Traditional Spanish Musical – Zarzuela “Bohemios + La boheme Act 3″
Concert Version of Amadeo Vives’s zarzuela “Bohemios”, featuring soprano Sophia Benedetti and tenor Alvaro Rodriguez among others. After “Bohemios,” Zarzuela Di Si will present Act 3 of Puccini’s “La boheme.”

The Spanish Zarzuela is a traditional Spanish musical genre which is frequently compared to the works of Gilbert and Sullivan and the Viennese operettas of Johann Strauss. But that comparison also frequently does not reflect the fact that, instead of a dozen or so such works, literally thousands of zarzuelas were written (nearly a hundred of them are still in the current repertoire).

The origin of the zarzuela dates back to the mid-17th Century. Legend says the name originates from a pavillon overgrown with blackberry bushes (zarzas), in a remote section of Madrid’s El Prado Park. Actors gathered at this pavillon to present their plays and to entertain King Philip IV and his entourage. In 1657, the King and Queen attended there the first performance of a comedy by the poet Pedro Calderón de la Barca with music composed by Juan de Hidalgo: El Laurel de Apolo (Apollo’s Laurel). The event gave birth to the music from that would later be called la zarzuela. This vibrant and often picaresque music tradition surged to popularity in the second half of the 19th Century.

Zarzuela Di Si’s mission is to produce high quality zarzuela for the Washington, DC area audiences. We will present standard and non-standard zarzuela, and Spanish opera, both in traditional and non-traditional settings.

October 11, 2009 at 7:00 pm

At St. Ann’s Catholic Chruch
4001 Yuma St NW
Washington, DC