All too often, an American opera will achieve a splashy world premiere, then fade into relative obscurity. That has not been the fate, though, of Zorro — the operatic treatment of the fabled pulp-fiction character, with score and libretto by Héctor Armienta. The work bowed in a stripped-down form at Fort Worth Opera in 2022 and has subsequently been seen, in its full grand-operatic form, at Opera Southwest and Opera Santa Barbara.
This year, Zorro will ride again, twice — first at Opera San José in April, then in September at Arizona Opera, with a new creative concept spearheaded by Latino American director David Radamés Toro that will appear at both companies.
“We’re approaching it very much from a historical perspective,” says Toro, who worked with assistant director Michelle Cuizon and a design team that includes Liliana Duque Piñeiro (scenic design), Tláloc López-Watermann (lighting), Ulises Alcala (costumes), Christina Martin (hair and makeup), and Dave Maier (fight choreographer) to bring the world of Zorro back to the opera stage. “We aren’t treating these populations just for entertainment. We want to tell their stories.”
This approach is typical for Toro, a native of Colorado Springs who says that he aspires to contribute to the American canon with operas that focus on Latino and Latino American experiences, history, and folklore. He also draws on his background as a mime in developing the physicality of his productions, which range from inherited repertoire like The Marriage of Figaro to newer works like Cruzar la Cara de La Luna (José “Pepe” Martínez, composer; Leonard Foglia and Martínez, librettists), The Shining (Paul Moravec, composer; Mark Campbell, librettist), and Dead Man Walking (Jake Heggie, composer; Terrence McNally, librettist).
The music of Zorro, too, draws on Latin musical traditions, blending Armienta’s neo-romantic melodies with pastiches of vernacular Mexican and Spanish music, such as bulería, a form of flamenco. “I like to write melodies,” Armienta says, noting that Zorro’s score is influenced by Puccini and Verdi.
“The orchestration is big: It sounds like the serials,” says Toro. “It has good old-fashioned arias and duets: sweeping romantic music for the love scenes, and fiery music for the fight scenes.”
Born and raised in Los Angeles, where Zorro is set, Armienta, who describes himself as Mexican American, has written music for several bilingual productions, including Bless Me, Ultima, based on the novel of the same name by Rudolfo Anaya, and Rio de Mujeres (River of Women), a chamber opera set in a small Texas town near the Rio Grande.
