Florencia en el Amazonas: Study Guide

The Metropolitian Opera Presents Live in HD at the Sunrise Theater

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A study guide presented by Break a Leg Studios Breakalegstudios.org

12.09.23

Florencia en el amazonas

The Metropolitan Opera Presents

Florencia en el Amazonas Opera in two acts Music by Daniel Catán.

Libretto by Marcela Fuentes-Berain.

Based on the novel Love in the Time of Cholera

by Gabriel García Márquez.

Florencia en el Amazonas premiered on October 25, 1996, at Houston Grand Opera.

Sung in Spanish with English supertitles.

December 9, 2023 The Met: Live in HD at the Sunrise Theater

The Cast Florencia Grimaldi ………........…...................….............…............ Ailyn Pérez Rosalba ………................................................................….. Gabriella Reyes Paula …..............……….............................…….......... Nancy Fabiola Herrera Arcadio …………................….............…………...........................…. Mario Chang Alvaro …………………............................................................... Michael Chioldi Riolobo …………………............................................................... Mattia Olivieri Captain …………………............................................................. Greer Grimsley Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin Production: Mary Zimmerman Choreographer: Alex Sanchez Lighting Designer: T.J. Gerckens Projection Designer: S. Katy Tucker Set Designer: Riccardo Hernandez Costume Designer: Ana Kuzmanic

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SYNOPSIS THE STORY OF FLORENCIA EN EL AMAZONAS ACT I The Amazon rainforest, the early 1900s.

Passengers aboard the steamboat El Dorado are traveling to hear the legendary but intensely private opera singer Florencia Grimaldi sing at the reopening of the theater in Manaus. Riolobo, a mystical character who can assume many forms, introduces the embarking passengers: Paula and Alvaro, a middle-aged couple attempting to rekindle their marriage; Rosalba, a journalist researching a biography on Grimaldi; and Florencia herself, travelling alone and incognito, harboring a burning desire to find her long-lost lover Cristóbal, a butterfly hunter, whose love unlocked her staggering powers of musical expression.

Once en route, Rosalba accidentally drops her research notes overboard. The captain’s

Teatro Amazonas, Manaus Brazil.

Passenger steamboat “Rosedale” 1877-1922. Hudson River Maritime Museum.

nephew, Arcadio, manages to rescue them, and the pair becomes aware of a strong mutual attraction. The evening concludes as Paula and Alvaro’s attempt at a romantic dinner dissolves into a bitter quarrel. Initially unaware of her identity, the captain tells Florencia of the fate of Cristóbal, who disappeared without trace in the jungle, thus dashing her dearest ambition. As a heated card game brings out the contrasting sexual and hostile tensions between Rosalba and Arcadio and Paula and Alvaro, a violent storm brews outside. Trying to save the ship from being crushed, Alvaro is swept overboard. The captain is knocked unconscious, and despite Arcadio’s efforts at the helm, the ship runs aground.

Sunset on the Amazon River.

SYNOPSIS THE STORY OF FLORENCIA EN EL AMAZONAS ACT II Paula mourns the loss of Alvaro, realizing that it was pride—not lack of love—that stood between them. Riolobo appears again mysteriously to return Alvaro to the ship, claiming that Paula’s laments saved him from death. Rosalba, distraught that her notebook has been ruined in the storm, talks to the incognito Florencia about her research. During the ensuing discussion, Florencia declares passionately that Grimaldi’s gift was a result of her love for Cristóbal. Rosalba realizes that she is talking to her heroine and, hearing her story, decides her own love for Arcadio shouldn’t be suppressed. To Rosalba’s joy and relief, Arcadio reciprocates her feelings. Paula and Alvaro have also rediscovered their joy and love for each other.

Florencia en el Amazonas, Lyric Opera of Chicago 2021.

After a long voyage, El Dorado reaches Manaus at last; however, the passengers learn that cholera has struck the town. The passengers do not disembark. Florencia laments her loss of Cristóbal, but as she dreams of finding him, her spirit drifts towards his in a mystical transformation.

Pronunciation Guide Florencia: “floh-REN-see-yah” Rosalba: “roh-SAL-bah” Paula: “POW-lah” Arcadio: “ar-KAH-dee-oh” Alvaro: “AL-vah-roh” Riolobo: “ree-oh-LOH-boh” Fashionable Londoners in front of Harrods, 1909..

OPERA

Definitions Magic Realism Magical realism, or magic realism, describes literature that weaves fantasy and myth into everyday events. One can ask reflective questions about what is real and what is imaginary.

Jackie Craven states that “in the world of magical realism, the ordinary becomes extraordinary and the magical becomes commonplace.” The approach helps readers gain insight about society and human nature

Love in the Time of Cholera Based on the novel, Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez, the Spanish opera Florencia en el Amazonas premiered in 1996.

Influenced by Marquez’ use of Magical Realism, Catán incorporated it into his opera. In the world of magical realism, the supernatural realm blends with the natural, familiar world.

Set in South America during times of civil wars and plagues in the late 1870s to early 1930s, Love in the Time of Cholera explores life over death, love over despair, and health over sickness.

Florentino Ariza, forgotten by Fermina Daza at age 18, loves her passionately for fifty one years, nine months, and four days. When he sees Fermina again at her husband’s wake, she rejects him.

In hopes of rekindling the flames they once had, Florentino writes letter after letter to Fermina. In love at the end, Florentino and Fermina sail together on a riverboat topped with a yellow cholera flag and are untouched by the world.

Characteristics of Magic Realism: Situations and events that defy logic, such as a woman pouring magic into food in Like Water for Chocolate. In this world, anything can happen, like Riolobo, a mystical figure who can calm a storm.

Myths and legends, including folklore, parables, allegories, and superstitions. In Florencia, the diva passionately declares that her gift sprang from her love for the man Cristóbal.

Historic context and societal concerns, which mix political events and social movements with fantasy. In Love in the Time of Cholera, hot air balloons and airplanes are integral to the plot, yet the wars mentioned are not defined.

Distorted time and sequence, so that characters may move backward or forward in time, as in the sudden shifts of events in One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Real-world settings, so that the magic in magic realism has deep roots in reality. The many riverboat companies that ferried passengers on the Amazon River lend a solid reality to the magical Florencia en el Amazonas.

Matter-of-fact tone, that includes a dispassionate narrative voice and characters who do not question surreal situations.

In Act 2 of Florencia, when Riolobo appeals to the river and Alvaro suddenly returns to the boat, the other passengers do not react as if magic happened.

Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas / Ken Howard / Met Opera

DANIEL Catán Mexican Composer Daniel Catán was born April 3, 1949, in Mexico City. He owed his early interest in music to his parents: his mother encouraged him to take piano lessons, and his father was an enthusiastic admirer of popular music, particularly Cuban sones.

Fast Facts Catán’s third opera, Florencia en el Amazonas, premieres at Houston Grand Opera. The first opera in Spanish to be commissioned by a major opera company in the United States, Florencia—with a libretto by Marcela Fuentes-Berain, a student of García Márquez—is a joint commission by Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Seattle Opera, and Ópera de Colombia.

Catán’s final completed opera, Il Postino (The Postman), premieres at LA Opera. The libretto is written by Catán himself, based on the novel Ardiente paciencia by Chilean writer Antonio Skármeta and the Italian film adaptation directed by Michael Radford.

The role of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda is written specifically for tenor Plácido Domingo, a major champion of Catán’s music.

At the age of 14, Catán was enrolled in boarding school in England. He continued his studies in that country, receiving degrees in philosophy from the University of Sussex and in music from the University of Southampton. He then moved to the United States and in 1977 earned his doctorate in composition from Princeton University, where he studied under Milton Babbitt.

Following graduation, Catán returned to Mexico City, where he worked as a music administrator at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. During this period he founded and conducted the Camerata de la Nueva España, a chamber orchestra that gave concerts in Mexico City, including the premiere of his chamber opera, Encuentro en el ocaso, in 1980.

While he continued to write chamber works and orchestral and vocal pieces, opera steadily drew more and more of his creative energies. His second opera, based on an adaptation by Octavio Paz of the Nathaniel Hawthorne short story, "Rappaccini's Daughter," was La hija de Rappaccini, which premiered in 1991 in Mexico City. After a disappointing reception by critics, the work gained new appreciation when Paz won the Nobel Prize for literature, and a subsequent production in San Diego, California, brought Catán increasing visibility.

His next opera, Florencia en el Amazonas, was commissioned jointly by Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and Seattle Opera, and premiered in Houston in 1996 to critical and popular acclaim. Houston also premiered Salsipuedes: A Tale of Love, War, and Anchovies in 2004. This was followed by the highly successful Il postino, based on the 1994 film of the same name directed by Michael Radford. The first performance was by Los Angeles Opera. The role of Pablo Neruda was written for and created by tenor Plácido Domingo.

Catán died suddenly on April 8, 2011, in Austin, Texas, where he was serving as composer in residence at the Butler School of Music of the University of Texas at Austin. At the time of his death he was working on a commission from the university to write a new opera based on the 1941 Frank Capra film, Meet John Doe.e, as well as the tragic insertion of politics into these fragile human relationships. But Meet John Doe dramatically highlights the story of everyman’s struggle against, and reconciliation with, the will of society at large.

MARCELA FUENTES-BERAIN Librettist

VOICE TYPES Since the early 19th century, singing voices have usually been classified in six basic types, three male and three female, according to their range.

Soprano: the highest-pitched general type of human voice, normally possessed only by women and boys.

Mezzo-Soprano: the female voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto (Italian “mezzo” = middle, medium).

Contralto: the lowest female voice, also called an alto.

Tenor: the highest naturally occurring voice type in adult males.

Baritone: the male voice lying below the tenor and above the bass.

Bass: the lowest sounding male voice.

Marcela Fuentes-Berain is a multifaceted writer who has worked in film, opera, television, radio, and theater.

Among her palette of projects is the script of Hasta Morir, which received two nominations from the Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences; and Sumas y Restas, co-written with Colombian cult director Víctor Gaviria, awarded Best Movie at the Cartagena Film Festival and Best Foreign Film by the Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences. She had the great honor to work closely with the late Hollywood director Tony Scott on Man on Fire, starring Denzel Washington. In 1995 her mentor, teacher, and friend Gabriel García Márquez asked her to write the libretto for Florencia en el Amazonas, which has been performed in several opera houses around the world from Heidelberg, Germany to Manaus, Brazil. She has been a script consultant for the Sundance Institute for more than 15 years. Her prestige as a teacher has taken her all around Latin America and Spain giving workshops and being part of several juries. She was chosen to create the academic program for the first Mexican screenwriting school, to open in Morelia in 2015. She has been a member of the selection committee of the Huelva IberoAmerican Film Festival since 2001. In 2010 she was part of the Bicentennial Film Committee in Mexico. She currently lives in Mexico City.

WHAT IS A LIBRETTO? Libretto means “little book” in Italian. It refers to the written text of an opera set to music by the composer. Today, we commonly refer to an opera as being ‘by’ the composer of the music, but the text is a vital component and is normally written first. In earlier times it was often regarded as more important than the music, and it was common for audience members to purchase the libretto to read. Early composers were usually contracted to set music to a pre-existing text.

Only later did composers (such as Mozart and Verdi) work in close collaboration with their librettists. A few composers – notably Wagner – wrote their own texts.

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