This week we have Goyescas, by Enrique Granados based on his piano works of the same name, which were in turn based on paintings by Goya, but there is much original music as well. Goyescas premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in a bill with Pagliacci in January of 1916. The libretto is by Fernando Periquet.
The story is of passion between two sets of lovers, Pepa and Paquito, and Fernando and Rosario, and their flirtations and ensuing jealousies and taunts which lead to a duel between Fernando and Paquito. The story is told in three tableaux - the first in the town square where the tensions build, the second at a ball where the the jealousies and demands for a duel explode, and the third, in a moonlit Garden, where, after the off stage duel, Fernando dies in the arms of Rosario, his original and true love. Most references call this work an opera, although it at least a first cousin to a Zarzuela because of its length, structure and use of Spanish musical themes.
Maria Bayo and Ramon Vargas sing Fernando and Rosario, and Lola Casariego and Milagros Martin, Pepa and Paquito, the second set of lovers. Also featured are The Donostiarra Chorus and the Madrid Symphony Orchestra, with Antoni Ros Marba conducting.