a.) musically captivating
b.) elegantly minimalist
c.) pedigreed
d.) all of the above
The answer
is of course "all of the above".
But if there were a musical production that could be described
as "pedigreed," it would be this particular Luisa Fernanda
- by virtue of the illustrious personal (veritably genetic) association
with this zarzuela not only of Plácido Domingo who - following
the footsteps of his father - sings the baritone role of Vidal Hernando
in this production, but also of its stage director and set designer,
Emilio Sagi.
Luisa Fernanda was a staple of Domingo's parents' zarzuela
repertory - not only was his father a famous Vidal Hernando in his time,
but his mother was a great interpreter of the title role as well.
As for Sagi, it was his grandfather who was the original Vidal Hernando,
creating the role when the work premiered in 1932. Later, his uncle
became a famous heir to the role.
The "pedigree" could apply to the production venues as well.
First staged in 2003 at Milan's La Scala (as quite possibly its very
first zarzuela), this Luisa Fernanda went on to Washington
National Opera in 2004, then to Madrid's Teatro Real in 2006, and now
to Los Angeles, en route to Vienna in the next season and possibly to
the Olympics in 2008.
So, who better to tell the story of Luisa Fernanda than Emilo
Sagi who comes to the work not only "by blood" but by mastery
of the art form itself, acquired by extensive directorial experience
in numerous zarzuela theaters and opera houses.
As the soft-spoken Sagi eloquently tells it, the plot is a simple love
story caught in the complexities of the warring republican vs monarchist
politics of 1868 in the reign of Isabella II. Older, wealthy, noble
landowner and would-be-monarchist turned republican Vidal Hernando competing
for the heart of the lovely Luisa Fernanda, a clerk's daughter, with
a handsome, dashing young Javier Moreno, a would-be-republican turned-monarchist
by virtue of a royal seduction . She loves Javier, but agrees to marry
Vidal Hernando, who in the end, realizing the bitter truth, encourages
her to go back to Javier. And she does... or does she? Sagi, exercising
directorial discretion yet upholding the integrity of the libretto,
leaves it for the audience to decide.
Indeed, it is Sagi's ingenious stage direction and elegantly minimalist
set design that tell the story even better. The near monochromatic,
yet attractive, minimalism may have been partly dictated by necessity.
The production was originally planned by La Scala as a concert presentation.
But Sagi who was conscripted on short notice by Domingo for the project
balked at the idea, convinced that zarzuela works best as a staged production.
