Interludio y Danza – from the opera « La Vida Breve »

The 28-year-old composer worked in 1904 on his two-act opera, which he wrote for a competition. De Falla won the first prize, but the premiere did not take place until 1914 in Madrid. De Falla used it as in the ballet “El Amor Brujo”, the Cante Jondo, an element of Spanish folklore. This opera is the most Spanish of all operas and founded the future musical language of De Falla’s. The plot of the opera addresses the theme of a love between two people who are not of the same social class. Born into a poor Gitano family, Solidad has an eye for the loving upper-class, young man Paco who wants to marry Solidad, in spite of his oath of same society status marriage. Solidad eventually dies of grief from love, betrayal and death; a powerful trio of themes for a dramatic story.