Plot and Creation: Florencia en el Amazonas

The Work of Gabriel García Márquez

After seeing a production of Daniel Catán’s second opera La Hija de Rappaccini (Rappaccini’s Daughter), Colombian author and Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez (1927–2014) expressed interest in writing a libretto for the composer. Ultimately, the job fell to his student, Marcela Fuentes-Berain, who based the work on the magicalrealist worlds found across her mentor’s oeuvre. The resulting opera, Florencia en el Amazonas, is original and not based on any single García Márquez work, but it does share certain aspects of plot and setting with his novel El amor en los tiempos del cólera (Love in the Time of Cholera, 1985).

The novel, which takes places in an unnamed port city in Colombia between the 1880s and 1930s, chronicles the lives of Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza over several decades. The two first meet as teenagers and fall in love, but Fermina’s father Lorenzo—a conman who disguises himself as a wealthy entrepreneur—explicitly forbids their courtship and takes his daughter to live in another city. Florentino and Fermina, however, continue to write each other letters; they are aided by Fermina’s aunt, Escolástica, who helped raise the young Fermina after her mother’s death. When Lorenzo learns of the clandestine correspondence, he banishes his sister for her complicity in Fermina and Florentino’s romance.

Fermina later marries Dr. Juvenal Urbino, a renowned physician from a noble family dedicated to the eradication of cholera—a disease from which his own father, also a doctor, died. They have two children and remain together until Juvenal dies after falling off a ladder while attempting to reach his pet parrot in a mango tree. After this accident, Florentino once again confesses his love for Fermina and maintains that he has remained faithful to her. (In truth, he has had hundreds of affairs.) Still, the two former lovebirds decide to spend their remaining days together as a couple. At the end of the novel, they take a steamship cruise headed for La Dorada, Colombia—a winding journey that allows them to rekindle their relationship.

Several aspects of Love in the Time of Cholera manifest in Catán’s opera, foremost among them the transformative power of love. In Florencia and Cristobal’s story we see a reflection of Florentino and Fermina’s lost-and-found romance. The decades-long scope of García Márquez’s narrative also tells of young lovers and bickering married couples—both appearing in Florencia as Rosalba and Arcadio and Paula and Alvaro, respectively. Other details from the novel also have their analogues in the opera. The steamship cruise provides the broader setting for Florencia; the destination of La Dorada perhaps supplies the name of Catán’s boat, El Dorado; the novel prominently features the steamship captain Diego Samaritano, likely the model for the captain; Juvenal’s accidental death falling out of a mango tree roughly approximates Alvaro’s (temporary) death after he pushes a tree limb away from the boat; and the decision to quarantine onboard and avoid disembarking also occurs in the novel, though for quite different reasons. One of the opera’s final images, which sees coffins from Manaus floating down the Amazon, corresponds precisely to a scene where cholera-infected corpses fill the river’s waters.

Act I

The El Dorado, a steamboat sailing down the Amazon from Leticia, Colombia, to Manaus, Brazil, in the early 1900s

Florencia Grimaldi, a famous opera diva, arrives incognito to board the El Dorado. As passengers reach the dock, vendors offer various goods, fruits, elixirs, and liquor. Riolobo, a shape-shifting mystical figure, announces Florencia’s arrival and her plan to sing at the reopening of the opera house in Manaus—her first performance in South America in two decades. He then introduces the other passengers one by one: the captain, who relishes life (and is rewarded in return); Arcadio, the captain’s nephew, cursed to be dissatisfied with his lot; Rosalba, a young journalist writing a biography of Florencia; and Paula and Alvaro, a middle-aged married couple on the rocks. As the captain announces all aboard and the ship begins to pull away, Florencia realizes she has missed the embarkment and runs towards the boat. She takes Riolobo’s hand and jumps on board just as it departs.  

Once aboard, Rosalba approaches Florencia, still in disguise. Florencia recounts how she scorned her former lover, Cristobal, to advance her career as a performer. She regrets having forsaken her homeland and has returned at last to rediscover her true self. In the engine room of the ship, Arcadio and the captain check the steam valves. Arcadio, distracted by his own feelings of inadequacy, asks his uncle for guidance. Later, Arcadio and Rosalba meet on deck. Rosalba accidentally drops her notebook over the side of the boat. She reaches for it, despairing that she has lost two years of work, but Arcadio holds her back and retrieves the notebook. When Rosalba tells him she is writing a book about Florencia, Arcadio confesses he feels that he has wasted his life. Paula and Alvaro appear on the deck, dressed elegantly to dine, and immediately begin to bicker. Alvaro orders wine, Champagne, and marinated iguana despite Paula’s revulsion at the dish. She throws her wedding ring into the Champagne bottle, and he follows suit. As they confess their inability to forgive one another, Alvaro throws the bottle overboard.

The next morning, Florencia emerges from her cabin and talks with the captain. He recalls encountering a young butterfly hunter, Cristobal Ribeiro da Silva, who went in search of the rare “emerald muse” and was lost in the jungle. Realizing the butterfly hunter is her former love, Florencia faints. The captain wakes her and she retires to her cabin. That afternoon, Arcadio, Rosalba, Paula, and Alvaro play cards on deck. Split into teams of two, Arcadio and Rosalba—sensing their romance bloom—defeat Paula and Alvaro, who continue to argue. At the helm of the ship, the captain feels red rain fall on his uniform. He calls for Riolobo as the current grows stronger and asks Rosalba to fetch Arcadio. Thunder and lightning strike as Paula and Alvaro appear, both sick from the storm. Florencia, too, surfaces. As the storm heightens, the passengers confess their deepest wishes: Rosalba, to meet Florencia and interview her; Florencia, to find Cristobal; Paula and Alvaro, to remain by each other’s side. Arcadio finally arrives and confesses his love to Rosalba. Meanwhile, Alvaro offers to help push a log away from the ship and falls into the river. A lightning bolt strikes the captain, and he falls unconscious. Riolobo appears as a winged creature hovering above the river. He begs the river to have mercy, summoning the chorus to echo his call. While the storm rages on, Arcadio takes the helm of the ship as it runs adrift.

Act II

The disabled ship, beached by the side of the river, is covered by a large mosquito net.

In her cabin, Florencia wonders whether she is alive or dead. She calls out to Cristobal, striking her mirror; it shatters and cuts her hand. Having confirmed that she is indeed alive, she resolves to find Cristobal. Arcadio and Rosalba, on opposite sides of the boat, are relieved to find each other safe and sound. They express feelings for each other but refuse to become lovers, fearing they would suffer too much, and part ways. Paula emerges, searching for Alvaro on the riverbank and wondering how she can live without him.

The El Dorado sets off again on its journey. Riolobo appears, thanking the river spirits for not destroying the ship. The captain returns, impressed by how well Arcadio handled the boat during the storm. Arcadio feels ill and attributes it to seasickness, but the captain thinks he is merely lovesick. He gives Arcadio an amulet. Rosalba, Florencia, and Paula reappear. Just as Paula prepares to report that Alvaro is gone, he reemerges, to everyone’s shock. He tells them that he died in the storm but was resurrected by Paula’s voice, which Riolobo confirms. Rosalba, meanwhile, finds her notebook destroyed and laments losing her work. Florencia comforts her, revealing that the singer she admires so deeply only became a great performer after falling in love. Rosalba counters that the diva Grimaldi is a free woman who never succumbed to love. Florencia encourages Rosalba to let love overcome her; only then will she become a great writer. Rosalba realizes Florencia’s true identity, and they embrace. The captain emerges, announcing the ship’s arrival in Manaus.

Arcadio tells Rosalba that they will arrive in time to see Florencia perform, and she kisses him. They swear to love each other without fear. Meanwhile, Paula and Alvaro recommit to each other. Riolobo suddenly appears, announcing that cholera has overtaken Manaus. The captain reassures the passengers that they will be safe from the disease if they quarantine onboard. Florencia realizes she will not be able to perform at the opera house and exits in despair. Coffins from the city float down the river. Florencia appears once more on the deck, singing out for Cristobal. Determined not to lose him again, she transforms into a butterfly and goes in search of her lost love.

1949
Daniel Catán is born on April 3 in Mexico City to a family of Russian and Sephardic Jewish heritage. As a child, Catán’s mother encourages him to take piano lessons, and his father introduces him to Cuban music, especially boleros and son.

1963
As a teenager, Catán moves to England to attend boarding school. He continues studying piano, winning several local competitions, and encounters opera for the first time.

1970
Catán earns bachelor’s degrees in philosophy from the University of Sussex and in music from the University of Southampton.

1977
Catán earns a PhD in music composition and theory from Princeton University, where he studies with American composer and music theorist Milton Babbitt. He returns to Mexico to work as an administrator at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, where he also founds and conducts a small chamber orchestra.

1979
Catán’s first chamber opera Encuentro en el Ocaso (Encounter at Dusk), with a libretto by Carlos Montemayor, premieres at Teatro de la Ciudad in Mexico City.

1986
Catán is appointed composer-in-residence at Washington National Opera.

1987–89
Catán writes and revises his second opera, La Hija de Rappaccini (Rappaccini’s Daughter), while traveling across Asia. He receives an award from the Japan Foundation to live in Tokyo, after which he travels to Indonesia, where he encounters the Balinese gamelan. Struggling to support himself as a composer, Catán returns to Mexico City and takes a job as loan officer at a local bank.

1991
With a libretto by Juan Tovar, La Hija de Rappaccini—based on the eponymous play by Mexican poet and collaborator Octavio Paz and the short story by American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne— premieres at Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. Colombian author and Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez attends a performance of the opera and subsequently offers to help Catán with a future work.

1994
Catán is the first Mexican composer to have an opera produced in the United States when San Diego Opera stages La Hija de Rappaccini. He also writes music for the telenovela El vuelo del águila (The Flight of the Eagle), about the life of Mexican president Porfirio Díaz.

1996
Catán’s third opera, Florencia en el Amazonas, premieres at Houston Grand Opera. The first opera in Spanish to be commissioned by a major opera company in the United States, Florencia—with a libretto by Marcela Fuentes-Berain, a student of García Márquez—is a joint commission by Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Seattle Opera, and Ópera de Colombia.

1998
Houston Grand Opera commissions Las Bodas de Salsipuedes (Salsipuedes, a Tale of Love, War, and Anchovies), Catán’s fourth opera, with a libretto by Eliseo Alberto and Francisco Hinojosa. Catán wins the Plácido Domingo Award, which recognizes the achievements of Hispanic artists and their contributions to opera.

2000
Catán wins a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

2003
Florencia en el Amazonas is performed on the stage of the Teatro Amazonas in Manaus, Brazil.

2004
Las Bodas de Salsipuedes premieres at Houston Grand Opera.

2006
Florencia en el Amazonas receives its European premiere at Theater Heidelberg in Germany.

2010
Catán’s final completed opera, Il Postino (The Postman), premieres at LA Opera. The libretto is written by Catán himself, based on the novel Ardiente paciencia by Chilean writer Antonio Skármeta and the Italian film adaptation directed by Michael Radford. The role of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda is written specifically for tenor Plácido Domingo, a major champion of Catán’s music.

2011
Catán dies of natural causes while working on his next opera, Meet John Doe, commissioned by the Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin, where he was composer-in-residence.