CD:
Lisette Oropesa: Mis amores son las flores

Lisette Oropesa is one of the most in-demand lyric coloraturas today, who performs Zarzuela repertoire on this stunning album.

Zarzuela was born as a court genre in the 17th century, and became a mass spectacle in the mid-19th century, spreading throughout the whole of Spain. The success of zarzuela was in having sprung from Hispanic society, addressing an immense public of diverse social levels. It has made Hispanics laugh, cry, yearn and dream, with a musical language that arose from the very heart of the people. Zarzuela embraces Hispanic and European music, urban and rural, popular song and bel canto, traditional and urban dances. Zarzuela filled hundreds of theatres throughout Spain and America.

This album is introduced by the Cuban zarzuela, María la O (1930) by Ernesto Lecuona. Cuba, with more than 2500 zarzuelas composed, is the second great homeland of the genre, and Ernesto Lecuona and Gonzalo Roig are two true pillars of Cuban zarzuela. It also has a more dramatic profile, bringing to the stage the harsh social problems of slavery, racism, etc. The album concludes with the Catalan-born composer Gonzalo Roig (1890-1970) with the mythical Cecilia Valdés, which the anthropologist Fernando Ortiz defined as the zarzuela of "Cubanness, full, heartfelt, conscious and desired". Cecilia Valdés is a zarzuela with a strong racial content, with slavery as one of its central themes. Roig reaffirms in it the symbiosis of black music, Creole peasant music and Spanish music.

Lisette Oropesa won recently the International Opera Award in the category Best Female Singer.

Original title Lisette Oropesa: Mis amores son las flores - Zarzuela Arias
Genre Classical music, Vocal music
Production year 2024
Duration 43 mins
Audio format SACD, Lossless Streaming, Native Dolby Atmos
Producer San Francisco Classical Recording Company
Production Company EuroArts Music International GmbH
Soloist Lisette Oropesa
Conductor Oliver Diaz
Orchestra / Band Orquesta Titular des Teatro Real