christopher. The Zarzuela Companion. Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. 2002, 33-45. 24 Henken, John Edwin. Francisco Asenjo Barbieri and the Nineteenth Century Revival in Spanish National Music, Los Angeles: University of California, 1987, 15, “…verdad es que como tenía poca voz no me oirían bien. Papeles de Barbieri, Mss. 14077, 5r.

15 based on foreign models and not truly Spanish in its identity. Barbieri‟s position went against his initial involvement in the society known as “La España Musical” (“The Musical Spain”), a group that promoted the development of Spanish through-sung opera and actively sought government financial support. Barbieri was very influential in the musical hierarchy of Madrid. His insistence on viewing through-sung opera as a foreign musical form and his claim that the zarzuela was the true Spanish operatic form created a virtual battle between the lovers of Italian opera, the lovers of zarzuela and the few composers doggedly pursuing the establishment of through-sung Spanish opera. One of those few composers committed to the promotion of Spanish national opera was Tomás Bretón (1850-1923). Bretón was active as a conductor and director of the Conservatorio de Madrid, as well as composing instrumental music. But opera was his passion and he wrote extensively, in the form of short articles and published conferences, of what he saw as the problems and solutions to the establishment of a national opera tradition in Spain. His most ambitious composition was his opera Los amantes de Teruel. Bretón fought for five years to present the opera in the Teatro Real after the administration refused to program the work.25 In 1895, Bretón composed the opera La Dolores. He called the work an “ópera española,” due to its use of folkloric idioms and traditions, such as the bullfight and the jota, a popular folk dance form, all composed with a heavy influence of Italian verismo. In the first scene of the opera, the entrance of a character accompanied by military trumpets, snare and children‟s chorus suggests images of Carmen by Georges Bizet (1838-1875). An example of flamenco vocal style is evident in one particular aria, which introduces the flavor of Andalucía into the mix. Spanish composers of the late 1800s and early 1900s appear to have been captivated by the musical folklore of Andalucía and there are a variety of examples of Spanish operas set in this region from that time period. Even composers who are today considered some of Spain‟s finest composers took interest. Pepita Jiménez (1895) by Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909), followed most closely the model set forth by his teacher, Pedrell. The story was based on the novel by Juan Valera (1824-1905). Due to an unfortunate financial arrangement Albéniz had with the

25 It is interesting to note that the individual responsible for the denial of a performance for Bretón‟s opera was Emilio Arrieta. There appears to have been a considerable professional rift between the two men.

16

English banker, Francis Burdett Money-Coutts (1852-1923), he was obligated to set his opera to an English libretto written by the banker. Although the opera was well-received by the public in Barcelona, the critics were cold and indifferent. It was not until a year and one half later that the critics warmed to the piece, declaring:

Pepita Jimenez is destined to shed wide, if not universal honour upon Spanish musical art…But this first endorsement of this verdict did not come until eighteen months subsequently, and then not from this country…but from the land of Dvorak and the Czechs…The opera was described as one of „extraordinary beauty‟. And the critics were unanimous in their admiration of it.26

The opera was translated into Spanish, French, German and Italian in efforts to get it produced. The Andalusian opera La vida breve (1905), by Manuel de Falla (1876-1946), has a dark, heavy mood from the beginning of the opera. The sound of hammers striking an anvil reflects the hard life of the gypsies at work in the mines. The clearest gypsy musical element is the song of the cantaor in the beginning of the second Act, which is composed in the cante flamenco style. The opera won first place in an important competition sponsored by the Academia de Bellas Artes in Madrid. The prize was to be the mounting of a production of the winning work at the Teatro Real of Madrid. Falla pursued the issue for two years, but the management of the theater refused to even hear the music. A variety of attempts to have the work mounted in other theaters met with similar resistance and the possibility of a production in Spain was postponed indefinitely. This disillusioning experience helped lead Falla to move to Paris in 1907, the mecca of young Spanish composers of the day. In a quote from Falla in a letter to a friend, the composer‟s exasperation with the musical climate in Spain is clear: “...as far as my job is concerned, my hometown is Paris. If I hadn't gone to Paris...I would have had to abandon composition and devote myself to giving lessons in order to make a living.”27 The opera premiered, in French, in Nice, France in 1913. The attraction to the colorful style of the cante flamenco of Andalucía was linked to alhambrismo, with its roulades, appoggiaturas, triplet figures and use of a descending Phrygian

26 Klein, Herbert. Albeniz's Opera 'Pepita Jiménez'. The Musical Times, Vol. 59, No. 901 (Mar. 1, 1918), 116-117. Musical Times Publications Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/909594. 27Manuel de Falla Sitio Oficial, http://www.manueldefalla.com/falla/website/vidaobradetalle.jsp?sesid=- 1&planguage=EN&id=479696226301. 17 scale. It is easy to identify similarities in the two styles. Cante flamenco also employs the use of the Phrygian scale, a general descending focus in the melodic line, triplet figures and melismas, but adds a more improvisational character to the music. Bretón, Albéniz and Falla chose to use the earthier, more popular cante flamenco style, actually inserting short songs, or coplas. Their operas have a strong influence from European schools: French impressionism, Italian verismo, and even Wagner‟s style enters into the blend. This European influence is to be expected, taking into consideration that many Spanish composers studied in France and the influence of Italian opera and Wagnerian opera was found worldwide. What these operas have in common is that they have characters from or are set in Southern Spain and are Andalusian in spirit. Bizet‟s Carmen may have started the ball rolling in this direction, but it is with a more authentic spirit that the Spanish composers portray their people and their country. The distinguishing characteristic of these new works is a total absence of the optimism of the standard popular zarzuela. Instead, they are brimming with passion, more influenced by Italian verismo than Viennese waltzes. Their characters, gypsy and payo, (a gypsy term for non-gypsies) have music that is influenced by the cante flamenco style. The themes of fortune-telling, bullfights, deception and death become prominent, subjects entirely too dark for the playful zarzuela. This association with Andalucía seems to have been a factor in the negative reception of these works by the musical elite in Madrid and Barcelona and consequently these operas suffered great difficulties in finding opportunities for performance, or even survival, in a very limited musical culture. After the Spanish Civil War, under the Franco regime, the environment was even more oppressive for the development of a national operatic style. Franco rejected the promotion of opera, considering it to be a foreign art form and subversive to the conservative Catholic morality he was determined to establish throughout Spain. The Teatro Real, the principal stage for opera in Spain, had already been forced to close in 1925 due to severe structural damage to the building. During the war, it was converted into an ammunition dump. After the war, Franco ordered that the stage be taken down in order to prevent any further endorsement of the genre, an order which was secretly never carried out. The Spanish Civil War logically inspired a dramatic exodus of leading figures in Spanish culture. After the execution of one of Spain‟s most renowned poets, Federico García Lorca 18

(1898-1936), many creative artists left the country. The motivation was not so much for fear for their lives, although this doubtless was the case for a number who had established strong connections to the Second Republic. The greater concern was for the severe limitation they suspected would be placed on their creative efforts. Roland J. Vásquez, in his dissertation on national Spanish opera, makes the following commentary:

The Spanish musical tradition, insofar as its future rested with Spain‟s younger composers, now faced the challenge of reconstituting itself in some way. But here there were obstacles as well. For one thing, there were fewer Spanish composers at work in the country than there might have been. The repressive political climate that reigned in the country after the war had led to the massive self-exile of many of Spain‟s most gifted intellectuals and artists. Among these expatriates were several of Spain‟s most promising young Spanish composers…A composer who was to prove himself in the field of opera, but only outside of Spain, was Jose Melchior Gomis…Gomis was forced to flee, going first to Paris and later, to London, which had, by the 1830s, acquired a considerable colony of expatriate Spaniards. In Paris, where he had three operas successfully produced, he earned the enthusiastic support of many, including Berlioz…Had Gomis been able to remain and work in Spain, he would have almost certainly contributed much more directly to the further development of Spanish musical theater.28

In the book The Disinherited: Exile and the making of Spanish Culture, 1492-1975, Henry Kamen brings to light the close-mindedness of various sectors of the Spanish population and the diverse examples of exile that resulted. Mr. Kamen states in his introduction, “Probably no other country in Europe…has owed so much of its real cultural achievements to figures who could not work fruitfully within its borders.”29 Later, he notes the challenges to the careers of two of Spain‟s best known composers:

Granados had already in those months come into contact with a world with wider horizons than those of his own country. One of his last letters from America, written in Catalan, betrayed the potential exile: „I am a Spaniard, a survivor of the sterile struggle to which we are subjected by the ignorance and indifference of our country. I dream of Paris and have a world of projects!‟ The work of Albéniz and Granados was little known to

28 Vásquez, Roland J. The quest for national opera in Spain and the re-invention of the zarzuela (1808-1849). Ithaca: Cornell University, 1992, 68-70. 29 Kamen, Henry. The Disinherited: Exile and the making of Spanish Culture, 1492-1975. Harper Collins Publishers, New York. 2007. 19

their contemporaries in Spain, and the two musicians achieved success and found an appreciative public only in cosmopolitan circles outside their own country.30

It was in this hostile environment that the Penella‟s Andalusian ópera popular, El Gato Montés, was composed, premiered and enjoyed its brief moment of success.

30 Ibid., 258-259.

20

CHAPTER FOUR

MANUEL PENELLA AND HIS ADVENTURES IN LYRIC COMPOSITION

Manuel Penella was born and trained in Valencia, Spain, where he was introduced to the world of music by his father, Manuel Penella Raga (1847-1909), a composer and director of the Conservatory of Valencia. Penella studied composition at this same conservatory under Salvador Giner, an important musician in Valencia at the time. The young Penella showed promise as a concert violinist, but this aspiration was ended when an accident permanently injured his left hand. He then turned to his affinity for composition and soon dedicated himself to composition of musical works for the stage, composing over eighty works, including zarzuelas, musical comedies, and operas. Penella also devoted much of his energy to traveling to the Americas as a conductor with various zarzuela companies. But after returning from an extensive tour in the Americas in which he did everything from conducting to painting and decorating a church, he decided to dedicate himself to the composition and promotion of operas, zarzuelas and other lyric genres. His interest covered not only the musical aspects, but all areas of the production. Penella declared himself to be a “man of the theatre.” He received generally good reviews for his efforts in the various regional theaters. Penella‟s works gained a certain level of popularity, especially in Argentina, where his zarzuela, Las Musas Latinas, was met with enthusiasm. He took the zarzuela on tour to Buenos Aires, serving as both the musical director and impresario. He returned to Spain to produce this same work with much success. But he did not stay long and once again sought the Americas. During one of his trips to Argentina, Penella made the acquaintance of Felipe Sassone (1884- 1959), who became his good friend and artistic collaborator. Sassone, a writer, was Peruvian by birth, newly married and living in Buenos Aires. The following is a description of Penella by Sassone, which gives one an idea of the respect and admiration he felt for his friend:

21

Era…un levantino negro como un moro, agudo y saladísimo, artista y español hasta la médula de los huesos, que sabía a maravilla su oficio. Gran director de orquesta y muy diestro en toda clase de menesteres teatrales, tenía una gran cultura musical y una sensibilidad finísima, y admiraba y entendía a Debussy, y cultivaba, modesto y magistral en sus composiciones originales, la buena zarzuela con aquel gusto, tan de su región - armonías de Ruperto Chapí y melodías de Pepe Serrano -, que olían y sabían a naranjos y a mar.31

(He was Levantine32 black like a moor, sharp and salty, artist and Spanish down to the marrow of his bones, who knew his vocation marvelously well. Grand orchestra director and very handy in all aspects of the theatre, he had a grand musical culture and a very fine sensibility, and admired and understood Debussy, and cultivated, modest and masterful in his original compositions, the good zarzuela with the taste, so much of his region – harmonies of Ruperto Chapí and melodies of Pepe Serrano- that smelled and tasted of oranges and the sea.)

In 1914, Sassone and Penella traveled to Spain, together with their families. On the ship they worked together on an operetta called La muñeca del amor, which premiered in Madrid that same year. The two had become such good friends that they decided to undertake a family trip together so that Sassone‟s wife could get to know another region of Spain. The families took an excursion to Seville, Córdoba and Granada for the Holy Week celebrations. It was after their return to Madrid from this vacation that the Penella and Sassone decided to undertake the writing of an Andalusian opera, El Gato Montés. Sassone, with input from Penella in regards to elements such as the requirements of the musical rhythm and the dramatic development, wrote the libretto for the entire Act I and the first scene of the Act II. Unfortunately, Sassone‟s wife, who had meantime suffered a difficult pregnancy and birth, died in January of 1915. This tragedy took such a toll on Sassone that he felt he could not return to his home and Penella took him into his own. Penella was anxious to finish the work on El Gato Montés, but when he pressured Sassone, the writer responded that he was unable to continue. Penella took on the chore of finishing the libretto himself, on the condition that Sassone would listen daily to the work as it progressed. When the opera was completed Penella offered to have the work registered for copyright under both names, but Sassone rejected the offer, as Penella had written well over half the libretto alone and had developed the storyline according to his own ideas. After Penella‟s insistence,

31 Montero Alonso, José. Manuel Penella, El Gato Montés, Program Notes. Teatro de la Zarzuela. Madrid. 1993, 9. 32 A Levantine is a term used to describe a person from the Eastern Mediterranean coast. 22

Sassone reluctantly agreed to accept 5,000 “duros” (a short name for the peso duro, the equivalent of a silver dollar) in payment for his participation in the creative effort. On February 23, 1916, in Penella‟s hometown of Valencia, El Gato Montés premiered and was a resounding success with the public. This “ópera popular,” with its use of folk idioms, familiar characters, captivating melodies and verismo-style action was enormously appealing to the audience and the bonus was that it was from one of their own. Justo Romero, in his book El Gato Montés, documents the enthusiastic reception of the public:

El suceso fue tan sonado que, al concluir la representación, Penella fue llevado a hombros por enfervorizados seguidores hasta su propio domicilio, mientras tarareaban una y otra vez el logradísimo pasodoble del segundo acto, que se convertirá inmediatamente en una de las páginas más populares de la literatura musical española. 33

(The event was so resounding that, upon concluding the presentation, Penella was carried on the shoulders by aroused followers to his own residence, while they hummed time and again the very accomplished pasodoble of the second act that would be converted immediately into one of the most popular pages of Spanish musical literature.)

Penella took the production on tour to other regional theaters and finally to Madrid in 1917 in the Gran Teatro, where it was again met with enthusiastic popular acclaim. This triumph motivated Penella into taking the opera production on tour outside of Spain, where it had similar triumphs in Latin America, and finally in the United States, where it opened on September 13, 1920 in the Park Theater in New York City. The US premiere turned into a ten week sold-out performance schedule. After this impressive tour, little is heard of El Gato Montés on the opera stage. Penella composed twenty-one other zarzuelas and light comic theatrical pieces before his next opera in 1932, Don Gil de Alcalá, which was his best critical success. Penella did return during these years to El Gato Montés when there was an opportunity for a new venue. A 1924 silent movie version called “Tiger Love” was made in the United States, directed by George Melford. This film was very loosely based on the opera storyline. In 1936, a movie version of El Gato Montés was produced and directed by Rosario Pi, the first female film director in Spain,

33 Romero, Justo. El Gato Montés. Ediciones Cátedra S. A., Sevilla. 1992, 33.

23 with music and screenplay by Penella. Pi‟s film career was cut short by the Spanish Civil War and the policies of the Franco Regime. Penella‟s opera, Don Gil de Alcalá, followed a similar course to that of El Gato Montés. Set in eighteenth-century Mexico, the opera was easily adapted for a film version. Penella‟s connections with Latin America facilitated the work and the opera was filmed in Mexico under the title El Capitán aventurero (The Adventurous Captain). Penella died unexpectedly on January 24, 1939 in Cuernavaca, Mexico during the musical preparation for the film. Penella was consumed with his work in the lyric theater and his output impressive, with a total of eighty-six zarzuelas, or variations of the genre and operas. After Penella‟s death there is little written concerning performances of El Gato Montés. Justo Romero, author of a one of the few books written on Penella or his opera, states:

Concluida aquella larga gira Americana, poco más se supo de El Gato Montés, que quedaría, finalmente, relegada en un inexplicable ostracismo tras el estreno, el 27 de octubre de 1932, de la otra obra maestral de Penella, la ópera bufa Don Gil de Alcalá. Desde entonces, y salvo el siempre popularísimo “Pasodoble”, El Gato Montés solamente ha sido escuchado en contadísimas ocasiones. Como acertadamente señala Roger Alier, esta deplorable situación solo puede explicarse “por el culpable abandono en que ha vivido el género lírico español en estos últimos cincuenta años.”34

(At the conclusion of that long American tour, little more is known of El Gato Montés, which would remain, finally, in inexplicably ostracized after the premier, the 27th of October, 1932, of the other great work of Penella, the comic opera Don Gil de Alcalá. Since then, and except for the always very popular “pasodoble”, El Gato Montés has only been heard on a few occasions. As Roger Alier signals assuredly, this deplorable situation can only be explained “by the guilty abandonment in which the Spanish lyric genre has lived in these last fifty years.”)

What is even more curious is that in studying literature about Spanish opera, one can find very little about Manuel Penella or his operas, even in Spain. There has been an influx of writings on zarzuela and its composers by a variety of musicologists. The Instituto de Ciencias Complutense de Música in Madrid has reprinted some of the musicological writings of Barbieri in a two volume set. Information can be found on the lyric works of Tomás Bretón, Enrique

34 Ibid., 35.

24

Granados, Isaac Albéniz and Manuel de Falla. But on Penella there are a scant two pages in the Diccionario de Zarzuela. In discussions with various musicologists in Madrid, the author found that neither the supporters of Spanish opera nor the pro-zarzuela faction seem to take the opera very seriously. In spite of this lack of enthusiasm, there have been performances of El Gato Montés in Madrid in 1969 and unconfirmed presentations in Mexico and Latin America. The renowned Spanish tenor, Plácido Domingo, became familiar with the piece in his youth while accompanying his parents on performance tours. It was through Domingo‟s efforts that a rediscovery of the opera was initiated, with an excellent recording being released in December, 1991 by Deutsche Gramophone. The recording includes such recognized singers as Domingo himself as Rafael “El Macareno,” soprano Verónica Villarroel as Soleá, baritone Juan Pons as Juanillo “El Gato Montés,” mezzo-soprano Teresa Berganza as the gitana and conducted by Miguel Roa, conductor of the Teatro de la Zarzuela. Roa edited the only version now commercially available. The recording was followed by performances in the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, the Teatro Maestranza in Seville, Los Angeles Opera, Washington Opera and an Opera Canada concert version in Toronto, Canada. With a new edition and a high-quality recording available and recent successful performances, the ground was set for the re-discovery of this Spanish jewel.

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CHAPTER FIVE

EL GATO MONTÉS: THE OPERA, ITS CHARACTERS AND STORYLINE

The original edition of El Gato Montés is dated 1916. The edition was then hand copied and printed out. The copy of the original manuscript, seen in the photo, is found in the offices of the Sociedad General de Autores y Editores (SGAE) in Madrid. It states on the cover that it is unavailable for purchase. The edition that is available (for rental only) is the 1991 Miguel Roa edition.

Figure 5.1: Original edition of El Gato Montés

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5.1 LIST OF CHARACTERS

 Juanillo, El Gato Montés, a gypsy bandit in love with Soleá since their childhood together - baritone  Soleá, A young gypsy girl, Rafael‟s romantic interest, but who is still in love with Juanillo- soprano  Rafael Ruíz, El Macareno, the bullfighter, in love with Soleá - tenor  Padre Antón, the parish priest and godfather of Rafael - bass  Hormigón, Rafael‟s friend and picador - bass-baritone  Frasquita, the mother of Rafael – mezzo-soprano  The gitana, Gypsy woman, friend of Soleá - mezzo-soprano  The pastorcillo, a young gypsy shepherd - boy soprano  The vendedor, a flower vender– tenor  Loyila, a servant in the Ruíz household – soprano  Recalcao, picador – baritone  Pezuño, bandit with El Gato Montés- baritone  Caireles, picador – baritone  The Alguacilillo, an official in the bullfight  Peones, the people of the village - SATB  Gitanillos, the gypsy children

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5.2 STORYLINE

35The opening of the opera takes place in a typical farmhouse at the foot of a mountain range in Andalucía. A desolate Soleá is awaiting the return of Rafael from a bullfight where, although he was wounded, the young bullfighter came away victorious and raised to the status of matador (“mataô”). Frasquita, seeing that the girl is distressed, reassures her that the wounds were minor and takes Soleá‟s sorrow as a sign of her love for Rafael, which gives her courage to ask her directly if she loves him. Soleá says she does, but her affections appear to be more based on thankfulness for rescuing her from a life alone, with no family or friends. She is also grateful for the fact that he has given her another mother in the person of Frasquita. Padre Antón arrives to greet the young bullfighter, who is his godson. He proudly assumes the credit for Rafael‟s success, stating that the babies he baptizes “mata má q’er sarampión!” (kill more than the measles!) The trio closes out the short opening scene expressing excitement and impatience for Rafael‟s return. The townspeople appear, excitedly announcing the arrival of Rafael and his cuadrilla or entourage. His entrance is a grand one. Rafael‟s friend and picador, Hormigón, tells all the curious spectators of the success the new matador has had in the corrida (bullfight). Rafael gives the credit for his triumph to his dead father who taught him how to bullfight and his mother who taught him how to pray. Rafael, Frasquita and Soleá exit to the chapel, to give thanks to the Virgin for her protection. At this point Hormigón pulls out the newspaper which recounts the events of the bullfight, handing it over to Padre Antón to read aloud to the crowd. The priest excitedly reads the review, accompanied by interjections from Hormigón and Caireles, another picador. Rafael, Soleá and Frasquita return to the reception and Rafael urges Soleá to give a public declaration of her love for him, to which she replies, “Why do you ask me if you know I care for you?”

35 This information is an expanded and detailed conglomeration of material gathered from three primary sources: the recording El Gato Montés, by Manuel Penella, conducted by Miguel Roa, released by Deutsche Grammophon, New York, October, 1998; El Gato Montés, Program Notes (Teatro de la Zarzuela. Madrid. 1993), which includes a libretto; and information gleaned from the study of the original score in the offices of the Sociedad General de Autores y Editores, Madrid, Spain.

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Apparently satisfied with her answer, Rafael calls for the manzanilla, a Spanish golden sherry typical to the region of Andalucía, to be passed out for a toast. Unexpectedly a gypsy woman arrives, saying that the gypsy children would like to sing and dance for the celebration. Rafael gives his permission and the children appear and perform. Afterwards, the gypsy offers to read Rafael‟s palm and, although Soleá objects, the gypsy proceeds to read his future. She sees glory and riches and love, but only if he ignores a dark man who will cross his path. Suddenly things take a turn for the worse, as the gypsy sees clearly in his palm that Rafael will die in the bullring. This causes Padre Antón and Frasquita to react angrily, but Rafael laughs it off and the celebration continues. Without warning, El Gato Montés appears with a group of bandits. He has come to declare that Soleá is his woman and that she still loves him, regardless of what she may say. Soleá tries to silence Juanillo, but Rafael sends her off to the house and, after being held back from a fight by his friends, Rafael goes into the house as well. Padre Antón tells Juanillo to forget Soleá and leave, but he refuses, singing an aria that recounts their shared sorrows, his life as an outcast and all he has suffered for their love. After asking for a blessing from the priest, he leaves to return to his mountain refuge. The people of the village leave as well and Soleá comes out to see if Juanillo is still there. She speaks with Padre Antón who reassures her that Juanillo has left, but these words do not bring her consolation, but rather sorrow. One can see that this is an ongoing conversation between the priest and Soleá. The priest advises her to forget Juanillo and move on to her new relationship with Rafael. In a lovely aria with soaring vocal lines much in the style of Puccini, she declares that although her feelings bring her sadness, she cannot forget Juanillo. She feels responsible for the suffering he has gone through on her account. Their love, which they shared together since their childhood, has never faded. She does feel gratitude and tender feelings for Rafael, but the love of her life is Juanillo, although she knows they can never be together. The priest promises to keep her words as a confessional secret and leaves. Rafael returns to the scene to bid farewell to Hormigón until their upcoming corrida in Seville. He approaches Soleá, who seems distant and inconsolable. He expresses his love for her, his determination to protect her and his desire to have her for himself. Soleá is responsive, although her answers are mere echoes of Rafael‟s declarations of love. All seems well again until 29 the song of a passing shepherd (a pastorcillo or little shepherd) is heard. It is a copla that states, “A una gitana quiero y esa gitana ê mía, er q‟e quitármela quiera tiene pena de la vía” (“I love a gypsy girl and this gypsy girl is mine. He that would take her away from me is under the penalty of death.”) The melody, sung in cante jondo style, functions as a leitmotif for Juanillo‟s obsession with Soleá and the fate that drives the two men in their desire to possess her. Their obsession leads to violence and death for all three by the end of the opera. Rafael immediately reacts in anger at the copla, although Soleá explains that it is only the song of the shepherds when they return from the mountains. Rafael is not satisfied with this rationalization, angrily declaring it to be a threat and an insult somehow coming from Juanillo. As he tries to remember the precise words of the copla, whose melody is eerily played in the background by an oboe, Juanillo suddenly appears, ready to continue the fight that was broken off earlier. Soleá intervenes, asking Juanillo to have compassion. When he refuses, she throws Rafael‟s knife in the well, knowing that Juanillo will not fight an unarmed man. Juanillo concedes for the moment, but only after threatening Rafael that if he does not die after fighting six bulls in the arena in Seville, he will find him and kill him after the corrida. Soleá is devastated by this aggression and change in Juanillo. Rafael, who appears unsure how to deal with this new development, tells him to leave. When alone, Rafael angrily confronts Soleá, asking her to look in his eyes so he can see the truth. She faces him, but, much to the distress of the two of them, he declares that he can see nothing. Frasquita comes out of the house to see what has happened and is greeted by the desperate Rafael, as he declares that here is the only truth in life, in his mother‟s arms. So ends Act I. Act II opens in the house of Rafael in Seville on the day of the corrida. He is preparing for the bullfight and calls for Soleá to assist him with his tie, which is merely an excuse to have her near him. Apparently all has been forgiven and the two declare their love, with Soleá always referring to all she owes Rafael for taking her in when she was all alone, after Juanillo‟s imprisonment. Now she has committed herself and her love to Rafael and her life is dependent on him alone. Hormigón arrives and gives a report to Rafael concerning the impressive bulls they are to take on at the bullring. Rafael leaves to finish preparing himself, and, as Soleá serves a manzanilla to Hormigón, she tells him of Juanillo‟s threat. Frasquita knows nothing of the threat 30 and Hormigón, convinced that Frasquita would forbid Rafael‟s attending the bullfight under such circumstance, is sure to keep the news from her when she comes out to greet him. Frasquita offers him another manzanilla after she notices he appears nervous, but he declines the drink. Padre Antón arrives, dressed in lay clothes, anxious to see his godson‟s performance in the arena. After an embrace from his mother, Rafael turns to Soleá and asks for a kiss, their first ever. She kisses him on the cheek, as a token of her love and a reflection of her innocence. The men leave for the plaza de toros. Soleá falls before the statue of the Virgin in fervent prayer for the safety of Rafael, as a bewildered Frasquita looks on. Scene two takes place at the bullring in Seville. The preparations are made and the other members of the group sent off to complete their tasks. Left alone, Hormigón tells Rafael that he knows of the threat of the Gato Montés and asks him what he intends to do about it. Rafael coolly replies that he can dispatch six bulls and kill Juanillo as well, but he seems unconvincing. Rafael leaves to pray in the chapel, where he sings a short, but intense aria, a prayer for courage and to be that man he has always been, nothing more. He closes with the plea that God accomplish His will. Padre Antón arrives to be sure that the two men have “puesto bien con Dios” (made their peace with God). Hormigón obliging enters the chapel and, not knowing what to do, bathes his head with the holy water with his handkerchief, superstitiously watching where the water drops fall, much to Padre Antón‟s amusement. The Alguacilillo, the official who leads the opening procession of the bullfight, arrives and leads Rafael, Hormigón and the rest of their entourage into the bullring to commence the ceremony. At this point, the most famous piece of the opera is played, the pasodoble, a musical form typically used in the bullfights. The drama of the bullfight is portrayed through the music and the reactions of the crowd, as well as glimpses of Rafael saluting the president and the onlookers. Frasquita arrives with Soleá, much to the dismay of Hormigón, who encounters them just outside the arena. Soleá has told Frasquita everything about Juanillo‟s threat and she has come to put a stop to it. Hormigón sends them to the chapel to avoid distracting Rafael, where they reluctantly go to pray. Unknown to them, Hormigón locks the door to be sure they will not interfere. They listen as the crowd cheers on the young torero, but, when a cry arises from the crowd, it is obvious something terrible has happened. Rafael has been gored by a bull and he is quickly taken to the infirmary, while the two women beat the door of the chapel, trying to get out. Rafael cries 31 out “Maresita!” (an endearing form of “Mother” used throughout the opera, which always is sung or played with the same musical theme or leitmotif), the doors to the chapel fly open and the women run to find Rafael dead. Frasquita calls to her son, as Soleá gives an anguished cry and collapses to the ground. At the beginning of Act III, Frasquita is back again at the farmhouse, in mourning for Soleá, who has just died from grief. Padre Antón comes to offer words of solace and Hormigón arrives to help take care of the funeral arrangements. As he leaves, the gypsy woman and children once again arrive, this time to place flowers around the body while the gypsy sings of Soleá dying from love for Rafael. Juanillo suddenly appears, in distress and confusion. He claims his heart led him to come see the girl and, when he discovers her dead, he says it did not lie. Much to the shock of everyone, Juanillo takes Soleá‟s body in his arms, as the motive of the pastorcillo sounds, and he repeats the words of the copla, threatening all who would come between himself and Soleá, even in death. The final scene begins with an instrumental prelude which has musical elements from Juanillo‟s aria of the first Act, and a beautiful, melancholic cello solo which captures Juanillo‟s overwhelming grief and hopelessness. The prelude melts into an emotional and tender aria, in which Juanillo states that now nothing remains in the world for him without her, as he has only existed to love her and suffer. His thoughts are interrupted by his fellow bandits and Pezuño, who come to warn him that Hormigón, accompanied by other men of the village, are approaching to recover the body. But Juanillo has lost his will to live and tells them not to harm the intruders. Instead, when they arrive, with Hormigón at their head, he offers them his knife to kill him at once. No one moves, as they are all overcome with compassion at his suffering. At the sound of the arrival of the guards, who have finally discovered his hideout and plan on taking him back to prison, Juanillo is stirred to action. He calls out to Pezuño to shoot him in the heart, rather than allow him to return to prison, and, at the sound of the gunshot, Juanillo falls lifeless alongside the body of Soleá, as the orchestra plays again the motive of the pastorcillo in blaring trumpets.

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5.3 ANALYSIS

It is beneficial at this point to look at the differences between the original opera and the movie version directed by Rosario Pi in 1936, with script and music also by Manuel Penella.36 A comparison of the two versions can provide a deeper understanding of Penella‟s concept of the nature of the characters and their relationships. He composed a large amount of new music for the project, as only the characters of Juanillo and Soleá actually sing and the first fifty minutes of the movie is dedicated to presenting details of their relationship, including their youth together, how they fell in love, and Juanillo‟s imprisonment and his escape, which in turn led him to his life in the mountains as a bandit. The focus of the love triangle is significantly different from the storyline presented in the opera, where the relationship between Soleá and Rafael, the bullfighter, can be easily interpreted as the center of attention. One can see how bringing the center of attention on Juanillo lends itself to expanding the drama and Soleá‟s confusion in dealing with her two admirers: Rafael, whom she cares for because of his kindness, and Juanillo, her true love. By focusing on their relationship, one can more easily explain Soleá‟s passionate refusal to accept Padre Anton‟s advice that she forget Juanillo and her love for him. It also clarifies her first line in the opera, “Lo mismita q‟er queré son estâ florê, tantá espinitâ hay, tanô dolorê. ¡Ay de mi, quererê y alegriâ p‟a siempre lô perdí!” (Love and these flowers are the same, so many thorns, so many pains. Oh, I have lost loves and joys forever!) Although Frasquita assumes the girl is just missing Rafael, it is obvious that her sorrows go much deeper. In Pi‟s movie version, the discrimination against the gypsies and their culture give reason to the lover‟s predicament. The couple is without family, with the exception of Juanillo‟s uncle, Pezuño, who appears in the opera as one of his fellow bandidos. Juanillo kills a man, however it is while defending Soleá‟s honor and in defense of his own life, as the other man tries to shoot him with a gun before Juanillo stabs him with his knife. But it is Juanillo who is thrown in prison for life. When Juanillo escapes prison, with the help of Pezuño, Soleá is brought in and restrained until she can name someone of position who is willing to assume responsibility for her. This is where Rafael, who is already enamored with the gypsy girl, steps in.

36 Penella, Manuel. El Gato Montés, movie version, DVD, directed by Rosario Pi, Star Film, 1936.

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Giving Juanillo the central role in the opera would follow the more traditional practice of Spanish lyric theatre of giving the lead male role to the baritone. It would also explain why it would not have been such a dramatic error to have Rafael and Soleá die at the end of Act II, leaving Juanillo to carry the drama alone throughout Act III. All of the background provided in the film is quite useful for a more thorough development of Penella‟s characters in the opera. The storyline deals with raw human emotions. The characters are well developed and it is easy to identify with their struggles, joys and pains, no matter how foreign the situation and culture is to the listener. The beauty of the music, the soaring vocal lines and the fine prosody all make it an extraordinary musical work. The intensity of the drama, the mixture of comedy and tragedy, the romantic duets and the intense emotional conflicts of the three main protagonists all contribute to make the work an engaging drama. There exists a definite influence of verismo: its harsh realism, the appearance of common people in real life situations of the times, the heightened sense of drama, the violence and the occasional difficulty in dividing the piece into specific numbers, as the score is somewhat continuous. One can also see a Wagnerian influence in the last element. The most dominating Wagnerian quality throughout the opera is the use of leitmotifs. Penella uses diverse recurring musical themes to portray the different characters. Rafael‟s theme is a pasodoble, reflecting his connection to bullfighting. Juanillo has two themes, one for his menacing alter-ego, the Gato Montés, and another, of a much more vulnerable character, when he speaks of his life as a fugitive. The gitana‟s short theme incorporates elements of cante flamenco, as does that of the gitanillos. There is a theme for Frasquita, in the context of her relationship to Rafael. Soleá has a theme, which is presented in her only aria, a lovely piece with a notable influence from Giaccomo Puccini in its use of long, lyrical lines and an ending not unlike Mimi‟s first aria in La bohème. The following musical examples, taken from the score by Manuel Penella,37 cite the major motives that appear throughout the opera and the measure numbers.

37 Penella, Manuel. 1916. El Gato Montés. Score. Sociedad General de Autores de España (Sociedad General de Autores y Editores). Madrid.

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The first motive is from Act I, Scene I. The gently rocking base line and the roulades typical of Spanish folk music help establish a sense of the warm feelings of home in Andalucía.

Example 5:1. Act I, Scene I, meas. 1-8

The next motive represents Padre Antón. It is frolicking and light-hearted and is a good reflection of the priest‟s jovial personality. Its first appearance is in Act I, Scene I.

Example 5:2. Act I, Scene I, meas. 26-30

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Frasquita has a motive which appears when Rafael greets his mother on his return from the bullfight. This theme is found in various forms through the opera, always in the context of the relationship between Rafael and his mother. “Maresita” translates “little mother.”

Example 5:3. Act I, Scene I, meas. 324-327

Rafael‟s own energetic motive is in the duple pasodoble form, typical of the bullfight music.

Example 5:4. Act I, Scene I, meas. 362-366

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At her first appearance, the gitana sings her motive which is representative of the cante flamenco style in its use of triplet ornaments and the Phrygian scale.

Example 5:5. Act I, Scene I, meas. 647-651

The theme of the “gitanillos” or “little gypsies” is played whenever the gypsy children parade onto stage, in their first appearance in Act I and also in Act III.

Example 5:6. Act I, Scene I, meas. 668-672

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The motive for Juanillo‟s entrance as El Gato Montés is indicative of his guise as a person wanted for murder and robbery. It sounds menacing and powerful, with its chromatic line and sharp rhythms.

Example 5:7. Act I, Scene I, meas. 989-993

Juanillo‟s other motive is in total contrast, as it represents his painful existence in isolation. The text translates, “Flee bandit, flee from the whole world”

Example 5:8. Act I, Scene I, meas. 1222-1225

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Soleá‟s theme is achingly romantic. In its first appearance in Soleá‟s in Act I, Soleá tells Padre Anton of her past relationship with Juanillo.

Example 5:9. Act I, Scene I, meas. 1347-1350

Hormigón also has his own motive. As one of the more comic characters in the opera, it is cheerful and more rhythmic in character, with its dance-like quality.

Example 5:10. Act I, Scene I, meas. 1430-1433

These motives, as with Richard Wagner‟s leitmotifs, serve to tie the opera together, bringing the listener unconsciously to the individual characters and their relationships.

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CHAPTER SIX

EL GATO MONTÉS AND ITS REFLECTION OF ANDALUSIAN SOCIETY

Regardless of the foreign musical influences of Wagner and Italian verismo, the opera is definitively Spanish, in language and musical setting. Throughout there are interjections of cante flamenco elements in the vocal line as well as in the orchestral parts. Penella also uses Spanish dance forms, in particular the pasodoble, which inevitably occurs when the topic turns to bullfighting. Societal characteristics from Southern Spain, known as Andalucía, appear throughout the opera in a variety of areas: the representation of Catholic morality, machismo, the familial aspects of a matriarchal society, the gypsies‟ place in that society and the ceremony of the corrida or bullfight. All of these facets come into play in the opera El Gato Montés and not only establishes the Spanish flavor of the piece, but also serves in the development of the characters and the impulse of the drama. Although Spain has been considered a Catholic country for many years, it must be kept in mind that the country was under Arabian rule for centuries and that Andalucía was “Moorish” until the Reconquest of 1492 by Ferdinand II and Isabella I. These monarchs are still known as the “Catholic Monarchs” and Isabella specifically is widely known as “Isabel la Católica.” Up to this time Andalucía was a land largely inhabited by Muslims, but also with a large population of Sephardic Jews and nomadic Gypsies, who are generally considered to have arrived a few decades earlier and who blended well into this mixed and tolerant culture. At the time of the taking of Granada, the last Muslim stronghold to fall in Spain, the Treaty of Granada was signed, which gave the Muslims freedom to continue in their religious practice, but this was not the case for very long. With the start of the infamous Inquisition, it became the desire of the Catholic Monarchs to unify all of Spain under one religion, Catholicism. Decrees were written demanding

40 the expulsion of Jews and Muslims that refused to be baptized and make a genuine conversion to Catholicism. Many who refused escaped to the mountains, along with the gypsies, and made a hard living, resorting to thievery and other illegal activities, to survive. Although the history of Andalucía is more Middle Eastern in nature, Catholicism is deeply ingrained in the lives of the common folk and the characters of El Gato Montés are no exception. Statues of the Virgin appear in every home and the Virgin is given thanks for all good things and petitioned for blessings and needs. The parish priest carries a great authority and is welcome into the homes of his parishioners. There are even a few jokes made in the opera that cannot be understood out of the context of Catholicism. In Act I, Padre Antón is explaining to Frasquita and Soleá why he believes Rafael has had such luck as a torero. He states, “Er niño der portá a tós esô mataorê q‟entre lo guënô son lô mejorê, lê he puêto yo la sal…Ê q‟e se me fué la mano y er salero…se vorcó.” (The boy has surpassed all these matadors that, amongst the best, they are the very best, in which I have placed the salt…It‟s that my hand got carried away and the salt container…tipped over.) The salt was used in the baptismal rite as a sign of purity and also of protection. Apparently Rafael received more than his fair share when the salt spilled over. Machismo is a prevailing theme in the struggle for the affections of Soleá. No one, except for perhaps Padre Antón, seems interested in knowing how Soleá feels. It is much more a case of ownership of the young girl. Juanillo feels she is his rightful possession from a lifetime together and all he has suffered for her, as well as the fact that they are both gypsies and should marry within their own culture. Rafael also feels a certain sense of ownership, as he has taken the girl in. This is evident when he sends her into the house during his first confrontation with Juanillo, instead of allowing the girl to speak for herself. It is interesting to note that in the movie version produced during the Second Republic, Soleá is a very spirited young woman, not afraid of saying what is on her mind and is able to reason with Juanillo. The Second Republic in Spain was a time of developing self actualization for the women of Spain. In Soleá‟s situation, it is not until Juanillo is imprisoned and she is left alone and taken in by Rafael, that she begins to lose that strong will and sense of self. She becomes more confused and, in her death scene which is included in the film version, she asks to see Juanillo again. This last wish is denied and she dies, having lost her will to live and unable to stand up to the people around her.

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Spain can be seen as a matriarchal society, in spite of the influence of machismo. Isabel la Católica is an example. She ruled hand in hand with Ferdinand and had much influence of political decisions, as well as other affairs of state. In the situation of Frasquita, her husband is dead and she appears to be the one who runs the household. Her influence on her son is clearly evident as, at times of emotional tension, Rafael turns to his mother for comfort, guidance and help. His exclamation of “Maresita!,” as mentioned earlier, has its own musical motive, which appears whenever there is a significant interaction between Rafael and Frasquita. She is the first greeted on his return from the bullfight in Act I and it is her name he calls as he is agonizing in death. Hormigón asks Soleá in the beginning of Act II if Doña Frasquita knows of the threat from Juanillo. He hides this information from her, knowing she would forbid Rafael from going to the bullfight and would doubtlessly be obeyed. The most prevalent Andalusian component in the opera is the use of a peculiar variant of Spanish throughout the work. The composer has written the text as it sounds, with the Andalusian accent. This accent has an influence from Caló, a type of speech used by the Spanish gypsies after they lost their original language of Romani. The pronunciation leaves off the ending consonants rather consistently, which is indicated by a “chapeau” (^) placed over the last vowel. The letter “l” when it is final or precedes a consonant turns to an “r,” as in the words “el” (“er”), “al” (“ar”) or “vuelve” (“guërve”). The letter “d” is simply omitted in words such as “matador” (“mataô”). The letter z is turned to s (“rason,” instead of “razón”), as is the letter c (“bendisión,” instead of “bendición”), eliminating the use of the traditional Spanish “ceceo,” which causes the letters z or the letter c (when followed by an e or an i) to be pronounced [θ]. As you can imagine, this can make the translation of the work difficult, as well as the pronunciation, as the familiar Spanish pronunciation guides do not address this problem. In a conversation with Emilio Casares, he stated that Spanish is a “perfect” language, meaning that it sounds as it is written. Consequently, years ago, it was common for the people of Andalucía to write out their own accent in this way and the practice would have been in practice during the time of the writing of the opera. I enjoyed seeing an indicator of this, in modern times, on a sign posted in an eatery in Madrid which boasted typical Andalusian cooking. The message read, “Contra la gripe…cardo piripi…reseta,” which would normally read, “Contra la gripe…caldo piripi receta” (against the flu…piripi broth…recipe). 42

Of course, the scene with the gypsy woman and the young gitanillos is a particularly common portrayal of this sub-culture. They come to sing and dance at the celebration, and offer to read palms, for a coin. The dance itself, a garrotín, is a dance which actually comes originally from Northern Spain and was slowly incorporated in the southern Spanish culture. Two vital elements of this culture that are built-into the opera is the use of elements from cante flamenco and the bullfight, with its accompanying musical form, the pasodoble. I will address these two important areas in the following chapters.

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CHAPTER SEVEN

GITANOS, CANTE FLAMENCO AND DUENDE: THE BARED SOUL OF ANDALUCÍA

There are many views concerning the origin of the gypsies in Spain. The majority of the experts believe that the gypsies came from an exodus of Northern India in about the eighth century. This migration took these people through the Middle East, where they broke off into two groups, one going to Africa and the other group continuing up into Europe and then finally down again to the Iberian Peninsula, ending in Andalucía. Moustafa Gadalla has written the book Egyptian Romany: The Essence of Hispania, which traces the origin of the Spanish gypsies to Egypt. Mr. Gadalla asserts that the Reconquista was responsible for the denial of the true Egyptian heritage of the gypsy inhabitants of Southern Spain. He provides evidence of “waves” of immigration to the Iberian peninsulas from as early as the 3rd and 2nd millennium B.C. Mr. Gadalla refers to archeological excavations in Southern Spain which have uncovered tombs and other artifacts which can be compared to the burial practices, metal work and even religious beliefs of ancient Egypt.38 Other theories exist that establish that Southern Spain was Phoenician in antiquity and the influence of the Roman conquest and all the other conquests from the north had only a superficial effect on the culture. In this environment, the gypsies would feel like they were coming home to a land with a less European heritage. Regardless of their origin, the gypsies seemed to have served more as a solidifying element in the development of cante flamenco, rather than as its originator. Otherwise there would be cante flamenco singers throughout Germany, France and all of Europe, wherever the gypsies have settled. There was a slow development of this musical style in Andalucía, with

38 Gadalla, Moustafa. Egyptian Romany, the Essence of Hispania. Greensboro: Tehuti Research Foundation. 2004, 55-66.

44 contributions from the Arabian roots, the input of the Sephardic Jews and native Southern Spaniards, whose past was influenced by the Phoenician culture. The port city of Cádiz is considered by many to be the cradle of flamenco and the home of the finest cante flamenco singers. Allen Josephs, in his book, White Wall of Spain: The Mysteries of Andalusían Culture, tells us a little of the gypsies role in the development of cante flamenco:

When the Gypsies arrived in Andalucía they found an already ancient sense of style at work that must have appealed to them or been very familiar to them at least. To that sense of style…some of them added their own profound sense of style - and the interpretative ability for which they are famous everywhere…Its rare proper interpretation produces in toreo and in flamenco the possibility for a kind of catharsis, perhaps the only true catharsis left in modern Western culture… …in mountainous zones, such as the Serrania de Cádiz and the Serrania de Ronda and the high mountains of the Alpujarra on the south flank of the Sierra Nevada, clandestine groups formed and hid out, living their lives in a kind of hybrid underground culture. Many of them were Gypsies who refused to abandon their nomadic ways and tried to escape constant persecutions. Some were moriscos who went underground after 1609 when they were all ordered deported. Some were new Christians, Jews who had converted but were suspected of being secret Judaizers. Others were mere adventurers or bandits...Out of this underground culture of Gypsies, bandits, smugglers and adventurers and out of the Gypsy quarters of Sevilla, Jerez, Cádiz and Granada, grew the popular music – the ageless folk music of the Andalusians ranging back to the time of Gadir and Tartessos, especially as interpreted and modified by the Gypsies – known as flamenco.39

The idea of “catharsis” is an important one. Cante jondo developed as an expression of the deepest of emotions, the most painful passions of the pueblo, the people who had suffered persecution and had been forced into lifestyles that robbed them of honor. Some song categories are carceleras, (prison songs), mineras (songs from the mines). The anguished cries and pained facial expressions act almost as a group therapy as the participants allow themselves to be overwhelmed with a flood of emotion. Cante flamenco, in its purest form, is an intimate affair, one not so much performed, as shared. The aficionados meet in homes, caves and other small gatherings. With a guitar, a cajón, or just their hands, snapping fingers that resound like bullet shots and using palmas, or handclaps, foot stomps, they create complex patterns of rhythms that accompany the singers and

39 Josephs, Allen. White Wall of Spain: The Mysteries of Andalusian Culture. University of West Florida Press. Pensacola. 1990, 20 45 dancers as they find their inspiration in a smoke-filled room. There is no sense of performance, but a collective experience. The singers take turns, depending on who is inspired in the moment, effortlessly handing the focus off to one another. They may just close their eyes, and start with a few palmas and the low cry, “Ay!” From there the tension slowly builds, the vocal ornamentations become more complex, the volume increases and the pitch rises. The energy that passes through the musicians and dancers, inspiring and pushing each to their vocal and physical limits is known as duende, when the music or a spirit takes over the singer or dancer and moves them beyond themselves into the music. Federico García Lorca figures as an important individual in the preservation and promotion of this art form. In Search of Duende by García Lorca, translated and edited by Christopher Maurer, is a collection of poems and writings having to do with cante jondo, or “deep song,” the most intense and oldest form of cante flamenco, and duende, the spirit which the gypsies believe moves the finest performers of cante flamenco, flamenco dance and bull fighting. This concept of duende, as presented by García Lorca, gives an almost spiritual premise for the passion that inspires, guides and basically engulfs the performer in the grip of his art. One must be aware of the importance of duende in maintaining an authentic performance and capturing the spirit of the music of Andalucía. García Lorca and Manuel de Falla made a concentrated effort to preserve the authentic character of this art form from the threat of commercialization. Some of the larger caves in Sacromonte, the traditional neighborhood of the gypsies in Granada, have turned into tourist traps, where flamenco shows or tablaos are given, in full regalia: ruffled long dresses with large polka dots, peinetas40and tight-fitting “toreador-style” suits for the men. The forsaking of the flamenco puro style appeared to be a logical development, due to the difficult financial situation of the gypsies and the attraction to the flamenco style by the uninitiated. In the late 1890s there was the development of “café cantantes,” cafes where performances of flamenco singing and dance could be seen for a price. The moment the element of an audience was introduced, the inward focus of the art form suffered, as there were now customers to please and money to be made. This was followed in the 1920s by the phenomena known as “ópera flamenca,” a

40 Large combs, usually in tortoise shell, which would stand high on the hair and sustain the mantilla, a long lace veil. 46 flamenco public presentation that was named opera in order to benefit from a tax break given to more “legitimate” art forms. Peñas, or clubs, started appearing in the 1940s. The oldest standing club is the Peña Flamenca La Platería, where posters appear on the walls of the different cante jondo competitions, including the first competition held in 1922, organized by García Lorca and Falla. The commercialization of flamenco presented great difficulty in preserving flamenco puro, in which the emphasis is not on the performer or the profit, but on the communal expression of the deepest of human feelings. Pedro Amaro, a gypsy cante flamenco singer, or cantaor in Granada, commented that the music must have its base on the “pueblo.” Without the sense of community, it would not exist, for the true cante flamenco singer only takes this communal energy, gives it voice and enlarges it.41 The importance of intimacy in the creation of the flamenco song is paramount. The exchange of energy is lost in the performance venue of a large hall, where the singer is distanced from the public. As for the musical characteristics of cante flamenco, there are certain attributes which are readily recognized in the opera El Gato Montés.  The use of the Phrygian scale, with its minor third and its lowering of the second degree tone. The musical example from the gitana‟s entrance, which appears in Act I, can be found in Figure 3:4. The other prominent example of this aspect is the song of the pastorcillo in Act I, Scene I.

Example 7:1. Act I, Scene I, meas. 1556-1562

41 Conversations with Pedro Amaro, flamenco singer, Sacromonte, Granada, March 7, 2009.

47

 A general descending focus in the melodic line, as also seen in Musical Example 7:1.  Insistence on one particular tone, which is then ornamented with runs, turns and repeated notes, as seen in this part of Juanillo‟s scene in Act I.

Example 7:2. Act I, Scene I, meas. 1169-1172

 The expression of intense passion, pain, betrayal and violence, as seen throughout the opera. This aspect is found with special power in Juanillo‟s explanation of his love for Soleá in Act I. The text reads, “Cómo se puede orviá; un queré, que ni aún la muerte ha de poerlo arrancâ; un queré q‟está aquí dentro como Dio está en la crú. !Clavao y sangrando er pecho!” (How can I forget a love that not even death can tear out; a love that is here inside, like God is on the cross. Nailed and [with a] bleeding chest!)

The basic rhythmic outline in cante flamenco is provided by the compás, which is consistently maintained, while allowing for total freedom in improvisation and expression. When the author attended a juerga42 in a small cave in Sacromonte, it was at first an enigma how the performers managed to move together through the short coplas, knowing when to go to the next

42 A juerga is a gathering, late at night, where the flamenco singers and dancers meet to drink, sing and dance. There can be a guitar and cajón for accompaniment, although palmas are all that is needed. These meetings can go into the early morning hours.

48 chord of the sequence, knowing when to climax, and, most difficult to note, how they knew when to stop. This music is not rehearsed, it just happens, but the results could not be better synchronized. After several hours of observing, then venturing to join in the palmas, I understood that one just knows when to stop, when to build, when to pause. The exchange of energy was palpable. The term cante jondo (deep song), sometimes called cante grande, refers to the most profound form of flamenco singing, that which is usually reserved to express serious moods and texts. Some examples of cante jondo forms are the solea, the siquiriya and the saeta, an expression of religious fervor sung in the Good Friday Procession that is only accompanied by a snare drum keeping a very rigid rhythmic pulse. Cante chico is a lighter affair, for bulerías and alegrías. It shares the same attributes of the Phrygian scale and decorative ornaments, but the songs are more amusing and celebratory in character. In the book Gypsy Cante: Deep Song of the Caves, selected and translated by Will Kirkland, the author has collected the poetry of many traditional cante jondo songs, alongside observations and quotations which capture the flavor of Gypsy‟s and their song. Mr. Kirkland provides the following translations:

„The Singer who sings siquiriyas leaves in each line of the copla a piece of his soul; and, if not, he is deceiving the listener, perhaps even himself… I have seen José Menese completely overcome, broken, a literal wreck after doing this song and I believe that if a singer sometimes reaches the kind of state of grace that the Gypsies call duende – and I don‟t know yet what that is – it is in these unique and unrepeatable moments.‟43

-Ángel Alvarez Caballero

„These songs, to be born, must come from the singer after fighting his own voice and falling into an ecstasy of inwardness that will draw everyone around him into a vortex of feeling, wrapped round by that voice, a guitar, and the sound of naked palms beating, and surging down the dark line that runs from nothingness to nothingness through life‟44

-after Félix Grande

43 Kirkland, Will. Gypsy Cante: Deep Song of the Caves. San Francisco. City Lights Books. 1999, 12. 44 Ibid., 30.

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CHAPTER EIGHT

THE CORRIDA AND ITS PASODOBLE

When one thinks of Spain, one of the first images that come to mind is that of the elegant stance of a flamenco dancer. This stance is to be found in another venue, one which is filled with drama, excitement, a sense of power and strength and an adrenaline rush that can help overcome the queasiness at the sight of fresh blood. I am describing that controversial cultural event, the bullfight, known in Spain as the corrida. 45

Figure 8.1. Torero and bull

45 Photos shown in this chapter were taken by the author during a bullfight attending at La Plaza de Las Ventas, Madrid, Spain, March 15, 2009.

50

One of most crucial moments of the opera El Gato Montés is the bullfight where Rafael meets his death in the arena. The use of the pasodoble in this scene at the plaza de toros in El Gato Montés is a vivid musical portrayal of the excitement of the bullfight. The obvious drawback in incorporating a bullfight in an opera is that it is impossible to literally reenact on a stage. One can hardly bring charging bulls and a team of horses onto the stage. Yet, not only in this opera, but also in Bizet‟s Carmen and Bretón‟s La Dolores, the same choice was made. The drama and intensity of the bullfight simply cannot be resisted. To better understand the scene, its tradition and the music which is such a part of its history, it is necessary to be familiar with the various stages of the bullfight ceremony. Felipe B. Pedraza Jiménez, author of the book Iniciación a la fiesta de los toros, states, “La fiesta de los toros es un rito y un espectáculo en que se conserva toda la violencia de la vida. Es – como se ha dicho- una tragedia en que los actores mueren de verdad.”46 (“The celebration of the bulls is a rite and a spectacle which in it conserves all the violence of life. It is- as I have said- a tragedy in which the actors truly die.”) As this is a tradition of centuries, allegedly going back to the practice of bull worship in antiquity,47 there is a great deal of ceremony involved and the structure of the event is quite specific. It is a very theatrical affair, with colorful costumes, a strict order of events, stirring music, a powerful nemesis and a daring hero. In the opera, Rafael has just been promoted to the level of matador, which means he must kill six bulls, each weighing around 500 kilos (approximately 1100 pounds). The bullfight is not for cowards: the possibility of death is real. Ernest Hemingway, in his book on the corrida entitled “Death in the Afternoon” describes the heart of the bullfight in these terms: “The formal bullfight is a tragedy, not a sport”48 Once again, there appears that emphasis on the element of “tragedy.” One can see the attraction for the use of such a larger-than-life spectacle in opera. In a bullfight there will be blood and death, either of the bull or of the man. The hypnotizing effect of watching a man risk

46 Pedraza, Felipe B. Iniciación a la fiesta de los toros. Editorial Edaf, Madrid, Third Edition, 2005, 15. 47 Josephs, Allen. White wall of Spain: the mysteries of Andalucían culture. University of West Florida Press, Pensacola, 1990, 136 “In Spain, and especially in Andalucía, bull cults, including the ritual of the taurobolium, were common”. 48 Hemingway, Ernest. Death in the Afternoon. New York: Scribner. 1932, 20.

51

his life in the ring with an animal which has for ages been considered the epitome of strength and power is the ultimate in drama and tragedy. Each torero (bullfighter) has his own entourage of assistants, known as a cuadrillo. The assistants each have a specific costume, according to their station. The three banderilleros are with dressed similarly to the torero, in trajes de luces (suits of lights), but never using the gold trim, which is a color reserved for the torero.

Figure 8:2. Banderillero with capote

The two picadors, mounted on horseback, have their own distinct costume and a long lance, called a puya. The horses, due to public outcry of the disembowelment of the animals in the past, now come out heavily padded to provide some protection from the charging bull. The horses are also blindfolded in order to prevent them from running away at the sight of an angry,

52 rushing bull. Other assistants, peones, stand outside the arena, passing in lances and swords and giving general assistance.

Figure 8.3. Picador with puya

The initial procession is led by the Alguacil and Alguacilillo, who serve basically as referees of the fight, carrying out the orders coming from the President, who is seated in his special box. There is a small team of horses, beautiful decorated with harnesses and bells, which is responsible for the removal of the dead bull. All the members of the cuadrillo come out in the initial procession across the arena, with much show and pageantry. There are two small musical ensembles in the stands, located on either side of the arena. The larger band is responsible for the music. A pasodoble, a popular two-beat musical form, is always played at the opening parade and at the entrance and removal of each bull. The famous pasodoble from Penella‟s opera can frequently be heard at these events. The other smaller group of musicians is comprised of drums and trumpets, responsible for signaling each stage of the fight. The president gives notice for the

53 first bull to be released by holding up a large white handkerchief. This gesture also launches the fanfare of trumpets which ends the pasodoble. The bull is initially engaged by the bullfighter's team of assistants, using large pink and yellow capes called capotes. This stage is helpful to the bullfighter to see how the bull behaves in the bullring. Next, the president and the trumpets signal the entry of two mounted picadores, each armed with a large, strong lance called the puya. The picador stabs the back of the bull‟s neck with the puya in order to limit the mobility of the animal‟s head. If the bull is too aggressively stabbed by the picador at this stage and is left weakened, it becomes too easy a kill for the torero and the public will loudly protest.

Figure 8.4. Banderillero

The three banderilleros then take turns in challenging the bull in order to make him charge. They must insert two banderillas, colorful wooden sticks with a razor-sharp end, over the horns into the bull's neck and shoulder muscles, in an effort to further weaken the animal.

54

The third and final part is where the torero engages the bull alone, displaying his elegance and control over the animal. His movements are very stylized and bring to mind the poses of the male flamenco dancer in his upright posture and smooth passes. He uses a small red cape, known as a muleta and a dull sword which he later exchanges for a sharp one when the time comes to kill the bull. His goal is to achieve a clean kill by facing the bull head on, then, as the bull charges, thrusting his sword in between the bull‟s shoulder blades, down to his heart, killing him instantly. This gesture is called the estocada. If the torero accomplishes this with great aplomb, the audience will cheer and wave white handkerchiefs in efforts to force the president to award an ear or two and perhaps even a tail to him.

Figure 8.5. Torero with muleta and estoque

55

There are many instances of the use of the pasodoble tempo throughout the opera, always in reference to the topic of the bullfight. Penella keeps the pasodoble playing throughout the action of the actual bullfight in Act II. In a real bullfight, the music stops. But in the opera, the changes in the music keenly reflect the unfolding drama. When Rafael is gored by the bull, the addition of strings in a counter melody, the accented attacks from the brass, shrieks from the audience, the change to a slower more ponderous tempo, the heavy beats and the tremolos in the strings, all indicate quite clearly the terrible turn of events. The drama is brought to the forefront by the music. The use of dance in Spanish lyric art forms was nothing new. The use of the pasodoble adds a popular element to the opera‟s music and it was this tune that was whistled in the streets after the premiere of the opera in 1916. The first instance is in Act I, Scene 1, mm. 210, where the crowd anxiously awaits the arrival of the victorious Rafael. Notice the eighth-note broken chords in duple rhythm in the bass clef. This rhythm is the basic pattern for the pasodoble.

Example 8:1. Act I, Scene I, meas. 210-213

The next instance is found in Act I, Scene I, mm. 362-366, which is Rafael‟s torero motive. The sixteenth-note pattern gives it more movement and the strong duples are in the bass clef melody.49

49 This musical example can be found in Example 5:4. Act I, Scene I, meas. 362-366 on page 36.

56

The following example is taken from Act I, Scene I, mm. 482, where Padre Antón reads the account of Rafael‟s victory in the bullring. Once again, you find the broken chords in the accompaniment and even the vocal line helps establish the duple rhythm.

Example 8:2. Act I, Scene I, meas. 486-496

The pasodoble in the love duet between Rafael and Soleá in Act II, Scene, I, mm. 268 foreshadows the pasodoble which takes place at the bullfight in Act II, Scene II. The ornamented eighth-note pattern in the accompaniment turns into a separate motive later. The use of the triplet ornamentation in the accompaniment and the quick ornaments of the vocal line add to the Spanish flavor of the music.

57

Example 8:3. Act II, Scene I, meas. 268-285

58

Moving on to the actual bullfight in Act II, Scene II, the band has a long pasodoble which passes through three main themes. The first contains original material and acts as an introduction.

Example 8:4. Act II, Scene II, meas. 367-382

The second theme used in this pasodoble also introduces new thematic material, giving the trumpet a gallant, ornamented solo.

Example 8:5. Act II, Scene II, meas. 383-390 59

The third section of the pasodoble starts in measure 401 with a restatement of Rafael‟s motive from Act I. The theme then changes to the pasodoble first presented in Soleá and Rafael‟s duo in Act II, Scene I, which becomes the main theme of the corrida.

Example 8:6. Act II, Scene II, meas. 411-435

Although opera was historically considered as a musical form only suited to the tastes of the nobility, the use of these lively and popular rhythms which were so well-known and loved by the Spaniards was sure to make this opera easily accessible to any audience. Penella himself calls his opera an “ópera popular.” It is clear by the following statement that his intent was to compose a work that would have an appeal to all classes of the public:

60

Esto es El Gato Montés: una ópera popular española, más aún, andaluza, que a la cantera musical de Andalucía, en mi sentir la más rica que ninguna otra de España, fui a buscar el asunto y los motivos de mi ópera, precisamente en mi afán de darle carácter.50

(This is The Wild Cat: a popular Spanish opera, moreover, Andalusian, where in the musical quarries of Andalucía, which I feel to be more rich than any other in Spain, I went to search out the matter and the motives of my opera, precisely in my eagerness to give it character.)

After reviewing all the distinctly Spanish qualities which form such an integral part of Penella‟s El Gato Montés, it is the author‟s opinion that, after even a superficial hearing of the opera, it is evident that he succeeded in composing a thoroughly Spanish opera. But, as we shall see in the next chapter, this view was not the unanimous opinion of the critics at its premiere.

50 Gallego, Antonio. “Penella en la encrucijada.” El Gato Montés, Program Notes. Teatro de la Zarzuela. Madrid. 1993, 16.

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CHAPTER NINE

THE CONCEPT OF THE “ESPAÑOLADA” - THE BARRIERS AGAINST THE CRITICAL SUCCESS OF EL GATO MONTÉS AND OTHER SPANISH OPERAS

El Gato Montés is a through-sung Spanish opera which is filled with gypsy rhythms, Spanish dance forms and the ardor of Southern Spain. Surprisingly, this work was not welcomed with open arms by music critics in Spain, although it was well received by the public. Rather, it was rejected as a poor representation of Spanish style, declared an “españolada,” a mere commercialization and caricature of true Spanish style, and consequently disappeared from the repertoire for many years. The reception of El Gato Montés at the time of its premiere was enthusiastic on the part of the audience, and mixed by the musical critics of the time. A more recent analysis of El Gato Montés which includes the libretto of the opera was published in 1992 by Justo Romero. This book contains a history and limited musical analysis of the opera. A short chapter titled “Juicios sobre Manuel Penella” (Judgments on Manuel Penella), is comprised of commentaries on everything from Penella‟s musical talent, style and character, to his hairstyle (which was unfavorably compared to Hitler‟s). Romero‟s collection of quotes is enlightening when considering the environment in which Penella worked, and the difficulty for acceptance among his peers that he apparently suffered. While frequently recognized as a talented man, his music was declared overly theatrical, although it was appealing to the public. His talents were declared “mal aprovechados” (not taken advantage of). Braulio Solsona, a writer for a newspaper in the 1930s, who was an especially harsh critic, states:

La vida de Penella, que se inicia con la vulgaridad estereotipada de todos los maestros que han triunfado en el Teatro, se desborda más tarde en un avatar de bohemia. El comienza, ya se sabe. Niño precoz, mozalbete que entra en la orquesta de un teatro, el 62

estreno de una piececilla insignificante en la que revela ciertas condiciones. Pero llega el triunfo resonante, y con el triunfo se presenta la fortuna. Y entonces, el temperamento impetuoso que mal se contenía, rompe todas las vallas. El mundo le parece pequeño y se lanza a la locura de los grandes viajes…La música de Penella no se parece en nada de una obra a otra. Si no dijeran los carteles el nombre del autor no lo adivinaríamos a través de sus melodías… después de escribir una obra no queda el él ese sedimento que en otros autores lleva a las inflexiones peculiares que definen un estilo. El estilo de Penella- podríamos decir- consiste en no tenerlo.51

(The life of Penella, which began with the stereotypical vulgarity of all the teachers that have succeeded in the Theater, overflows later in the embodiment of Bohemia. The beginning is already known. A precocious boy, a lad who enters the orchestra of a theater, the premiere of an insignificant little piece which reveals certain abilities. But resounding triumph arrives, and with the triumph an opportunity is presented. His impetuous temperament, which was badly contained, breaks all the fences. The world seems small and he is thrown to the insanity of large trips…The music of Penella is dissimilar from one work to another. If the posters did not announce the name of the author, we would not guess it through the melodies…after writing a work, the sediment does not remain in him, which in other authors carries them to the peculiar inflections that define a style. The style of Penella - we would be able to say - consists of not having one.)

This last commentary from Solsona has a valid point. The musical style of El Gato Montés does not resemble at all that of Don Gil de Alcalá. Then again, Falla‟s La vida breve does not sound at all like his other opera, El Retablo de Maese Pedro. I am not sure this is a compelling reason to discount his musical integrity or the quality of his work. The description of Penella‟s life as “the embodiment of Bohemia” due to the fact that he took his music on tour throughout the world also seems to be an illegitimate criticism. The environment in Spain was not conducive to the development of a career as a musician. Many Spaniards were forced to seek other opportunities outside of Spain to write, perform and flourish in their art. In Spain, their only choice would have been to dedicate themselves to academia and teaching, keeping their other creative activities on the level of an amateur or aficionado. Comments from contemporaries of Penella can give an idea of the obstacles that faced a Spanish composer of the time. The following quotation, addressing the attitude of Joaquín Turina

51 Romero, Justo. El Gato Montés. Ediciones Cátedra S. A., Sevilla. 1992, 42.

63

(1882-1949), is taken from the program notes of El Gato Montés at the Madrid Production of 1993:

…El problema, sin embargo, estribaba en que las mayores facilidades los autores españoles tenían para estrenar no solucionaba, incluso cuando alcanzaban el éxito, sus problemas económicos. Un triunfo en el teatro musical, en cambio, sí y este detalle es obligado tenerlo en cuenta. Por lo que un ácido Joaquín Turina puede escribir que un éxito sinfónica da, en el mejor de los casos, prestigio, gloria: aplausos del público que duran tres minutos, adjetivos de la crítica que duran 24 horas, y las envidias de los colegas que duran, por lo menos, varios años.52

(…The problem, nevertheless, rested in that the better facilities the Spanish authors had to premiere did not solve, even when they reached success, their economic problems. A triumph in the musical theater, on the other hand, yes and this detail is obliged to keep in mind. For which an acid Joaquín Turina can write that a symphonic success gives, in the best of the cases, prestige, glory: applauses of the public that last three minutes, adjectives of the critics that last 24 hours, and the envy of colleagues that last, at least, various years.)

According to Mr. Gallego, some of the critics of the time were unrelenting:

…los críticos de Barcelona y Zaragoza, quienes habían arremetido sañudamente al libro y aún la música, diciendo que ni lo uno ni lo otro era la Andalucía que el autor había querido pintar. Según dichos censores aquello no era más que una españolada que por su inverosimilitud no podría ejecutarse nunca en aquella pintoresca y hermosa región.53

(…the critics of Barcelona and Zaragoza, who had attacked furiously the libretto and even the music, saying that neither one nor the other was the Andalucía that the author had wanted to paint. According to these censors, the work was no more than an “españolada”, that by its inaccuracy would not ever be able to be presented in that picturesque and beautiful region.)

In his own defense, Penella eloquently stated:

Si los bandidos de la Sierra andaluza que han tenido su último ejemplar en “Pasos Largos”…si los mansos curitas aldeanos, aficionados a toros y cañas; si las mocitas sentimentales y copleras de los cortijos; si las tropas de gitanos que alegran con sus danzas los caminos soleados; si los toreros jacarandosos y valientes, que convierte en

52 Gallego, Antonio. “Penella en la encrucijada.” El Gato Montés, Program Notes. Teatro de la Zarzuela. Madrid. 1993, pp. 28. 53 Ibid., 18. 64

ídolos el pueblo, constituyen la llamada España de pandereta, de pandereta es mi obra, y yo no me arrepiento de ello. ¿Qué culpa tengo yo, si existe? ¿Y cómo iba a buscar ambiente español y popular con princesitas encantadas, pajes almibarados, condes enriquecidos en Nueva York y valses de estilo vienés? Ninguno de los personajes que me dio “la tierra” es repugnante.54

(If the bandits of the Andalusian Sierra, that have had its last example in "Long Steps"55 …if the docile village priests, aficionados of bulls and drinks; if the sentimental young girls and songs of the farmhouses; if the troops of gypsies that make the sunny roads happy with their dances; if the brave and lively bullfighters, that become idols of the town; if these constitute what they call a Spain “pandereta,56” then “pandereta” is my work, and I do not repent of it. What fault have I if it exists? And how was I going to seek a popular Spanish environment with delighted little princesses, sickening sweet pages, counts that made their fortune in New York and waltzes of the Viennese style? None of the characters that “the land” gave me is repugnant.)

The impression given by the attitude of the critics in Madrid and Barcelona is that they were not accepting of the unique culture of their fellow countrymen in the south of Spain. This kind of elitist attitude became an important factor in the abandonment of many Spanish operas during the period of the Spanish Civil War and the establishment of the Franco Regime. Along with the prohibition of opera for being vulgar and in contradiction to the high moral standard supported by the Roman Catholic Church, there was a distinct discrimination against anything that was not from the Castilian part of Spain. Carmen Ortiz, researcher and Director of the department of Anthropology at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, states in her article, “The Uses of Folklore by the Franco Regime,”

…according to the regime‟s ideology, Spain was Castile, things Castilian, and the Castilians…[quoting Giménez Caballero] “While there has been a Spain with Oriental and Mediterranean roots in the south, with great, famous cultures (Hipalis, Gadex, Tarragona, Cartagena, Córdoba) there has been an equally outstanding Spain, with

54 Ibid., 19. 55 “Pasos Largos” (Long Steps) was the name of a famous bandit of the time. 56 “pandereta” literally translates “of tambourines.” The implication is the stereotypical image of a gypsy with tambourine in hand. 65

continental, European roots; mountainous Spain…only we, the “central Celtiberians” – the soul of Madrid - can esteem and exalt.”57

An opera based on the music and lifestyle of Andalucía had difficulty being recognized as a reflection of Spanish culture in such an atmosphere. Later in the same article, Ortiz explains that there existed an additional obstacle for opera. All artistic endeavors had to meet the censorship of the regime, and prove itself to be “an edifying spectacle.” This eliminated presentations of music and dance, which were considered “dangerous” due to their foreign origin and their immorality.58 In the mind of the Franco regime, opera came under the category of foreign influence and its subject matter was considered morally questionable. Zarzuelas, on the other hand, received a special “place of privilege” and were basically exempted from censorship. Considering the official policy towards opera during the Franco regime, it is not be surprising that El Gato Montés, along with many other noble attempts to establish a through-sung opera tradition in Spain, fell by the wayside. It is only in recent years that these works have been researched and resurrected.

57 Ortiz, Carmen. “The Uses of Folklore by the Franco Regime” The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 112, No. 446, University of Illinois Press on behalf of American Folklore Society, Autumn, 1999, 479-496. 58 Ibid., 494.

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CHAPTER TEN

SUMMARY

There is serious work currently being done in Spain to recover the operas which have been lost to the public due to deliberate suppression or simple neglect. The Sociedad General de Autores y Editores, in Madrid, has an office with six faithful employees who work daily on the task of recovering lost works, going through mountains of scores and fragments. They consult with musicologists from the Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales, a center dedicated to the investigation and promotion of Spanish music. These professionals are taking on the challenge of preparing critical editions of these works, encouraging recordings and staged productions whenever possible. It is a monumental task and many scores have been lost or badly damaged. This treatise has focused on operas which reflect the musical style of Andalucía. Additionally each region has its own style and sometimes even its own language, which are reflected in the works from the composers of that region. Efforts in the promotion of the opera El Gato Montés have suffered due to the added difficulties involved in securing piano-vocal scores. It is essential, in order for this and other works to be made known, that musical scores be made available for study and performance. A collection of the arias and scenes from Spanish operas, from a variety of regions and time periods, would be an important contribution to the promotion of this genre amongst teachers and students alike. The work being undertaken to find, restore, record, produce and publish these works is critical for the survival of Spanish opera. As it is made clear that there exists an interest in this repertoire, these materials must be made available for teaching and performance purposes. This task is not simply the work of saving some isolated musical scores, but rather the restoring of important works to their rightful place as significant contributions to Spanish musical culture.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Amorós, Andrés. “Más que un pasodoble” El Gato Montés, Program Notes. Madrid: Teatro de la Zarzuela, 1993.

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Bussey, William Muir. Foreign Influence on the zarzuela: 1700-70. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1980.

Casares Rodicio, Emilio. Musicologist and Director of the Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales (ICCMU), conversations with the author on March 11, 2009, Madrid, Spain.

Cimorra, Clemente. El Cante Jondo: Origen y Realidad Folklórico. Buenos Aires: Editorial Schapire, 1943.

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Gallego, Antonio. “Penella en la encrucijada.” El Gato Montés, Program Notes. Madrid: Teatro de la Zarzuela, 1993.

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Infante, Blas. Orígenes de lo Flamenco y Secreto del Cante Jondo. Sevilla: Ediciones de la Consejería de Cultura de la Junta de Andalucía, 1929-1933.

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Josephs, Allen. White Wall of Spain, the Mysteries of Andalusian Culture. Pensacola: University of West Florida Press, 1990.

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Penella, Manuel. El Gato Montés, score, Sociedad General de Autores de España (Sociedad General de Autores y Editores), Madrid, 1916.

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Romero, Justo. “¿Españolada? ¿Zarzuela? ¿Ópera popular?” El Gato Montés Program Notes. Madrid: Teatro de la Zarzuela, 1993.

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CD and Video Recordings

Albéniz, Isaac, Pepita Jiménez, Orquesta y Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid, José De Eusebio, conductor, Deutsche Grammophon 00289 477 6234 G-H2, CD, 2005.

Arrieta, Emilio, La conquista di Granata, Coro y Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, Jesús Cobos, conductor, Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales, Dynamic CDS 618/1-2 D-D-D, CD, 2006.

Bretón, Tomás, La Dolores. Orquestra Sinfónica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, Antoni Ros Marbá, conductor, The Decca Record Company Limited 466 060-2 D-H, 1999.

Penella, Manuel, El Gato Montés, Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, Miguel Roa, conductor, Deutsche Grammophon 435 776-2 G-H2, 1992.

Penella, Manuel. El Gato Montés, movie version, DVD, directed by Rosario Pi, Star Film, 1936.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Contralto Karen Esquivel was born in Nebraska, U.S.A., of a Costa Rican mother and father of Mexican descent. She obtained her Master‟s degree in Voice at the University of Nebraska and has participated in the Apprenticeship Programs of the Des Moines Metro Opera, and the Santa Fe Opera. After a move to Costa Rica, Ms. Esquivel served for a year as Director of the Compañía Lírica Nacional de Costa Rica and has performed on various occasions as a soloist with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica, with whom she recorded the Beethoven Ninth Symphony. She also taught at the Universidad de Costa Rica and the Universidad Nacional. While in Costa Rica, Ms. Esquivel founded a project for the formation of young opera singers known as Opera Nova, providing training in voice, diction and ear training. Opera Nova has presented opera scene programs throughout Costa Rica, in an effort to bring opera to the community. Since 1997 she has performed with her husband, Costa Rican pianist/coach Gustavo Castro, in numerous recitals throughout Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Florida, USA. Ms. Esquivel returned to the USA to complete a second Master‟s Degree in Opera Stage Direction at Florida State University and a Doctorate in Voice Performance at the same institution, where she has performed the roles of Dame Quickly in Falstaff, Orphée in Orphée et Euridice, and Katisha in The Mikado. Ms. Esquivel has served as adjunct faculty in voice at Albany State University, Albany, Georgia, where she performed the role of Baba in The Medium and at Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia.

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