Composer Robert Xavier Rodriguez admits that when he began writing operas, creating a children’s work titled “Monkey See, Monkey Do” was not exactly his burning ambition.
Yet like it or not, the bilingual piece has been performed thousands of times across North America – far more frequently than his two well-regarded, full-length operas.
“I’ve found it enormously gratifying to write music for children,” he said. “Children’s audiences are extremely demonstrative and they let you know up front if they are having a good time, and if they love it, they really love it.”
Given the popularity of the opera, a staple of Opera Colorado’s educational outreach in 2002- 05, it is not surprising that Rodriguez got the call when the company decided to commission a new, bilingual work for the program.
The result, “La Curandera,” will be premiered along with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Bastien and Bastienne” by the Opera Colorado Outreach Ensemble during six performances beginning at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the King Center.
The resident group, which consists of professional singers, many seeking experience as they begin their careers, typically gives 200-250 performances a year across Colorado. The concerts are held mostly in schools but some adult settings as well.
The upcoming presentation of “La Curandera” and “Bastien and Bastienne” will be the first time the ensemble has given a set of public performances in Denver.
Originally, Opera Colorado wanted a full-length opera that could be performed for general audiences and then abridged to one hour for school performances, where attention spans quickly expire.
Rodriguez, working with librettist Mary Medrick, conceived the idea of creating a one-hour opera partially inspired by the 1768 one-act opera, “Bastien and Bastienne.” The two could then be performed together.
Although stylistically quite different, both operas revolve around a similar story of young couples falling in love through the intervention of magical forces – in the case of “La Curandera,” mystical healers known in the Mexican culture as las curanderas.
“Mozart’s opera is not very often performed,” Rodriguez said. “This would be an opportunity to generate more performances of both works, and they go together quite well. I even quote one of the themes from the Mozart in my opera, which makes the connection as clear as possible.
Audiences get “the eternal subjects of infidelity and magic seen first in 18th-century and then in 21st-century Mexico.”
Rodriguez’s score, which calls for a nine-member chamber orchestra, including accordion, percussion, brass and strings, boasts an unmistakable Mexican flavor, and, in a certain sense, dresses Mozart in a mariachi outfit.
“I quote many Mexican mariachi songs and give the work the atmosphere of its Mexican setting,” he said.
Although just a handful of Rodriquez’s works include Mexican themes, they are among his most significant works, including a concerto for mariachis and orchestra, “Monkey See, Monkey Do” and “Frida.”
The 1991 adaptation of the life of celebrated Mexican artist Frida Kahlo is among his most widely known works. It has been performed by the Houston Grand Opera and as part of the Brooklyn Academy’s Next Wave Festival.
Rodriguez’s ability to effectively incorporate Mexican idioms into his writing and create music that appeals even to opera neophytes led the company to tap him for the commission, said Katherine Myers, Opera Colorado’s director of education, who is serving as the production’s stage director.
“I felt he had an ear for writing music that was accessible but also legitimate, for lack of a better word,” she said. “He was able to write music that I did not hestitate to call an opera, a true opera, but at the same time, the audience wouldn’t be put off by it.”
Most of the opera is in English, but Spanish is sprinkled throughout.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
“La Curandera”
OPERA COLORADO PREMIERE|Eugenia Rawls Courtyard Theatre, King Center, Auraria campus; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and May 19 and 2 p.m. May 21|$15-$20; $20 general admission and $15 children 4-12|303-357-2787 or operacolorado.org
“Spirit Healers: An Exhibition of Curanderismo”
ART EXHIBITION|Museo de las Américas, 861 Santa Fe Drive; through May 19|$3-$4, $4 general admission, $3 senior and students and free for members |303-571-4401 or museo.org
La Curandera Symposium
SYMPOSIUM on curanderas, the traditional healers of Latin America|Museo de las Américas; 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday|$25-$35; $35 general admission and $25 members |Reservations required, 303-571-4401.
