Ainadamar is an Arabic word meaning ‘fountain of tears’ and is one of the names of a natural spring located near the Spanish city of Granada; the site where Federico García Lorca was executed in 1936.
Federico García Lorca is one of the most important and influential Spanish poets and dramatists of the twentieth century. Born on 5 June 1898, Lorca grew up in rural Andalusia, near Granada, surrounded by images and social conditions that would influence his future works. He attended Granada University to study law but turned to writing in his late teens before moving to Madrid, where he became close friends with artist Salvador Dalí.
Lorca achieved his first major theatrical success in 1933 with the premiere of Blood Wedding, which helped inaugurate the most brilliant era of Spanish theatre before travelling to Argentina to oversee many productions of his plays.
The Spanish Civil War broke out in August 1936 and, due to his homosexuality and liberal views, Lorca was imprisoned without a trial and later executed by a Falange firing squad on 18 or 19 August - the precise date has never been verified.
Catalan actress Margarita Xirgu, friend and muse to Lorca, spent her career portraying Mariana Pineda in Lorca’s play of the same name. Pineda was a 19th century political martyr executed for sewing a revolutionary flag against the absolutist Spanish regime with the slogan ‘Equality, Freedom and Law’. Lorca idolised Pineda, whose statue could be seen from the window of his family’s home in Granada. Lorca asked Xirgu to play the title role at the premiere at Teatre Goya, Barcelona in June 1927, with scenic design and costumes by Salvador Dalí. Xirgu fled Spain at the beginning of the Civil War, whilst her friend Lorca refused to leave. She then devoted her life to playing Mariana Pineda and to keeping Lorca’s words alive.
Ainadamar is the story of Xirgu and Lorca’s relationship, told through the memories of the actress to her student, Nuria. The opera begins as Xirgu is, once again, preparing to take the stage as Mariana Pineda while a group of young actresses sing the opening ballad.
She recalls the brilliance of Lorca to her young student Nuria, telling her of their meeting in a bar in Madrid where he first described his play to her. Her flashback is interrupted by a Falange radio broadcast stating that the party will stamp out the beginnings of the revolution. With the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, Xirgu begs Lorca to join her and her theatre company in Cuba, and in her memories, she sings of finding freedom. However, Lorca refuses and stays in Granada, insisting that he must write about his country’s suffering.
In the present, Xirgu is dying but insists on performing as Pineda one last time. She tells Nuria that an actor lives only for a moment, but the idea of freedom will never die. She is interrupted by a vision of Lorca, who thanks her for immortalising his spirit on stage, in the hearts of her students, and for the world.
This Autumn, experience opera like never before as Ainadamar takes to the stage. Fusing flamenco and opera in an 80-minute whirl wind look at the fascinating life of Lorca, touring to Cardiff, Llandudno, Bristol, Birmingham, Milton Keynes and Southampton between 9 September and 22 November.