The Zarzuela Companion

You looking to find the "The Zarzuela Companion" Good news! You can purchase The Zarzuela Companion with secure price and compare to view update price on this product. And deals on this product is available only for limited time.

   

Product Description

It has been said that zarzuela means to Spain what operetta means to Vienna, Offenbach to Paris, Gilbert and Sullivan to London, and the musical to Broadway. Zarzuela is Spain's unique contribution to lyric theatre, a mixture of spoken and sung drama with a complex history extending over four centuries.

The Zarzuela Companion is a comprehensive guide to zarzuela's most popular and romantic works written after 1850, with chapters devoted to the major Spanish zarzuela composers, writers and singers. Complete synopses of all sixty works selected are delivered at the level of detail necessary for non-Spanish speakers to follow along with ease. The book also features special sections on the history of the genre, and on the parallel Catalan and Cuban zarzuela traditions.

A foreword by Plácido Domingo, a selected discography with current catalog reference numbers, a brief bilingual bibliography and glossary of Spanish terms make this book indispensable for the newcomer and aficionado alike.

The Zarzuela Companion Review

BOOK REVIEWThe Zarzuela Companion by Christopher Webber. Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2002, 341pp, ISBN 0 8108 4447 8Very worthwhile companion guide to Zarzuela in terms of libretto synopses, plot outlines; however, cursory in terms of the history of the genre and other historical details; also, the book contains numerous inaccuracies - in terms of historical data:

* in reference to the g nero chico, p. 4 "two or three (one act zarzuelas) would make up the average theatre bill...", almost always it was four works, if one recalls the famous "cuarta de Apolo";
* p. 11 Francisco Alonso's 1919 zarzuela was called Las Corsarias not La Banderita, one of its most popular musical numbers is the pasodoble "La banderita";
* p. 28 Arrieta's1883 San Franco de Sena is not to a text by Adelardo L�pez de Ayala but to one by Jos� Estremera y Cuenca who in turn adapted the work originally written by Agust�n Moreto;
* p. 41 Barbieri's Pan y toros "...to the rondalla sound of mandolins and guitars..." mandolins should read bandurrias;
* p. 47 Tom s Bret�n's 1898 El reloj de cuco should read Las doce � el reloj de cuco;
* p. 50 Bret�n's La Verbena de la Paloma "...Paloma is a Madrid street, famous for a statuette of the Virgin which performed...this was celebrated by an annual verbena..."...the Dove (Paloma) is the symbol for spiritual ascension, i.e. the Assumption of Mary which is celebrated by the Roman church on August 15th;
* p. 53 Chap 's first zarzuela was not Abel y Ca�n but the 1867 La estrella del bosque;
* p. 89 Chueca's 1886 La Gran V�a "...Madrid's answer to New York's Main Street..." not Main Street but Broadway;
* p. 185 Manuel Penella's first zarzuela was not La fiesta del pueblo of 1894 but the 1893 El queso de boda performed in Valencia's Teatro Apolo the same year, also for Penella, Las Musas Latinas was first performed in Buenos Aires (not Valencia) in 1912 and in Madrid's Teatro Apolo in 1913 and his Don Gil de Alcal� was labeled an "�pera de c mara not a comic opera;
* p. 271 Inzenga's 1862 Si yo fuera rey! is not after Auber but after Adolphe-Charles Adam's Si J'etais Roi! ;
* p. 273 Oudrid's father was not of gypsy stock but of Flemish stock, his grandfather was a Flemish soldier in Napoleon's army who settled in Spain;
* p. 294 Miguel Echegaray's 1907 La Rabalera is not the girl from Arrabal but from the Rabal district of Zaragoza;
* p. 296 the 1888 Certamen nacional and the 1896 Cuadros disolventes are not by Miguel Nieto, they were set to music by the composer Manuel Nieto; and, the 1898 Alvarez Quintero La Buena sombra was not set to music by Quinito Valverde but by Apolinar Brull;
In terms of language inaccuracies:
* zarzuelero (pp.6,159,161,186,191,250,266,278,281,292,301): as long as Zarzuela was a truly popular form of entertainment incurring the disdain of "intellectuals" and critics of "serious music" such as Adolfo Salazar, Carlos Bosch, Tom�s Marco, zarzuelero had the pejorative ring of "music hack", today the term no longer has such a derogatory connotation although for anyone born before 1980 it is still slightly disparaging;
* p. 12 Mill n's 1928 La Morer�a is it the Land of the Moors or The Moorish Quarter?;
* p. 12, Alonso's 1939 Rosa la pantolonera is it Rosa in Trousers or Rosa the (Pant's) Steamstress? ;
* p. 14 Alonso's 1925 La Calesera, the "Pasacalle de los Chisperos" translated as the "Pasacalle of the Bums" ...a bum is a "vagrant, a worthless person", a "chispero" was a "majo" type from the "chuler�a "of the Maravillas neighborhood of Madrid;
* p. 17 Alonso's 1931 Las Leandras, the "Pasodoble de los nardos" translated as the "Pasodoble of the Roses", is a spikenard a rose?;
* p. 47 Bret�n's 1894 El domingo de Ramos translated as Ramos' Sunday should read Palm Sunday;
* p. 73 and 275 Chueca's 1976 El sobrino del difunto translated as The Deceased's Cousin should read The Deceased's Nephew;
* p. 75 Chueca's 1897 Agua, azucarillos y aguardiente "azucarillos" translated as "meringues", in Chueca's day "azucarillo" was a honeycomb-like "meringue" made from sugar syrup, egg whites and lemon juice, it could be eaten as a "golosina" (meringue) but more commonly the "aguadora" (water seller) would place a chunk of azucarillo to soak in her earthen-ware water jug to "endulzarla" (sweeten it, the water) and to "templar su crudeza" (to make it more palatable), not dissimilar to the "panal de az car"or the "esponjado" served with cold water;
* p. 92 Fern�ndez Caballero's 1893 El d o de La Africana "Giussepini" should read "Giuseppini";
* p. 232 Soutullo and Vert's 1927 La del Soto del Parral translated as The Lady of the House and The Arbor in the Parral , a "parral" could be either a vine arbour or a vineyard;
* and, p. 270 Salvador Giner's 1875 �Con qui�n caso a mi mujer? translated as Who has married my wife? should read Who will I get to marry my wife?
Hopefully, the publisher will produce a second and revised edition which will correct these errors. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse | PermalinkComment Comment

Most of the consumer Reviews tell that the "The Zarzuela Companion" are high quality item. You can read each testimony from consumers to find out cons and pros from The Zarzuela Companion ...