69.00 PLN

Studio Master FLAC 24/96:

Nr kat.: HDTT062
Label  : HDTT (USA)

El Sombrero de Tres Picos
(The Three-Cornered Hat)
Act One
After a short fanfare the curtain rises revealing a mill in Andalusia. The miller is trying to teach a pet
blackbird to tell the time. He tells the bird to chirp twice, but instead it chirps three times. Annoyed,
the miller scolds the bird and tells it to try again. The bird now chirps four times. The miller gets angry
at the bird again and his wife o ers it a grape. The bird takes the grape and chirps twice. The miller
and his wife laugh over this and continue their work.
Soon the magistrate, his wife, and their bodyguard pass by, taking their daily walk. The procession
goes by and the couple returns to their work. The dandi ed, but lecherous, magistrate is heard
coming back. The miller tells his wife that he will hide and that they will play a trick on the magistrate.
The miller hides and the magistrate sees the miller's wife dancing. After her dance she o ers him
some grapes. When the magistrate gets the grapes the miller's wife runs away with the magistrate
following her. Finally he catches her, and the miller jumps out of a bush with a stick. The miller chases
the magistrate away and the miller and his wife continue working.
Act Two
That night, guests are at the miller's house. The miller dances to entertain them. His dance is
interrupted by the magistrate's bodyguard, who has come to arrest him on trumped-up charges. After
the miller is taken away, the guests leave one by one. The miller's wife goes to sleep and soon the
magistrate comes to the mill. On his way to the door the magistrate trips and falls in the river. The
miller's wife wakes up and runs away.
The Governor undresses and hangs his clothes on a tree and goes to sleep in the miller's bed. The
miller has escaped from prison and sees the magistrate in his bed. The miller thinks that the
magistrate is sleeping with his wife and plans to switch clothes with the magistrate, and avenge
himself by seducing the magistrate's wife. The miller leaves, dressed as the magistrate, and the
magistrate soon wakes up. He goes outside and sees that his clothes are gone, so he dresses in the
miller's clothes. The bodyguard comes and sees the magistrate dressed as the miller and goes to
arrest him. The miller's wife sees the bodyguard ghting with what looks like her husband and joins in
the ght. The miller comes back and sees his wife in the ght and joins it to protect her. The
magistrate explains the entire story and the ballet ends with the miller's guests tossing the magistrate
up and down in a blanket.
Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter
incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance. The name derives from a Royal hunting lodge,
the Palacio de la Zarzuela near Madrid, where this type of entertainment was rst presented to the court.
There are two main forms of zarzuela: Baroque zarzuela (c.1630–1750), the earliest style, and Romantic
zarzuela (c.1850–1950), which can be further divided into two. main sub-genres of género grande and
género chico although other sub-divisions exist.
Zarzuela spread to the Spanish colonies, and many Hispanic countries – notably Cuba – developed their
own traditions. There is also a strong tradition in the Philippines where it is also known as zarzuelta.
Other regional and linguistic variants in Iberia include the Basque zartzuela and the Catalan sarsuela.
A masque-like musical theatre had existed in Spain since the time of Juan del Encina. The zarzuela genre
was innovative in giving a dramatic function to the musical numbers, which were integrated into the
argument of the work. Dances and choruses were incorporated as well as solo and ensemble numbers, all
to orchestral accompaniment.
Montserrat Caballé was born in Barcelona and studied music at the Liceu Conservatory and singing technique under
Napoleone Annovazzi, Eugenia Kemény and Conchita Badía. She graduated with the gold medal in 1954. Her rst steps
were rather modest, until she moved to Basel, Switzerland, where she made her professional debut in 1956, as Mim? in La
boh?me and became part of the Basel Opera company between 1957 and
1959, covering a repertoire that included Mozart (Erste Dame in The Magic
Flute) and Strauss (Salome), unusual for Spanish divas, and all sung in
German, but which was very useful for her next professional step in the
Bremen Opera (1959-1962). In 1962, Caballé returned to Barcelona and
made her rst performance at the Liceu, singing the title-role in Richard
Strauss' Arabella. From the Fall of 1962 through the Spring of 1963 she
toured Mexico, notably portraying the title role in Jules Massenet's Manon
at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. This was followed by several more successful
appearances at the Liceu in 1963.