Luisa Fernanda is a romantic zarzuela

Zarzuela

Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...

 in three acts by Federico Moreno Torroba

Federico Moreno Torroba

Federico Moreno Torroba was a Spanish composer, born in Madrid.-Biography:Moreno Torroba is often associated with the zarzuela, a traditional Spanish musical form. Directing several opera companies, Moreno Torroba helped introduce the zarzuela to international audiences...

. The libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

 is written in Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 by Federico Romero and Guillermo Fernández Shaw. The first performance of Luisa Fernanda took place at Teatro Calderón in Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 on March 26, 1932. It was Moreno Torroba’s fourth zarzuela and his first great success .

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, March 26, 1932 (Conductor: - )
Luisa Fernanda	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
Vidal Hernando	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
Duchess Carolina	soprano
Javier Moreno	tenor
Mariana	mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
Anibal	tenor
Don Luis	baritone

Selected recordings

Year	Cast (Luisa Fernanda, Vidal Hernando, Carolina, Javier)	Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra	Label
2006	Nancy Herrera, Plácido Domingo Plácido Domingo Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range... , Mariola Cantarero, José Bros	Jesús López-Cobos Jesús López-Cobos Jesús López-Cobos is a Spanish conductor.López-Cobos was born in Toro, Zamora, Castile-León, Spain. He studied at Complutense University of Madrid and graduated with a degree in philosophy... , Teatro Real Teatro Real The Teatro Real or simply El Real , is a major opera house located in Madrid, Spain.-History:... Orchestra and Chorus	DVD: Opus Arte Cat: 009478 00969

Note: "Cat:" is short for catalogue number by the label company.