Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
zarzuela
This Spanish musical genre dates from the
17th century and takes its name from a
royal residence of P
HILIP
IV near M
ADRID
, La
Zarzuela, which was in turn named after
the bramble bush (
zarza
) that grew around
it. There musical performances were offered
before the royal court as early as 1659. The
roots of the form have been traced back to
the
églogas
(eclogues) of J
UAN
DEL
E
NCINA
,
whose poetic compositions dealing with
amorous shepherds were written in the
early 1500s. Other components of the zar-
zuela included folk songs and comic allu-
sions to contemporary themes. Some of the
most notable poets and composers of the
S
IGLO
DE
O
RO
, including P
EDRO
C
ALDERÓN
DE
LA
B
ARCA
and F
ÉLIX
L
OPE
DE
V
EGA
and
the musician Juan de Hidalgo, contributed
to the so-called baroque zarzuela. During
the 18th century Italian musical influences
interwove with, but did not entirely sup-
plant, Spanish themes. After the distraction
of revolution and war during the early 19th
century, the “golden age” of zarzuela
extended from 1850 to 1950. Many of the
greatest works of the genre date from this
period, reflecting the genius of composers
such as Francisco Barbieri and Federico
Chueca as well as the more recent Federico
Moreno Torroba, José Serrano, Reveriano
Soutillo, and Pablo Sorozabal.
In an era when French, German, and
British masters of light opera were active
the zarzuela found a special popularity. Its
distinctive settings and characters with their
unique flavor of social and humorous situ-
ations often reflecting life in Madrid won a
great following. The middle and upper-
middle classes tended to patronize the larger
theaters where the
género grande
zarzuelas,
often lasting three or four hours, were pre-
sented in lavish style. A more modest, but
no less enthusiastic audience flocked to the
shorter (and less expensive) productions at
the venues of the
género chico
zarzuelas.
The S
PANISH
CIVIL
WAR
disrupted both the
mood and the taste that had welcomed zar-
zuela in earlier generations. There were a
few attempts to create “dark”-themed zar-
zuelas in civil war settings, but these had
little appeal, and the postwar atmosphere
was scarcely more welcoming. In the more
positive and prosperous post-F
RANCO
envi-
ronment, after 1975, the zarzuela seemed
at first to be dismissed as a mere cultural
relic of a by-gone age. Yet, more recently a
new generation has found charm and grati-
fication in the genre and contributed to its
revival. So too have enthusiasts abroad,
including a number of Spanish-American
countries and the United States. In New
York City the Amigos de la Zarzuela has
successfully promoted Spanish musical the-
ater in the zarzuela tradition since 1985.
Zea Bermúdez, Francisco
(?-1834)
Spanish statesman
After a business career in M
ÁLAGA
, Zea Ber-
múdez was recruited by the provisional
government in C
ÁDIZ
in 1810 to act as a
secret agent. Loyal to the exiled F
ERDINAND
VII and resisting the French-supported
regime of J
OSEPH
I (Joseph Bonaparte), the
regency in the unoccupied region of Spain
favored a general European resistance to
Napoléon. Under the guise of a business-
man looking for new commercial opportu-
nities in neutral Russia, Zea sounded out
officials in St. Petersburg. Early in 1811 he
reported to the Spanish leaders that the
czar's government was ready to form an
alliance with Britain against France. This
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