I love a good opera. Just as I love a good narrative ballet. And I’ve been blessed to have seen both in some of the world’s oldest and most revered opera houses: Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Hungarian State Opera House in Budapest, alla Scala in Milan, among many others. And while our Angela Peralta Theater is smaller, it’s every bit as gorgeous, though I may be biased.
Anyway, this season we are blessed with not just one, not just two, but FOUR fully acted operas! And woe is me, I am going to miss the last two. But I was in the audience for Puccini’s Suor Angelica last night, and oh my God did they do an excellent job! My friend and I both had tears streaming down our faces.
The singing was absolutely magnificent, and the acting outstanding. We are blessed with Maestro Enrique Patrón living here. The orchestra was amazing as well. Costumes and sets were very creatively done. Major kudos to everyone involved! Click on any photo to enlarge it or view a slideshow.
The lead, Angelica—my namesake, Dhyana Arom, has a pure clear voice and terrific acting skills. She was perfectly counterbalanced by her evil aunt, the princess, sung by María Luisa Tamez—who sang and played the role marvelously. We loved hating her. How could she be so cruel, and then turn to the Virgin and make the sign of the cross! What hypocrisy, right?! She made it oh-so-fun to hate on her; stellar job!
Because Suor Angelica is a one-act opera, Maestro Patrón and company did twenty or thirty minutes of songs from other Puccini operas, including Madame Butterfly, Gianni Schicchi, Tosca, Manon and Edgar. What a treat! There was an intermission after this gala and the full opera.
Thank you to all the performers, stage designers, costumers, organizers. I know I say it a lot, but we truly are blessed with our CULTURA Mazatlán folks! The theater was far from full, which baffles me to no end. Why in the world would people miss such an excellent performance? Life should not be too busy to enjoy it a bit. Says me who’s snowed under with work; I think my head exploded at least three times this week, lol.
Don’t forget that now, with your ticket from the event, you can get a 10% discount the night of the show at most restaurants in the Machado as well as a few others. So, don’t make the mistake of going straight home after the show.
¡VidaMaz! 
Pingback: The Opera Made Me Cry! | Mazatlecos
Fantastic pictures, Dianne!
We just did our third performance of Suor Angelica here in Saltillo. (And I, too cried this time, but not at any of the other times . . . funny what a change of scene does!) Our director worked with opera in Sinaloa before he came back to Saltillo . . . I wonder if it was the same one?
Regardless, it looked gorgeous! And, with that many voices, I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about what it might have sounded like! Thanks for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed yours as well! It is a terrific opera, and when well executed… I think it helps to have an Italian opera in Mexico, too, as so much of the story communicates via the language/singing without need to read.