Maria Nockin (writing in M&V) evidently enjoyed the latest revival of
Federico Moreno Torroba's "Luisa Fernanda" in Los Angeles.  This production
- originally from Washington Opera - has now been successfully revived
in several cities in the USA and Europe, and will be coming to more
(including London in 2008).

I'd urge anyone interested in 20th century opera to see it, although
with dialogue cut almost beyond a bare minimum it's more an adaptation
of the original zarzuela than the real thing.  Andrew Lamb reviews the
ArtHaus DVD of the staging, with Domingo in the baritone role of Vidal,
at http://www.zarzuela.net.  The website also carries detailed reviews
of the Washington original and Madrid revival, as well as the Deutsche
Gramophon CD set captured live in the Teatro Real there last July.

One tiny point of correction to the M&V review.  Ms Nockin describes the
eponymous heroine as a "honey-voiced village girl": honey-voiced Luisa
may well be, but she is no village girl.  In common with many zarzuela
heroines, she is a sophisticated Madrid lady, the highly-educated daughter
of an impoverished but proud upper middle-class academic.  In comparison
with Italian comic opera, village girl heroines in (predominantly urban)
zarzuela are rare birds indeed!

Christopher Webber, Blackheath, London, UK
http://www.zarzuela.net
"ZARZUELA!" The Spanish Music Site

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