Coloquio entre dos Perros, Comic Chamber Opera in Nine Scenes
Abstract
Coloquio entre dos Perros (Dialogue between two Dogs) is a comic chamber opera for four solo voices (one mezzo-soprano, one tenor and two baritones) and mixed ensemble (oboe, viola, guitar and percussion). The libretto, written in modern American Spanish, is based on the novel by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra entitled Coloquio que pasó entre Cipión y Berganza, perros del Hospital de la Resurrección, que está en la ciudad de Valladolid fuera de la puerta del campo, a quien comúnmente llaman los perros de Mahudes. The opera is divided into nine scenes, which relate the stories from the life of Berganza, a dog from Seville, who tells those stories to his friend and female dog, Scipiona. The music of the opera explores Messiaen's sixth mode of limited transpositions and its derived modes. Likewise, the music uses rhythmic techniques from traditional Colombian music and scales used in traditional Spanish music.