Ainadamar

Composer: Osvaldo Golijov
Librettist: David Henry Hwang
Company: Detroit Opera

Synopsis

Ainadamar (which means "Fountain of Tears" in Arabic) is the first opera by Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov. The Spanish-language libretto is by American playwright David Henry Hwang. It premiered in Tanglewood on 10 August 2003 and, after major revisions, the new version given its premiere at the Santa Fe Opera on 30 July 2005.

The opera tells the story of playwright Federico García Lorca and his lover and muse, Catalan actress Margarita Xirgu. A unique aspect of this opera is that the part of male Lorca is a breeches role performed by a woman. Subtitled "an Opera in Three Images," Ainadamar is told in reverse in a series of flashbacks, and involves Lorca's opposition to the Falange, accusations of homosexuality, and his subsequent murder.