Golijov: Ainadamar

Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar is a short opera addressed to one of the cataclysmic events in twentieth century Spanish culture, the murder of poet Federico García Lorca by Falangist enforcers. In this premiere recording, Osvaldo Golijov: Ainadamar, Dawn Upshaw portrays Margarita Xirgu, the Spanish actress who took the lead role in the original production of The House of Bernarda Alba and attempted to save García Lorca through luring him to Cuba, an option he elected not to take. Kelley O'Connor portrays the ill-fated García Lorca in a performance given with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under Robert Spano and featuring its women's chorus. Ainadamar premiered at Tanglewood in 2003, and proved a little on the lean side dramatically, so Peter Sellars was brought in to punch up the libretto, and he contributes the summary here.
First, the good -- this is definitely a plum role for Upshaw, who most often appears as an art song singer. Her dramatic turns have tended to be limited to pieces where an expert singer is required, but drama itself is not at a premium, such as in Messiaen's opera St. Francis d'Assise or Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress. In Ainadamar, Upshaw gets to play to the third balcony and she clearly relishes the opportunity, turning in a terrific performance. The quality of the Deutsche Grammophon recording is outstanding, and everyone in the cast and orchestra take pride of place alongside Upshaw in making Ainadamar everything it should be. Pre-recorded sound effects and added percussion parts merge seamlessly into the musical texture as if these elements were live.
Now, the not so good -- Golijov has proven himself one of the outstanding voices among concert composers of late in such works as La Pasíon de Según San Marcos and The Dreams and Players of Isaac the Blind. These pieces have shown a facility with mixing up influences -- Klezmer, traditional Argentine folk music, pop music, what have you -- in a stew that has some affinity with "downtown" New York composers, but also demonstrates a clear ability in terms of scoring and instrumental aptitude. In Ainadamar, Golijov plays it safe, creating a work that, while in full absorption of traditional, and even some concerted, Latin music (such as Revueltas) is pretty conservative overall, almost sounding like a zarzuela or, at worst, like Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita with better music. This may well expand the appeal of Golijov to an audience that does not know his name, but to those who have embraced Golijov based on what he has already done, this isn't going to help at all. The serious subject of Ainadamar does not defeat the fact that its music sounds commercial, as well crafted as it is. It may well still succeed; there's no reason why it should, but the lack of risk-taking in Ainadamar is tantamount to Golijov moving into another camp of composers -- some might say on his way up in the world, but others may decide that it's "out."