![]() Predating the music, however, Catán’s challenge in Florencia stemmed from its checkered literary construction. At the time of Florencia, Catán was already a fine craftsman composer, if derivative in style of early 20th century masters like Puccini, Debussy, and Ravel. Catán (who died of a heart attack in 2011) had by his late works become his own librettist, realizing that effective stagings often achieve more when they try for less, and that organic character development trumps contrived melodramatics. To begin, Florencia suffers by comparison with Catán’s last work, Il Postino, which premiered just four years ago at Los Angeles Opera to rave reviews, including one by me. While its historic importance is secure, the work’s continuing viability proved problematic last Saturday at its prodigal return to the Chandler Pavilion after a 17-year hiatus. In many ways a trailblazer, Florencia was the first Spanish-language opera to be commissioned by a major opera company north of the Rio Grande. ![]() ![]() Like the beached riverboat that concludes Act 1, composer Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas has taken on a lot of water since the premieres at the co-producing opera companies of Houston (1996), Los Angeles (1997), and Seattle (1998). Mezzo-soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera (Paula), baritone Jose Carbo (Riolobo) and baritone Gordon Hawkins (Alvaro)
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