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Transformative piece: Composer Jorge Martin at the helm of Opera Southwest's 'Before Night Falls' to be staged at NHCC
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The Cuban author Reinaldo Arenas was a dissident, unapologetically gay, political prisoner who escaped oppression and spent the final 10 years of his life in the United States.
The Cuban American composer Jorge Martin was mesmerized by Arenas鈥� memoir 鈥淏efore Night Falls鈥� but couldn鈥檛 see it as an opera.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think it would work as an opera because it was a life,鈥� Martin said in a telephone interview from his home in El Paso.
Opera Southwest will perform Martin鈥檚 musical take on 鈥淏efore Night Falls鈥� at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 1; 2 p.m. Saturday, March 2, and Sunday, March 3.
Martin developed a through line to tell the story with flashbacks; it begins at the end when Arenas is dying of AIDS.
鈥淎 friend gave me a copy of the book,鈥� Martin said. 鈥淚t was very entertaining and wonderful. It was so rich with emotion.
鈥淗e flashes back throughout his life,鈥� he continued. 鈥淗e takes his life with the help of a friend. He knew he was going to die.鈥�
Despite such a tragic end, Martin insisted the opera is not tragic.
鈥淗e was a writer and the arts can be transformative,鈥� he said.
Arenas began by siding with the rebels at the start of the Cuban revolution. But by the end, he became a vocal critic. Eventually, he published a book overseas without governmental permission.
鈥淚t caused a ruckus鈥� Martin said.
He was sentenced to eight years in prison.
He was eventually forced to renounce his work, which was considered 鈥渃ounterrevolutionary.鈥� Arenas was able to leave Cuba in 1979, when Fidel Castro attempted to rid the country of those he deemed socially 鈥渦ndesirable.鈥�
鈥淚n 1980, a crowd broke into the Peruvian Embassy,鈥� Martin said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not on Cuban soil anymore.鈥�
The embassy was flooded with people wanting to escape, becoming an embarrassment to Castro.
鈥淗e let out homosexuals, undesirables and psychopaths,鈥� Martin said.
Arenas knew he would not be released because he was a dissident. He noticed someone had hand-scrawled his name on his visa. But the 鈥渆鈥� resembled an 鈥渋.鈥� Arenas dotted the letter and managed to get out.
The opera is about the search for freedom, Martin said.
鈥淭he character of Reinaldo was very compelling to me,鈥� he said. 鈥淗e made enemies on the left and the right 鈥� on the right because he was homosexual and on the left because he was anti-Castro.鈥�
The theme of escape runs throughout the libretto.
Martin had not written any music in the Cuban style before.
鈥淭he piece is permeated with particular rhythms from Santeria,鈥� he said.
Santeria is an African diasporic religion that developed in Cuba during the late 19th century. It arose through a process of merging between the traditional Yoruba religion of West Africa, the Roman Catholic form of Christianity, and Spiritism.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a drum pattern,鈥� Martin added.
鈥淚 woke up from a dream with a melody,鈥� he continued. 鈥淚 jotted it down; I knew it was for this.鈥�
Because the story is so male-dominated, Martin added to female muses to include the female voice.
鈥淚t makes it more lyrical,鈥� he said. 鈥淗e dies at the end, but it鈥檚 not a tragedy. 鈥淗is life has a more uplifting story.鈥�
鈥淏efore Night Falls鈥� stars Brian James Myer as Rey.
