Solists/Wexford Fest/Darman - Granados:Maria Del Carmen

Mar�a del Carmen was Enrique Granados' first great operatic success and the stage work he held in highest regard. It was received with great acclaim at its premi�re in 1898, admired for its refined and brilliant orchestral writing and for its profound lyricism. Using the folklore, language and sounds of Murcia in south-eastern Spain alongside the influence of Wagnerian thematic techniques, the opera is set in a rural village where a water shortage and a love triangle inflame the mutual hatred between the peasant farmer Pencho and his wealthy rival Javier.