Everywhere you turn at the moment there are shows, exhibitions and every conceivable type of celebration for the 400th anniversary of Cervantes' novel Don Quijote.

Tenor Placido Domingo champions the zarzuela

Almost 150 years ago, in 1856, the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid opened its doors – the first space devoted to a uniquely Spanish art form which first started over 350 years ago.

Unlike Don Quijote, you may never have heard of zarzuela, let alone seen one. And some of your Spanish friends may also know little about it.

One of its biggest fans, though, is the world-famous Three Tenors star Plácido Domingo, is on a mission to change that.

The Madrid-born operatic genius has described himself as "the defender and protector" of the genre which saw its heyday in the 19th and 20th centuries.

In 2000, he told the Spanish daily ABC: "Zarzuela hasn't had any support of any kind. It has been marginalized and has always been ill-treated."

Domingo, who grew up in Mexico, cut his operatic teeth singing zarzuela since his parents had a zarzuela company and has continued to regularly perform the genre throughout his glittering musical career.

On his website, he devotes special attention to it, defining it as "a traditional Spanish musical genre which is frequently compared to the works of Gilbert and Sullivan and the Viennese operettas of Johan Strauss".

Zarzuelas differ from opera in that they include spoken sections interspersed between the singing and a rather different tone.

For Domingo, although zarzuelas began in the 17th century to entertain Spain's King Philip IV and his courtiers, (performed in a pavilion surrounded by 'zarzas' - brambles) their plots tend to centre on working class or middle-class life and, whether romantic, political or tragic in theme, use "an ample sprinkling of popular Spanish humour".

Madrid baritone Carlos Bergasa, who like many Spanish classical singers performs zarzuela as well as opera, cites the humour and the quality of the music as aspects which delight performers and audiences.

A zarzuela cast pose for publicity shots before a performance

However, Bergasa insists that zarzuelas also have the potential to appeal to non-Spanish audiences.

"I've had colleagues who've taken productions to France, Germany, the States and the UK and they are always a success," he says.

Opera goers are already used to hearing productions in Italian and German, he points out.

"It's a question of getting the right translation and translating the jokes properly," he says.

Domingo clearly managed to get the English subtitles right when he took El gato montés and Doña Francisquita to Washington for sell-out performances, which received rave reviews.

Both are early 20th-century zarzuelas – the first about a love triangle set in the world of bullfighting in Andalusia and the second a story of love games in 19th-century Madrid.

The success of those zarzuelas will surely lead to more world tours in the years to come, but for the moment those of us who live in Spain remain the lucky ones.

We can catch zarzuela productions on the TV and radio and touring the country, as well as in its heartland Madrid and in particular at the Teatro de la Zarzuela.

So what's the best first zarzuela to see? Bergasca recommends La verbena de la paloma (The Pharmacist and the Girls), composed by Tomás Bretón with a libretto by Ricardo de la Vega, which is coincidentally on at the Teatro de la Zarzuela from December.

It's about a poor typesetter whose girlfriend incenses him by dancing with an old, but rich, pharmacist.

"It's accessible for those who've never seen zarzuela or opera because it's a genero chico [a one-act zarzuela]," says Bergasca. "And the music is marvellous – world-class quality."

More information about the Teatro de la Zarzuela's programme can be found at: Calle Jovellanos, 4, tel: 915 245 400, http://teatrodelazarzuela.mcu.es/

[Copyright Expatica]

[November 2005]

Subject: Spain; history of the zarzuela