Jardín de Oriente explained

Jardín de Oriente
Genre Header:Opera
Composer:Joaquín Turina
Librettist:
Premiere Location:Teatro Real, Madrid

Jardín de Oriente (Garden of the Orient) is an opera in one act composed by Joaquín Turina to a Spanish-language libretto by Gregorio Martínez Sierra and his wife María Lejárraga. It premiered at the Teatro Real in Madrid on 6 March 1923. The story is set in the palace and gardens of a North African sultan and recounts the love story between one of the sultan's wives and the man who defeats him in battle.

Background and performance history

Jardín de Oriente was the third of Turina's three operas, and the second to be staged. Gregorio Martínez Sierra had also written the libretto for Turina's second opera Margot, and although his wife was not credited on the printed libretto for Margot, she had a significant input on that as well, particularly on the depiction of the female characters.[1] [2]

Turina began the composition of Jardin on 1 March 1922 and finished it in October 1922, with the final orchestration completed on 24 January 1923. The opera premiered at the Teatro Real in Madrid the following March in a production designed by José Olalla with the orchestra conducted by Arturo Saco del Valle. The work has only been rarely performed since then. There was a fully staged revival at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid in 1982 to mark the 100th anniversary of Turina's birth, and a performance in concert version at the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid in 1999 marking the 50th anniversary of Turina's death.[3] [4]

There is no complete recording of the opera but Turina's piano transcription of the dance ("La Danza") has been recorded by Albert Guinovart for Harmonia Mundi (1996) and Antonio Soria for Edicions Albert Moraleda (1998).

Roles

RoleVoice typePremiere cast, 6 March 1923
Conductor: Arturo Saco del Valle
Galiana, one of the sultan's wivessopranoMatilde Revenga
Zaida, one of the sultan's wives contraltoRamona Galán
Celinda, one of the sultan's wives sopranoManolita Guardiola
Omar, the sultan's enemybaritoneFrancisco Izal
Hassán, Omar's servanttenorJaime Ferré
El genio de la fuente, Spirit of the fountain sopranoGraciela Fernán de Vergar
Sultan speaking role
The sultan's wives and dancers, Moors, the sultan and Omar's soldiers

External links

Notes and References

  1. [Tomás Marco|Marco, Tomás]
  2. Rodrigo, Antonina and Hoyo, Arturo del 1992). María Lejárraga: Una mujer en la sombra, pp. 151-153. EDAF
  3. Franco, Enrique (23 February 1982). "A 50 años de su estreno vuelve 'Jardín de Oriente', de Turina". El País. Retrieved 18 November 2014
  4. http://www.joaquinturina.com/opus25.html Op. 25 Jardín de Oriente. Ópera en un acto. (1922)