The zarzuela in general and Torroba’s Luisa Fernanda in
particular have been of considerable importance in the life of
Placido Domingo. The nature (or at least something of the nature)
of that importance is pithily summed up in a recent interview/feature
on Domingo in La Scena (Vol. 2.1, Autumn 2008). Domingo
repeats there what he has said more than once before: “I owe my
love of music to my parents, who were wonderful singers who ran
a zarzuela company in Mexico. I practically grew up backstage,
and always loved the zarzuelas I so often heard during my childhood.
My sister and I were often pressed into service onstage when children
were needed…”. Before they ran their own company, Domingo’s parents
worked with a company led by Federico Moreno Torroba, composer
of Luisa Fernanda, and Domingo has always insisted that
his father was one of the very finest interpreters of the role
of Vidal Hernando in that opera. In another
way, too, Luisa Fernanda was pivotally instrumental in
Domingo’s career. “I was very comfortable performing zarzuela
baritone roles, which tend to be for high baritones … Once, when
I was touring with my father, the tenor fell ill, and I was asked
to replace him for a performance of Luisa Fernanda. I will
never forget it. Although I continued to sing as a baritone after
that, when I auditioned for the Mexican National Opera at the
age of eighteen, the committee told me that was really a tenor”.
Now the wheel comes something like full circle – here we have
Domingo singing the baritone role of Vidal Hernando, one
of his father’s signature roles.
Luisa Fernanda
was premiered (very successfully) on 26th March 1932, at the
Teatro Calderón in Madrid. Its creators – librettists and composer
alike – were already pretty well established and successful
figures in the world of zarzuela. Luisa Fernanda is set
in 1868, in the run up to the revolution that led to the overthrow
of Isabella II and her replacement by Amadeo of Savoy (the booklet
to this present recording includes a useful background account
of Spanish history in the nineteenth century, which helps to
put the work into context). The first two acts are set in Madrid,
the third on the border with Portugal, in Extremadura. In terms
of plot the opera centres upon the relationships between the
wealthy landowner from Extremadura, Vidal Hernando, the younger
Hussar, Colonel Javier Moreno and the woman they both love,
Luisa Fernanda. As well as being rival wooers, the two men are
on opposite sides politically – Javier Moreno supports the Monarchist
cause and Vidal Hernando is a Liberal. A further complication
is added by the presence of the Duchess Carolina, who is attracted
to Javier. Javier appears to prefer the Duchess and, partly
out of anger at this, Luisa agrees to marry Vidal. Now the two
men are settled enemies and, through the efforts of Vidal, Javier
is captured by Liberal militia. But Luisa contrives his initial
freedom before he is rescued by the Monarchists. In Act III,
on Vidal’s estate, preparations for the marriage of Vidal and
Luisa are underway, when Javier unexpectedly arrives. He begs
Luisa to forgive his earlier behaviour; she refuses, but Vidal
discerns that in truth she still loves the younger man and nobly
releases her from their engagement. The libretto, without being
absolutely explicit about the matter seems to suggest that she
leaves with Javier, though in performance the ending can readily
be interpreted so as to leave her (and the audience) in a state
of irresolution - rather like the ending of Shakespeare’s Measure
for Measure – does Isabella actually respond positively
to the Duke’s proposal of marriage?
The passions and
idealisms, the jealousies and nobilities of the story give Torroba
plenty of opportunities – which he doesn’t neglect – for some
passionate music, emotionally expressive and full of Spanish
colour. There’s an abundance of attractive tunes and some radiant
orchestral writing – if Joaquin Rodrigo had written opera perhaps
this is the kind of thing he might have written. The conducting
of Jesús López Cobos unsurprisingly demonstrates an innate understanding
of the idiom and the Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Real
sing and play with utter conviction. The team of soloists is
generally of a very high standard. Domingo is dignified and
moving as Vidal, much of his singing both an aural joy and full
of dramatic truth. The young Catalan tenor José Bros is very
impressive, with some ringing high notes and graceful lines,
and he characterises the role very strikingly, with a degree
of pride and self-congratulation that makes excellent psychological
sense. Nancy Herrera makes a thoroughly plausible Luisa, vividly
characterised and sung with passion and grace; Mariola Cantarero
perhaps has a less intrinsically attractive voice, but she brings
an entirely appropriate hauteur to role as the Duchess. Many
of the minor roles – notably the Rosita of Sabina Puértolas
– are sung with winning vivacity.
The whole makes delightful
and engaging listening, well recorded with a plausible aura of
the live theatre (the audience’s presence is never intrusive but
always felt). There is a sense in which the recording (and the
production of which – with a few cast changes – it is a memorial)
is Domingo’s tribute to his family and his musical origins. But,
even putting that aspect of things to one side, this is a CD –
well packaged and annotated – which will delight every aficionado
of zarzuela.
Glyn Pursglove
Plácido Domingo
(baritone) – Vidal Hernando; Nancy Herrera (mezzo) – Luisa Fernanda;
Mariola Cantarero (soprano) – The Duchess Carolina; José Bros (tenor)
– Javier Moreno; Raquel Pierotti (mezzo) – Mariana; Javier Ferrer
(tenor) – Aníbal; Sabina Puértolas (soprano) – Rosita; Federico
Gallar (baritone) – Don Luis Nogales; Ángel Rodríguez (tenor) –
The Savoyard; Juan Antonio Sanabria (tenor) – Street-Seller and
Fan-Seller; Montserrat Muñumel (actress) – Coconut-Seller; David
Rubiera (actor) – Porras; Tomeu Biblioni (tenor) – Don Lucas; José
Antonio Ferrer (actor) – Don Florito Fernández; Miguel Borrallo
(bass) – First Young Man; Julio Cendal (tenor) – Second Young Man;
José Manuel Cardama (tenor) – A Man; Juan Navarro (tenor) – A Captain;
Joseba Pinela (actor) – One of the Harvesters 
