Atzimba
| Atzimba | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Ricardo Castro Herrera | |
 Fuente de las Tarascas in Morelia, Michoacán. The figures are believed to depict Atzimba and two other Tarascan princesses. | |
| Librettist | Alberto Michel & Alejandro Cuevas |
| Based on | Spanish conquest of the Tarascan Empire |
| Premiere | 10 November 1900 Teatro Renacimiento, Mexico City |
Atzimba is an opera in three acts by Mexican composer Ricardo Castro Herrera (1864–1907) with a libretto by Alberto Michel and Alejandro Cuevas. Set in the Tarascan Empire[a] at the time of the Spanish conquest of Mexico, it tells the story of the ill-fated love between Atzimba, a Tarascan princess, and Jorge de Villadiego, a Spanish conquistador. The poet Amado Nervo described it as "a kind of Tarascan Aida".
Roles and synopsis
[edit]| Role | Voice type |
|---|---|
| Atzimba, Tarascan princess | Soprano |
| Jorge de Villadiego, Spanish captain | Tenor |
| Sirunda, friend to Atzimba | Mezzo-soprano |
| Huépac, high priest | Bass |
| Hirepan, Tarascan general | Baritone |
| Tzimzitcha, Tarascan king | Bass |
| Source: Operalounge[1] |
Based on a Purépecha legend collected by Eduardo Ruiz Álvarez, the opera narrates the tragic love between the princess Atzimba and the Spanish captain Jorge de Villadiego. When de Villadiego is captured and his sacrifice ordered, Atzimba takes the high priest's knife and ends her own life.[2][3]
Production history
[edit]With a score by Ricardo Castro and a libretto by Alberto Michel and Alejandro Cuevas,[4] Atzimba premiered as a zarzuela at Mexico City's Teatro Arbeu on 21 January 1900.[b] The composer subsequently reworked it as a formal opera, which made its début on 10 November 1900 at the Teatro Renacimiento. The Palacio de Bellas Artes – at the time still under construction – housed a production in 1928.[6]
Atzimba was staged again at Bellas Artes in 1952,[c] following which the score for the second act was lost.[6] In 2014, working from a recording of a radio broadcast of the 1952 production, composer Arturo Márquez Navarro reconstructed the orchestration for the second act.[8] The reconstructed opera premiered at the Teatro Ricardo Castro in Victoria de Durango on 7 February 2014, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth, and was staged at Cuernavaca's Teatro Ocampo and at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City later that year.[4][9]
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL) made a recording of the 2014 production available on its YouTube channel.[10][11]
Reception
[edit]The audience at the opera's 1900 production demanded an encore of the second act's intermezzo.[3] The poet Amado Nervo described it as "a kind of Tarascan Aida... Luis G. Urbina said that Aida smells of Egypt. We would say that Atzimba smells of Michoacán."[12]
For the 2014 revival, the conductor Enrique Patrón de Rueda described Márquez's reconstruction work as "very respectful of Ricardo Castro's melodies and ideas". He said that Márquez had studied the opera very closely and that the result was homogeneous and a true homage to Castro's work.[12]
Notes
[edit]- ↑ Alternatively known as the Purépecha Empire.
- ↑ The 18th-century building that housed the Teatro Arbeu was expropriated by the federal government in 1959. It currently houses the Miguel Lerdo de Tejada Library.[5]
- ↑ With Rosa Rimoch in the title role.[7]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Ricardo Castros Oper „Atzimba"" [Ricardo Castro's Opera Atzimba]. Operalounge (in German).
- ↑ De la Concha Pichardo, Janitzio. "La princesa tarasca. Atzimba: Opera, drama y narración histórico-cultural" [The Tarascan Princess. Atzimba: Opera, drama, and historical and cultural narrative]. Las nueve musas (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 June 2026.
- 1 2 "Castro, Ricardo – Intermezzo de la ópera Atzimba" [Castro, Ricardo – Intermezzo from the opera Atzimba]. Secretaría de Cultura de la Ciudad de México (in Spanish). Government of Mexico City. 7 December 2019.
- 1 2 "Atzimba, una historia de amor con toque mexicano" [Atzimba, a love story with a Mexican flavour]. Secretaría de Cultura (in Spanish). Government of Mexico. 5 February 2014.
- ↑ "Miguel Lerdo de Tejada Library". Explore Mexico City. Government of Mexico City.
- 1 2 Quirarte, Xavier (12 April 2014). "Atzimba: amor imposible en tiempos prehispánicos" [Atzimba: forbidden love in pre-Hispanic times]. Milenio (in Spanish).
- ↑ Martínez, Iván. "Atzimba, el gran rescate". El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 June 2026.
- ↑ "Atzimba retorna a Bellas Artes depués de 61 aí±os" [Atzimba returns to Bellas Artes after 61 years]. El Financiero (in Spanish). 10 April 2014.
- ↑ Piñón, Alida (18 January 2014). "El reestreno de la ópera Atzimba tendrá a una princesa tarasca" [The revival of the opera Atzimba will feature a Tarascan princess]. El Universal (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 20 January 2014.
- ↑ "El amor distante cierra la cuarta temporada virtual de la Compañía Nacional de Ópera" [Distant Love closes the National Opera Company's fourth virtual season]. Milenio. 13 November 2020.
- ↑ "Atzimba, de Ricardo Castro, será presentada por la Compañía Nacional de Ópera" [National Opera Company to present Atzimba by Ricardo Castro]. Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (in Spanish). Government of Mexico. 4 November 2020.
- 1 2 Piñón, Alida (14 January 2014). "Rescatan del olvido a Ricardo Castro" [Ricardo Castro saved from oblivion]. El Universal (in Spanish).
External links
[edit]- Atzimba (Ópera de Bellas Artes) 2014 production, via YouTube