El gato montés


El gato montés is an opera in three acts composed by Manuel Penella who also wrote the Spanish-language libretto. It premiered on 23 February 1916 at the Teatro Principal in Valencia. The opera enjoyed great success in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries and was produced in English as The Wild Cat in New York's Park Theater in 1921 with Penella conducting. According to The New York Times, by the time it had opened in New York, El gato montés had already received 2700 performances.
Interest in the work was renewed when it was revived by the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville in 1992. It subsequently received its first performances in the United States in the original Spanish at Los Angeles Opera in 1994 and Washington National Opera in 1996. The Los Angeles Opera production was filmed for PBS' Great Performances.
Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville presented the title again in its 2021/22 opera season with a production by Spanish opera director Raúl Vázquez that had the premiere at Opera de Tenerife in 2019, and in Oviedo in 2021 .
The first performance in Germany took place at in 2018, under the direction of the Spanish conductor Rodrigo Tomillo.

Roles

  • Soleá
  • Frasquita
  • Loliya
  • Father Antón
  • Rafael Ruiz
  • Juanillo, El gato montés
  • Hormigón
  • Caireles
  • A Gypsy Woman