Luisa Fernanda

Lyrical comedy in three acts. One of the most popular zarzuelas of all time returns to the stage of the Real in concert version, after more than a decade. Latvian mezzo-soprano Elina Garança makes her debut at the Teatro Real performing the title role of a zarzuela full of joyful melodies composed by Moreno Torroba and which was performed more than ten thousand times during his lifetime. The Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria will also take the stage at the Real for the first time.

Premiered at the Teatro Calderón of Madrid just a year after the proclamation of the Second Republic Luisa Fernanda became — with the permission of Pablo Sorozábal and Jacinto Guerrero— the « grand zarzuela » of the decade. It was also one of the few that was performed on a regular basis at opera houses, thanks to its cosmopolitan touch    which drew comparisons with Viennese operetta and verista drama. Set in Madrid in the years before and after the “Revolución Gloriosa” (1868) which dethroned Isabel II, its libretto explores a love rectangle against a historical background dating from the skirmishes between monarchists and liberals.

The score by Moreno Torroba benefits from the sombre casticismo and romantic veneer inherited through Doña Francisquita by Amadeo Vives. In it, a handful of romanzas by the male leads stand out, along with some memorable duets staring Luisa Fernanda herself. These trace a line which gently evolves from a comedy of manners to a melancholy and desolate finale with an indication of bourgeois tragedy.

Lyrical comedy in three acts

Music by Federico Moreno Torroba (1891-1982)

Libretto by Federico Romero y Guillermo Fernández-Shaw

Premiere at the Teatro Calderón de Madrid el 26 de marzo de 1932

Premiere at the Teatro Real on 26 june 2006

Zarzuela in concert version

Artistic team

Orchestra conductor: Karel Mark Chichon

Chorus Master: José Luis Basso

Cast

• Luisa Fernanda: Elīna Garanča
• La duquesa Carolina: María José Moreno
• Javier Moreno: Ismael Jordi
• Vidal Hernando: José Antonio López
• Doña Mariana: Milagros Martín
• Rosita / Una Vendedora: Rocío Faus
• Nogales: Rajiv Cerezo
• Aníbal / Saboyano: Quintín Bueno
• Vareador: José Manuel Sobrino Alonso
• Don Florito / Un Capitán / Pollo 1: Fernando Campero
• Bizco Porras / Un Vendedor: David Barrera
• Un vendedor / Un hombre del pueblo / Pollo 2: Gabriel Álvarez

Philharmonic Orchestra of Gran Canaria

Chorus of the Teatro Real