El último sueño de Frida y Diego: A tale of four artists

Arguably Mexico’s most famous artists, Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón and her soulmate, husband, sparring partner, Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez AKA Diego Rivera were certainly the most notorious artist couple of their time. And that’s saying a lot considering the transformative era of Surrealism, Modern art, Cubism, Symbolism, Magical Realism included divos extraordinaire Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Rene Magritte, Amedeo Modigliani, and Joan Miro!

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz, never one to back away from big ideas took on the tempestuous twosome with his frequent collaborator, Grammy Award-winning composer Gabriela Lena Frank to raise the icons from grave to stage with all the drama they deserve. Here’s the premise: A desperate wish on Day of the Dead reunites Diego Rivera with his wife Frida Kahlo, Diego jumps at the chance to seek forgiveness. But Frida refuses to return to the world that caused her so much pain, until another departed soul inspires her to look back at the art (and the man) she once loved.

Kahlo was born July 6, 1907, in Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico twenty years after Rivera. From 1940–1954 they were together; Kahlo left the earthly plane on July 13, 1954, three years before Rivera, who died in 1957 at age 70.

Their union was marked by passion, infidelity, politics and pain, physical and emotional.

Kahlo was gravely injured internally and externally in a bus accident at age 18. A crushed foot and leg were bad enough; but an impaled spine and pelvis left her unable to safely bear a child. Her paintings reflect the daily pleasure-torture of being Frida Kahlo. Rivera was still married when he met art student Kahlo and their torrid affair prompted Rivera’s divorce to wed Kahlo on August 21, 1929. He was 42 and she was 22. The pair divorced and then remarried, living in separate houses in close proximity. A year after Kahlo's death, on July 29, 1955, Rivera married Emma Hurtado, his long-time agent. No doubt, this and other issues cloud their afterlife with unfinished business. This is the stuff great operas are made of!

Award-winning Resident Conductor Lina González-Granados leads a cast loaded with international talent, including Daniela Mack, Alfredo Daza and Ana María Martínez. A spectacle awaits audiences as the artists iconic paintings unite with a folkloric score.

“El último sueño” weaves facets of Aztec beliefs with the myth of Orpheus.

Argentine mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack drapes Frida in her dreamy, agile voice. Alfredo Daza’s guilt-plagued Diego is otherworldly. The publication Classical Voice lauds Daza; thus, “He has the presence and looks of a star — he is perhaps too handsome for verisimilitude as the homely Diego — and a beautiful, warm voice.”

That is true, I saw Alfredo Daza in his prior LA Opera 2017 performance as Zurga in Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers,” his duet with Nino Machaidze, “At The Back Of The Holy Temple" brought the audience to tears-and to their feet. As one of the most beloved duets of opera, period, that’s a litmus test for a baritone, if you don’t nail it, you die, figuratively.

Few in the audience those six years ago knew that Daza was in pain-suffering-and still is-from a brutal 2017 attack outside his home in Berlin. He required a cane but takes no pain meds. His sole focus is on the notes, performance and perfect control.

That’s no joke with shooting pain in your leg. But love of the craft conquers all for Daza. An emotional artist, Daza also allows himself to be moved in the moment.

While performing “El Ultimo Sueno…”, Daza has felt the actual presence of Diego Rivera at a specific scene in the opera, and well, read on for details. Needless to say, this inspired, unique, very Mex-Latino musical artwork en Espanol is not to be missed, if at all possible.

Resident Conductor Lina González-Granados conducts a production crafted by director Lorena Maza and an all-Mexican creative team.

Interview

Top Conductor Lina González-Granados and star baritone Alfredo Daza talk Frida and Diego, classical careers and cool LA Opera colleagues:

Two pillars of the enormous visual and audial feast in preparation for November 18th’s opening found time in their packed schedules to offer La Prensa an exclusive deep dive into their worlds. As a female conductor and opera baritone their jobs are quite different, but these endearing artists live to inspire and embrace the sacrifices of time and discomfort demanded of them for the gorgeous outcome of the writer and composer’s vision on the stage.

L.A. OPERA’s Resident Conductor Lina González-Granados is a new mom of a 3-month-old baby girl and a hero to women who would take the podium. Long a male-only domain, the hopeful progress is the subject of a new documentary MAESTRA by director Maggie Contreras. Maestra follows five international women as they prepare for and perform in 'La Maestra,' the only competition in the world for female orchestra conductors. Interestingly, González-Granados was intended to appear in that film.

However, fate intervened. In June of 2022, González-Granados had her “Bernstein moment” the insider reference refers to conducting icon Leonard Bernstein’s big break in 1943 at Carnegie Hall when famous conductor Bruno Walter suddenly fell ill, Berstein led the New York Philharmonic without a rehearsal.

González-Granados was conducting apprentice at Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the guidance of Riccardo Muti. When 80-year-old Maestro Muti tested positive for COVID, González-Granados had three minutes to get onstage.

As they say, “luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” Her 2022 L.A. Phil debut at the Hollywood Bowl followed. González-Granados conducted two operas in 2022 at L.A. Opera.

González-Granados is on a roll but her true focus is on Latino composers. Artistic Director of Unitas Ensemble a chamber orchestra González-Granados founded, performs work of Latino composers and free performances for underserved communities.

Growing up in Cali, Colombia, as an only child González-Granados had a strong desire to be in contact with others.

“My mom was trained as a doctor, but she devoted her life to me, my dad is a doctor… they didn't know much about music, but they were able to give me a very privileged life in terms of giving me opportunities even if they didn't know about music. I trained as a pianist, and you know I mentioned that it was an only child because this was a very important thing to me. I realized that I wanted to have a lot of connections. Human connections might not be possible when you're studying piano seven hours a day and but it's possible when you're conducting! I wanted to make music with the most amount of people and creators like human connections.”

González-Granados’ body language is so expressive, almost like a loving mother, coaxing her children to be good, to be better, to be perfect.

González-Granados has been conducting since 2008, but her work as Conducting Apprentice at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the guidance of Riccardo Muti, from February 2020 onward gave way to that dramatic 2022 career turning point. It has an almost mystic feel for her.

“I wish I could describe it; I think I'm still processing it. Seriously I don't remember much of it until I was out of it because it was very highly stressed, really. Because you are there to… I was there to assist Maestro, and for me it's a gift to see him conduct. And for me [stepping in] it was more like I couldn’t believe that this could happen! You know he's 80-something years old. I had to step in with three minutes to prepare. I just was so focused, the only thing that I remember was, afterward, you know, feeling very relieved and happy, I learned a lot!”

Opera is a challenging scenario for a conductor, even one with González-Granados’ skills.

“I honestly love opera! I think the act of making an opera is in itself such a herculean task. We have so many people that are putting up their best work, wig makers, makeup artists, the actors, the chorus, the principal singers, the orchestra and the director! There's so much going on to make an opera happen but it's just a miracle in this day and time.”

“Bringing this extraordinary surreal world of Frida and Diego, I think we are all striving for these ideals of beauty, that's why we do it. All just looking to create those moments for the audience. It's a little rush every time I get into the zone.”

So much more than meets the eye, the orchestra pit is a hive of activity.

“In the orchestra pit, I mean I'm giving you a ball park… it could around be 40 to 80 people, you know and then we have a 20 to 40 chorus people and sometimes we have actors-in this case we don't have kids but sometimes they are kid choruses In this case we have four astounding principles and a counter tenor! It's gonna be a beautiful experience.”

Motherhood and conducting opera are not the easiest combo, but juggling an entire orchestra is good practice.

González-Granados is a true working mom, giving her three-month-old daughter an earful of beautiful music.

“The schedule is hard as you know… but she comes to the opera often and I see her there and she's like learning how to live in that world so it's a gift!”

González-Granados is thrilled to be Resident Conductor at LA Opera.

“California is such a welcoming place for Latinos! I really feel at home in the LA Opera; I feel it with open arms it has been beautiful, and I just can't wait to see what else comes every year because I really love being here, I feel very welcome.”

Alfredo Daza, Diego’s heroic defender

Alfredo Daza walks through fire every day to perform. The multiple fracture of the tibia at the knee and calf from an attack in 2017 left him in constant pain. A true artist, baritone Daza utilizes it to deepen his performance, making the agony work for his Diego.

Daza wants the audience to understand Diego Rivera, his complicated, bittersweet love for Frida, and ultimately forgive him. Daza ‘owns’ the Diego role, performed at San Diego Opera, San Francisco Opera, and now L.A. Opera. “El Ultimo Sueno… “is his seventh role with LA Opera, after his most recent appearance as Zurga in The Pearl Fishers in 2017.

Daza comes from a working-class family in Puebla, Mexico.

“There was always music in the house! My father was a devoted classical music fan.”

Daza’s dad unsuccessfully hid his forbidden collection of precious vinyl LP's from his curious son’s sticky fingers. After hearing Beethoven's 9th Symphony “Ode to Joy” at four years old, Daza was transported.

“My brother put this record on, he said, you have to hear this music, you cannot believe-these guys voices-it's amazing!” The music of the great Ludwig wrapped itself around Daza's heart and never let go.

Growing up in a household with a lot of love and not a lot of money, music was his salvation.

“I went to the Conservatory of Music in Puebla, which luckily accepts people with zero knowledge of music!”

Enrolled, Daza was bumped up to first grade at 4 ½. Six years later he shot up to 5’8”. By age 10, his voice had already changed, it was deep, but he could hit the high notes too.

It was the chorus for Daza! That voice just got better and better. Daza’s tailor made for Verdi, Rossini. Bel Canto. After Diego, he eases into Rigoletto. But first, Daza wants audience’s empathy for Diego Rivera:

“This drama that mentions many times that he was a demon, that Diego punished her! So I tried to portray that this human being stood by this sick person, did that support of her art, adored her, this is what I tried to portray, my knowledge of him; and of them. I admire him for that reason. He is one of the greatest painters in the whole history of Mexico.”

Daza relates to Frida’s pain as well.

"I was attacked by two men at the entrance of my home in Berlin, I fought and managed to chase away one of them, but it was not enough. I'm a person that is always in pain, sometimes we get moody you know.” Daza sighs. “All this time in the hospital with this injury, all the complications that I have…the people that stood by me where am I, they just earned double of my love, it's really not easy.”

That heightened sensitivity brings Daza closer to his character; the presence of Diego has come to his attention, mid-performance.

“You know what funnily enough I have felt the presence of Diego, matter of fact it has happened already a couple of times. There is a scene which always kind of breaks me a little bit and I mean I'm happy it happens because I'm an actor! I just always cry because I have to; I play it honestly, sometimes, it just won't stop it and you know crying and singing don’t really go together!”

“I like to feel at ease. L.A. OPERA is a very chill company, very nice people. The CEO Christopher Koelsch is very normal, nice, professional, very relaxing! This is the exception!”

Daza is ambitious for roles, but not for venues.

“As for ‘conquering’ Opera houses, I’m not a conqueror, but I do conquer roles.”

He chuckles. “There’s a famous saying; “Wherever I’m loved, I go.”

This is Daza’s seventh role with LA Opera, after his most recent appearance as Zurga in The Pearl Fishers in 2017. He frequently performs with the Berlin State Opera, appearing there in leading roles of Rossini, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Gounod, Massenet and Puccini. Acclaimed Verdi portrayals in other venues include Ford in Falstaff in Hamburg and Bologna and Germont in La Traviata in Hamburg and Tokyo.

He has sung roles as diverse as Dandini in La Cenerentola in Rome, Sir Robert Cecil in Britten’s Gloriana in Hamburg, and both Scarpia in Tosca and Hermann in Catalani’s Loreley in St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Performance Dates, Times and Address

There will be six performances of El último sueño de Frida y Diego at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, located at 135 North Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012:

•Saturday, November 18, 2023, at 7:30pm

•Sunday, November 26, 2023, at 2pm

•Thursday, November 30, 2023, at 7:30pm

•Sunday, December 3, 2023, at 2pm

•Wednesday, December 6, 2023, at 7:30pm

•Saturday, December 9, 2023, at 7:30pm

Tickets

Tickets begin at $14 and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased online at LAOpera.org, by phone at 213.972.8001, or in person at the LA Opera box office at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (135 N. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90012). For disability access, call 213.972.0777 or email LAOpera@LAOpera.org.

More information about the production is available at LAOpera.org/Frida.

The opera is sung in Spanish and will feature projected subtitles in both English and Spanish.

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