Il Postino
Music by Daniel Catán · libretto by Daniel Catán · premiered 2010 · at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Il Postino is an opera in three acts by Daniel Catán with a Spanish libretto by the composer. Based on the novel Ardiente paciencia by Antonio Skármeta and the film Il Postino by Michael Radford, the work contains elements of drama and comedy, integrating themes of love and friendship along with political and spiritual conflict. The opera premiered at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion by Los Angeles Opera on 23 September 2010. Set on a small Italian island, exiled Chilean poet Pablo Neruda receives so much fan mail that a personal postman, Mario Ruoppolo, is hired to deliver his letters. Smitten by Beatrice Russo, a local barmaid, Mario turns to Pablo for help writing poetry that would help him win the heart of the woman he longs for. Soon after, Mario and Beatrice fall in love and marry. In the third act, influenced by Pablo's works, Mario begins writing political poems and while reciting at a communist demonstration, violence breaks out and he receives a fatal gunshot wound. Il Postino was commissioned by Los Angeles Opera who co-produced the premiere production with the Theater an der Wien in Vienna and Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Daniel Catán wrote the role of Pablo Neruda for Plácido Domingo, who sang it at the Los Angeles premiere and in subsequent performances in Vienna and Paris.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Il Postino (opera)", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Daniel Catán Porteny (April 3, 1949 – April 9, 2011) was a Mexican composer, writer and professor known particularly for his operas and his contribution of the Spanish language to the international repertory. With a compositional style described as lush, romantic and lyrical, Catán's second opera, Rappaccini’s Daughter, became the first Mexican opera in the United States to be produced by a professional opera company. Upon receiving international recognition, Catán's next opera, Florencia en el Amazonas, became the first opera in Spanish to be commissioned by an opera company in the United States. Shortly after, Catán received a Plácido Domingo Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship Award for…
Text from the Wikipedia article "Daniel Catán", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Daniel Catán
- Florencia en el Amazonas (1996)