Santander (EFE).- The zarzuela “Doña Francisquita”, the “standard” of Spanish poetry, arrives this week at the Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria to emphasize the “modernity” of this genre through “strong and free”.
Produced by the Teatro Villamarta de Jerez, “Doña Francisquita”, a zarzuela in three acts with music by Amadeo Vives and a libretto by Federico Romero and Guillermo Fernández Shaw, can be enjoyed this Friday and Saturday, starting at 7:30 p.m., in the theater Argent.
The show was presented this Monday, at a press conference, by its directors and the main protagonists. The directors of this production, Francisco López and Miquel Ortega, have thanked this commitment to recover the genre of zarzuela in a place that was “leading” in its programming and for getting the Cantabrian capital back into the lyrical circuits.
Ortega, in charge of the musical direction, recalled that the zarzuela has accompanied him throughout his life and, especially, “Doña Francisquita”, which is one hundred years old, and which he has described as “a true masterpiece of the genre”.
In fact, he has pointed out that it is probably the zarzuela that has been programmed the most times abroad and that it has “always” been a success, both inside and outside Spain. “It is a banner of our lyrical genre”, he has abounded.
Doña Francisquita, a “strong and free” woman
This production, which closes the new “Primavera Lírica” program at the Palacio, seeks to vindicate, according to López, stage director, the “modernity” of zarzuela with a “complex” project that does not lose sight of the “popular concept ” of this genre.
“Doña Francisquita is a very modern woman who pulled strings to get what she wanted; not marry the old man and look for his future ”she underlined. “She is a strong and free woman, who seeks Fernando’s love and gets it”, has propped up Rocío Pérez, who plays the protagonist in a “complex” role, in which she feels “at ease”.
His rival for the love of Fernando, ‘la Beltrana’, also transmits, according to the vision of his interpreter, Marina Pardo, a vision of a woman “without ties”, while José Luis Solá seeks to “enrich” the protagonist of the fight loving of the two so that “it does not go unnoticed”, a character that offers tremendous “difficulty”.
Everyone has agreed that zarzuela is “alive” and they have opted to find formulas that “connect” young people with this lyrical genre, because as Francisco López has had an impact: “culture is not an expense, it is an investment”.