Before the emergence of Daniel Catán, whose Rappaccini's Daughter (1991) and Florencia en el Amazonas (1996) have had considerable exposure and success, Mexican opera had passed largely under the radar of most opera lovers. Urtext's excellent new recording of La Mulata de Córdoba (1948) by José Pablo Moncayo (1912-1958) helps fill in that gap in awareness. La Mulata was Moncayo's only opera, and it appears to be sui generis. The term "magical realism" was not used in connection with Latin American literature until the 1960s, but it seems to be the most apt description of the work of Xavier Villaurrutia, who, in collaboration with Agustín Lazo, devised the libretto based on his poem of the same name. The story begins in Córdoba, where Soledad, a mysterious, ageless woman appears to cause the death of her beloved. The scene abruptly changes to Mexico, where the Inquisition condemns her to death for refusing to reveal her parentage. Before she is executed, she draws a picture of a boat on a wall, into which she steps and sails away to freedom with her beloved.
For all the mystery of the story, Moncayo's music is almost entirely straightforward and uncomplicatedly upbeat, as though he had made the decision to give musical expression to Soledad's carefree and sunny optimism, rather than to the desperate circumstances in which she tends to find herself. Even her confrontation with the Inquisition seems not to phase her, or the equanimity of the music. In the final magical transformation, though, the music achieves a glowing transcendence. The performance, conducted by Juan Carlos Lomónaco, leading the Orquesta Sinfónica Carlos Chávez, is splendid. The orchestra and the chorus play and sing radiantly, and the soloists are first-rate. In particular, mezzo-soprano Gabriela Thierry's voice is dusky and vibrant, and she is entirely convincing as the indefatigable Soledad. Tenor Mauricio Esquivel negotiates the punishingly high role of Anselmo, her lover, with apparent ease and ringing, heroic tone. The sound quality is natural and lively. The CD makes a much needed and beautifully executed addition to the discography of opera in the Americas.