Dorian Recordings
DOR-90192
La Vida Breve
Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela
with chorus
Eduardo Mata, Conductor
Marta Senn, Mezzo-Soprano
Fernando de la Mora, Tenor
Cecilia Angell, Mezzo-Soprano
It is true that the stories told by many operas are utterly ridiculous, but it is also true that many facts surrounding the history of opera are equally ridiculous. We can mention among them the fact that Manuel de Falla's opera La vida breve, one of Spain's paramount works of the twentieth century, was premiered in Paris, and in a French translation. Maybe the idea was still around that Spanish was not a good language for opera? Whatever the reason for the work's early exile, the fact is that La vida breve encountered it's share of trouble from the moment of it's inception. Manuel de Falla wrote La vida breve on a libretto by Carlos Fernández Shaw and submitted the work to a composers' competition sponsored by the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. Falla's opera won the contest, and it was only logical that part of the prize should include securing the work's prompt premiere. Nevertheless, after many obstacles and delays, the premiere had to be given at the Municipal Casino's Theatre in Nice, on April 1st 1913, in Paul Milliet's French translation. It was not until November 1914 that La vida breve was first heard in Madrid, in it's original version.- Juan Arturo Brennen
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Act I [ 1] 1st Tableau: Scene 1 [ 2] Scene 2 [ 3] Scene 3 [ 4] Scene 4 [ 5] Scene 5 [ 6] Scene 6 [ 7] 2nd Tableau: Intermezzo |
Act II [ 8] 1st Tableau: Scene 1 [ 9] Spanish Dance [10] Scene 2 [11] Scene 3 [12] Orchestral Interlude [13] 2nd Tableau: Dance [14] Final Scene |
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