Zarzuela Music of Cuba

Zarzuela is a small scale light operetta pattern. Starting off with imported Spanish content (list zarzuela composers), this established into the running of the commentary on the Cuban’s social and political activities and problems. Zarzuela has the different of providing Cuba’s first recording: the soprano Chalia Herrera from 1864 to 1968 made the outside Cuba, the first recordings by a Cuban artist. She recorded a number from the zarzuela Cadiz in 1898 on unnumbered Bettini cylinders.

source of picture: www.zarzuela.net

The zarzuela reached its end in the first half of the 20^th century; a cord of front rank singers like Gonzalo Roig, Eliseo Grenet, Ernesto Lecuona and Rodrigo Prats produced a number of hits for the Regina and Marti theatres in Havana. The greatest stars such as Vedette Rita Montaner, who could sing, play the piano, dance and also act, were the Cuban approximate of Mistinguett and Josephine Baker in Paris. Some of the best pronoun zarzuelas are La virgin moerna (Grenet), La Nina Rita (Grenet and Leucona), maria la o, El batey, Rosa la China (all Lecuona); Gonza,lo Roig with La Habana de noche; Rodrigo Prats with Amalia Batista and La perla del caribe etc.