Customer Reviews

Florencia in the Amazon

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A work of great beauty and power, Daniel Catán's "Florencia en el Amazonas" is the composer's second opera. Loosely inspired by Gabriel García Márquez's "Love in the Time of Cholera," the opera follows the story of Florencia Grimaldi, an aging opera singer who embarks upon a steamboat journey down the Amazon River. As the journey progresses, the boat is beset by pink rain, foul waters, and the threat of a cholera epidemic. As Florencia and her fellow travelers are carried deeper into the jungle, they experience various revelations, until finally the diva's spirit is transformed into a vast, emerald butterfly.

"Florencia en el Amazonas" is, in a word, beautiful. Free from the mawkish sentimentality that too often passes for beauty in today's world of pop ballads, film scores, and Disneyfied neo-Romanticism, "Florencia" possesses the artful beauty of traditional opera; a form that, at its best, values grace, craftsmanship, and lyricism over the sugar-high of instant gratification. Comparisons with late Puccini are inevitable and certainly apt, but much of Catán's score touches upon the flowing Impressionism of Debussy and the vibrant colors of Ravel as well. It also contains some engaging touches quite compelling to the modern ear -- frequent marimbas add a slightly exotic flavor, and the percussion section underscores the music with intriguing Latin rhythms. Catán scores the opera for a relatively small orchestra, which adds a sense of precision and punch -- the strings never dominate, and each instrument is clearly articulated. The music simply shimmers, occasionally opening up into an expanse of surging sound, floating the vocals aloft on an iridescent wave of color.

Happily, Catán's vocal writing is well-matched to his orchestral fluency. Catán is a believer in old-school lyricism, and while much may be said for the astringent vocal gymnastics or Broadway influences of some modern opera, it comes as a delight to hear a work that takes pure, unadulterated pleasure in a flowing, beautiful line. Arioso blooms to aria with an unaffected grace, voices entwine around each other like lovers, and not a line feels clumsy or out of place. Still, while "Florencia's" lyricism might represent a welcome return to the Italian mode, there's really no single moment that particularly stands out. If "Florencia" has echoes of both "Turandot" and "Pelléas et Mélisande," I would have liked to hear a little more of the former than the latter, at least in the vocal writing.

But again, compared to the vibrant tapestry of the whole, this comes as only a minor quibble. "Florencia" is a wonderful work, one that deserves to find its voice through numerous productions. Its subject matter, too, is worth a few words of praise: it is a delight to see a modern opera so full of innocence and wonder; and if the soprano has to die in the end, then what's wrong with transforming into a giant butterfly? "Florencia en el Amazonas" stands as a hopeful reminder that love, faith, and beauty can be liberating powers in a world all too trapped in its own cynicism and irony.

I first discovered this opera during a car ride on a Saturday afternoon. It was one of those NPR moments that so many of us have: I couldn't leave the car until I found out what this amazing music was! After I heard the title, I called a friend of mine who was in the process of calling me to tell me he thought I would love this new opera. Both of us were held captivated by this unusual music.

The first word that comes to mind in regards to this opera is LUSH. The orchestration is full and inventive. The vocal writing is straight out of Puccini, colored by Copland and the Latin melodies of South America.

While both operas are very good, this ones clearly is a leap ahead of it's sibling "Rappacini's Daughter". The pace is more flowing, the contour more smooth, and the performing forces much more comfortable in the opera medium.

You cannot go wrong with this recording, and I anxiously await Catan's next masterpiece.

I can't help wondering why this great work has not appeared in New York, either at City Opera or at the Met! To me it is virtually a miracle that a composer in late 20th century can compose such beautiful flowing melodies with a good plot in the bargain. Patricia Schuman has luscious music to sing and she does it brilliantly. There is not a weak link in the performance. Summers and the orchestra walk away with the highest of honors doing justice to themselves and to the score Catan has composed for them. I cannot imagine a more superb production and presentation of this opera which absolutely belongs on your opera shelf. In this August's "Opera News", the author, Gavin Bortchert gives all the credit do to Albany Records for recording this work and to Houston Grand OPera for having the foresightedness to join albany in this Cd release. Seattle Opera and Houston Grand Opera have had a series of sellout premiere's and revivals of this work. While we wait for it locally, we have these wondrous CD's to enjoy and revel in. This recording is worth your hearing and purchase!!!!

I saw this opera four times when it premiered in Los Angeles and loved every minute of it. I have been waiting years for a recording. Loved this recording!

This is not the weightiest opera you will ever hear, but it's certainly lovely. The story reminds me of John Adams' "I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky" (June Jordan's libretto), but the music reminds me of Puccini and perhaps Michael Nyman. Lush and transporting, it blooms with color and feeling: you just can't help being swept away. The performances are terrific too: Patricia Schuman and Ana Maria Martinez particularly stand out.

This recording is gorgeous but simply can't do justice to the opera. You've go to to see it. It is a tremendous stage work and the music is even more beautiful in that context. Buy this recording to familiarize yourself with the lush score and intriguing story. Then book a flight to Seattle for winter 2005 to see it. It was a huge hit here and is being brought back by popular demand.

I saw opening night of the first US performance of Florencia (Houston Grand Opera). It was the best opera I saw all year and perhaps my favorite ever. The visuals were unbelievable, the music was, as other reviewers state lyrical and beautiful. Catan's orchestration and vocal lines are first rate and the engaging story and unusual stage sets make it a must-see for any opera (or theatre)lover. I have not heard this recording yet but hope it does justice to what I heard live that night.

Spanish and Latin-American tenors have been dominating the opera world for several years. For years we've had Domingo and now we have Vargas, Cura, M. Alvarez, Villazon, and Florez. It is high time for composers to "stake their claim". Daniel Catan, a contemporary Mexican composer, has for several years now, been creating the kind of operas that Puccini would be writing if he were around. The lavish Impressionistic harmonies create a mood of floating on water or even air.

Very appropriately, Catan has chosen a Latin-American subject, a story about a boat floating down the Amazon River to the opera house in Manaus. The story has overtones of "Magic Realism" in the vein of Jorge Luis Borges, Juan Rulfo, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez,

The voices throughout this cast, starting with Patricia Schumann's Florencia, are excellent. The orchestra plays beautifully. The sound quality on this live performance is near-perfect.

Get to know this composer's work. His Rappacini's Daughter and Obsidian Butterfly are also superb. His courage to turn his back on the excessive dissonance of "modernism" and willingness to indulge our ears with beauty, place him on the throne as the greatest living composer of opera.

This is as lovely an opera as any I've ever heard. I can't wait to see it staged live in person!!

Leaving us as quietly as he lived his life, Daniel Catán (April 3, 1949 - April 8, 2011), a Mexican born composer who lived in the Los Angeles area, was a man whose compositions were not avant garde but were beautifully constructed pieces, operas based on Latin American works, sung in Spanish, and accessible to audiences who rather uniformly loved them. Living close to the LA Opera allowed Catán and his friend Placido Domingo to collaborate on his last finished opera, 'Il Postino' in which Catán wrote the central role of Pablo Neruda for Domingo, a role many critics have hailed as one of Placido Domingo's greatest creations.

Catán not only composed but also taught in schools in Southern California. He was a man honored by his colleagues and loved by his students for his generosity of spirit and endless patience with helping artists arrive at their career goals. This recording of Catán's "Florencia en el Amazonas", using a libretto adapted from García Márquez's "Love in the Time of Cholera," is in many ways a summary of Daniel Catán's life: his main character is an aging opera singer who travels the Amazon River to rediscover the meaning of music and in the end her spirit becomes an emerald butterfly that flies way into another realm. And so has Daniel Catán departed, leaving behind the memory of a composer of beautiful music and a legacy of human kindness. He will be missed. Grady Harp, April 11