The problem with this neo-Romantic style is that the score loses its impact as one arching lyrical phrase follows another. However, the unique instrumental colours of the marimba and steel drum, paired with moments of Latin dance rhythms, give the score a distinct flavor.Ī scene from Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Florencia en el Amazonas. Though a contemporary opera, the music is familiar, firmly rooted in the sound world of Puccini and tinged with notes of Ravel, Holst, and Debussy (the similarly surreal Pelléas et Mélisande especially comes to mind). The most awe-inspiring moment came at the very end when huge multicolored butterflies descended from the ceiling against a backdrop of mottled pink light during Florencia’s final aria.Ĭatán’s music provides as lush an aural world as the visual world that Zambello creates. The plot takes place exclusively aboard a large, revolving boat, surrounded by panels that evoke the jungle onto which colourful lighting and images are projected to indicate different times of day, weather, and moods, while water nymphs dance balletically below. In celebration of the opera’s 25 th anniversary, director Francesca Zambello, one of the original collaborators on the opera, created a new, visually stunning production for Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Ana María Martínez (Florencia) in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Florencia en el Amazonas.

Lyric opera florencia en el amazonas