Golijov: Ainadamar

Osvaldo Golijov's latest work, Ainadamar, is a searing opera about personal courage in the face of political repression.  Golijov weaves together two events from Spain’s bloody past using the poignant memories of two women: revolutionary martyr Mariana Pineda and Leftist actress Margarita Xirgu, sung by Dawn Upshaw. Central to the drama is the assassination in 1936 of poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, shot by the Fascists beside a spring in Granada called the Fountain of Tears (Ainadamar, in Arabic).

Golijov has the artistic courage to experiment with exotic combinations to devastating musical effect. Ainadamar has touched audiences and drawn praise from critics all over the world. "The poetic power of Golijov’s lyric voice and pulsating rhythms has a life force all its own." (Los Angeles Times)  "Dawn Upshaw was outstanding as Xirgu, singing here with Mozartian purity, there with gut-wrenching power." (Opera Magazine)