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 *********************************************** The CLASSICAL mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's HDMail High Deliverability Mailer for reliable, lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html