We do not know our 19th century; It is a pending task, says musicologist

The Restrene of Section, Opera written in the second half of the nineteenth century by Miguel Meneses, who remained in oblivion for almost 150 years, highlights one of the great slopes to attend within that musical genre in Mexico: to turn to the repertoire created in the country during that century and rescue him with the purpose of knowing it, studying it, putting it in value and taking it on stage.

In general terms, we do not know our nineteenth century; It is a pending task that we have as a societyaffirms the historian and musicologist Aurea Maya in an interview regarding the production of that title by Mexico Opera Studio (MOS).

This work written in 1868, is based on the homonymous novel by French François-René de Chateaubriand, which tells the impossible love between an indigenous Christian and an indigenous one of an enemy tribe. The functions will be today and tomorrow at 8:00 p.m., at the Carlos Prieto de Monterrey Auditorium, Nuevo León.

“The contemporary premiere of Section It is another step to continue completing this framework and be able to appreciate what we have always been (in terms of opera), and that we have a bit forgotten, ”he says.

Responsible for the recovery of this work, a work that includes historical research and contemporary edition of the score from the original manuscript, a task carried out with the baritone Carlos Reynoso, the researcher recriminates that the first time that a national nineteenth -century opera was heard again was in 1994, with Ildegonda, by Melesio Morales (1838-1908), released in 1866, thanks to the recovery she made of that work next to her colleague Eugenio Delgado.

From then on, he points out, only a few more have been heard, such as Catalina de Guisa, of Cenobio Paniagua (1821-1882), considered the first operatic title of a Mexican composer to be taken to the scene in our country, released in 1859; Atzimba, by Ricardo Castro (1864-1907), and Anita, also from Morales. These last two, although they were written at the beginning of the 20th century, are considered operas with the influence of the nineteenth century.

In that same category enters Rudel’s legend, by Ricardo Castro, of 1906, which was taken to the scene in 2022 by the MOS in the Neolon Capital, and that this 2025 will be the work with which the National Opera Company (CNO) will close its annual season in the Palace of Fine Arts.

It seems very good that there is Mexican opera in Fine Arts, not only contemporary, but also of the nineteenth century. Finally, it is a way to recognize ourselves in it. There are several Mexican operas of that century that are there to be recoveredthe specialist maintains, and ensures that At least there are about 25 waiting In the Historical Archive of the National Conservatory of Music and in the Zeballos-Paniagua Archive, protected at the National Center for Research, Documentation and Musical Information (Cenidim) Carlos Chávez, the latter institution in which she has been a researcher since 1991.

Result of a two -year job, the recovery and editing of Section has been possible thanks to the project Opera, our forgotten inheritance, Headed by singer Carlos Reynoso and soprano Ana Rosalía Ramos, who will be the protagonist of this assembly by the MOS.

The version that will be presented is piano, with the scenic direction of Rennier Piñero and musical of Alejandro Miyaki. The project, beneficiary of the creation support system and cultural projects (formerly FONCA), also contemplates the version and the orchestra, although it must wait for at least a year for the edition of the scores and partners to end, Aurea Maya points out.

The musicologist tells that the choice of this opera responds not only to the fact that all the conditions to rescue and take it on stage were given, it was found full in the Historical Archive of the Conservatory; That is, the orchestral manuscript and the song and piano version, in addition to the partichelas. It is also very important that with it attention is paid in that generation of national composers promoted by the second empire.

From the 19th century we know Melesio Morales, Cenobio Paniagua, Aniceto Ortega and Ricardo Castro, but we lack that generation supported by the Maximilian empire, in which, in addition to the first two, Miguel Meneses and Octaviano Valle also appear, which are the four great operators of the middle of that centuryhe explains.

The only one that transcended was Morales, and that is because he was a republican; He always raised that flag, even in Maximiliano times. That earned him a lot, besides he was a very good composer. The others were annulled with the arrival of Benito Juárez. So, it is a recovery work of our past and musical memory.

Although he was an influential composer in his time and his name appears mentioned in books, little is known about Miguel Meneses, by scarceing the sources about his life and his work. You don’t even have the data of your place or date of birth. There are news that it was in Pachuca, Hidalgo, at the end of the 1830s.

It is also certain that he was the author of at least five operas: Now, Rey de Nubia, released in 1864, in the Imperial Theater, in Mexico City; Section, In 1879, in the Degollado Theater, Guadalajara, Jalisco; Louise of the Valley, about 1874, without premiere data; Judith, created around 1876, and lost, and The fairy of the Lake, composed about 1878, of which it is unknown if it premiered. All are protected in the National Conservatory.

It even ignores where he died and the place where his remains lie, he adds.

“We do not know the circumstances for which Miguel Meneses went to Europe, to Milan, the cradle of the opera, where he died in 1882. The newspapers indicate his death there and left an orphan son in precarious conditions.

“In Mexico, he made a stir in the newspaper to bring his body and his son, in order to provide shelter. We don’t know more. But there are also some sources that indicate that death occurred in Bombay, India.

Perhaps it is a typographic error of the newspaper that was later repeated in history, so there are several books that reproduce it.