Las golondrinas, "The Wanderers" holds a unique place in the history of zarzuela. It is a no-holds barred verismo tragedy in three acts, comparatively unleavened by comic relief. At the time of the premiere (5th February 1914, Teatro Price, Madrid,) Usandizaga was 26 years old, and the almost unprecedented success of Las golondrinas made him overnight the golden hope of Spanish Opera. A year later he was dead. To what extent its composer's early demise has glamorised the reputation of his work it is difficult to say. Certainly Sierra's libretto, based on his own play Saltimbanquis ("mountebanks") is pretty squarely indebted to Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, though his three main characters are more subtle creations than Canio, Nedda and the rest.
EAN# 4377176745322
