Doña Clementina is a late 18th-century zarzuela, a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between sung and spoken scenes, the former incorporating operatic and popular songs.
Its composer, Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805), was born in Italy but spent most of his adult life in Spain. He is best known as a virtuoso cellist and prolific composer of chamber music, including hundreds of string trios, quartets, and quintets, as well as twelve cello concertos and approximately thirty symphonies, many of which have been lost to time. Doña Clementina premiered in Madrid in 1787 and is Boccherini's only complete stage work.
Opera Southwest, Albuquerque's regional opera company, presented the American premiere of Doña Clementina last April, and I was able to photograph a dress rehearsal.
The plot, as with so many operas, is comically convoluted. The widower Don Clemente, sung by J. Diego Gonҫalves . . .
has two marriageable daughters: the demure Clementina (Teresa Castillo) and the flighty, fickle Narcisa (Alejandra Sandoval).
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| Teresa Castillo / Clementina |
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| Alejandra Sandoval / Narcisa |
Courting the two daughters are Don Urbano, a Portuguese gentleman, and the Marquis de la Ballesta, a nobleman, suitors of Clementina and Narcisa respectively.
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| Christian Garcia / Don Urbano, suitor of Clementina |
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| Valentin Mexico / Marquis de la Ballesta, suitor of Narcisa |
In the household are four other characters:
El Paje (the page), a servant, played by Pepe Gallardo.
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| Pepe Gallardo / El Paje |
Doña Damiana, the daughters' tutor and de facto ruler of the house, sung by Eliza Bonet, who previously appeared in the title roles of OSW's productions of Frida (2022) and Carmen (2024).
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| Eliza Bonet / Doña Damiana |
Don Lazzaro, music teacher of Clementina and Narcisa, sung by Carlos Archuleta, who previously appeared in the OSW productions of Pagliacci (2017); Bless Me, Ultima (2018); Tosca (2018); and Turandot (2023).
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| Carlos Archuleta / Don Lazzaro |
Cristeta, a housemaid, sung by Christina Martos.
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| Christina Martos / Cristeta |
Cristeta has her eye on Don Lazzaro, and he likewise on her.
Martos nearly steals the show with a Broadway-style song and dance routine in the middle of Act I:
In the course of the show, the under-currents of petty household jealousies and rivalries bubble up . . .
. . . while Don Clemente seems mostly clueless about what to do about his daughters and the two suitors:
Some hijinks ensue as well . . .
. . . including this moment, when the two suitors confront each other, then break the fourth wall:
And just when things seem to be sorting themselves out, Don Clemente drops a bomb that turns everything upside down.
SPOILER ALERT: Clementina, he announces, is not his daughter but is, in fact, Don Urbano's long-lost sister!
Of course, this freaks everyone out -- especially Clementina herself and her suitor, Don Urbano. Almost immediately, the suitors re-direct their courtship efforts. Don Urbano appeals to Narcisa; the Marquis turns his attention to Clementina.
And for some reason not obvious to me, Don Lazzaro and Cristeta no longer have to hide their affection for each other:
As the curtain falls, all's well that ends well.
After the show, as always, the cast and orchestra remain for notes (comments) about the rehearsal from the director, Pat Diamond.
Then the director choreographs the curtain call with the cast:
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And I get a salute from Christian Garcia:
A couple of other items in the "notes" session are worth mentioning here.
First, frequently during "notes," the singers do silly things. Case in point: Clementina's red scarf or handkerchief.
Notice who has the handkerchief during the "notes" session . . .
. . . and what he does with it while the director is talking.
Second, the singers aren't the only ones who fool around during "notes."
You may have noticed the many pictures that appear (somewhat randomly) during the show on the back wall.
They're all projections on blank screens, and during the show the pictures change. Here's a sequence. Notice the picture over her extended left arm:
Eleven seconds later, there's a new picture in the same frame.
And 12 seconds later the new picture changes color . . .
. . . then changes color again 5 seconds later:
Being busy taking pictures during the show, I had no way of understanding the relationship between the ever-changing pictures on the walls and the actions of the characters. So I have no idea (a) why the pictures kept changing, and changing color, nor (b) why in this case the replacement picture seems to look like the Cisco Kid and Pancho . . . or maybe Butch Cassidy and Sundance. Not exactly what you'd expect in an 18th century Spanish drawing room.
In any case, whatever the purpose of the ever-changing pictures, during the "notes" session, someone at the control desk threw up a new picture in the highest frame above the stage:
Two of the singers -- the Marquis on the left and Don Lazzaro on the right -- happen to notice, while Don Urbano is still in his "Old Mother Hubbard" mode. Do those faces in the picture look familiar?
And then a few others turn to look:
Finally, there's one last chat between director and singer before heading back to the dressing rooms.
If you would like to see these images and more from the dress rehearsal, please visit my photography website, Todos Juntos Photography, by clicking here. Images of the "notes" session, curtain call, the orchestra, and the set are also available in a separate gallery by clicking here.
Enjoy!
