Florencia en el Amazonas, the first Spanish-language opera at the Metropolitan Opera in almost 100 years, is a romantic and magical must-see this holiday season. The plot is simple yet layered, and the cast shines through Daniel Catán’s musical score, all in an enjoyable and bite-sized two-hour production. The Metropolitan Opera always puts on an incredible show, but Florencia en el Amazonas is distinctly unmissable; see it December 5^th, December 9^th, or, at its final performance, December 14th.

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The opera begins in the first years of the 20th century aboard a riverboat El Dorado sailing through the Amazon River Basin between Colombia and Brazil. In the story, introduced by river creature Riolobo, a cast of characters excitedly boards a ship to Manaus to hear the diva Florencia Grimaldi sing. Meanwhile, Grimaldi arrives last to the boat eager to return to the Amazon to find her long lost lover Cristóbal, the man who she claims brought forth her voice. Passengers get to know one another and experience the natural wonders of the Amazon River amidst mishaps and chance encounters with fate and romance until smooth waters turn into a turbulent storm. At the beginning of Act II, in the aftermath of the storm, the passengers try to get their bearings as they seek that which they might have just lost: their life’s work, their spouse, their way to see Grimaldi sing. El Dorado reaches Manaus at the same time that cholera plagues the city, and Grimaldi’s final aria is only heard by the audience in the Met theater.

First performed at the Houston Grand Opera in 1996, Florencia en el Amazonas comes to the Metropolitan Opera in 2023 with a celebrated and diverse cast and Ailyn Pérez as Florencia Grimaldi. The cast includes baritone Mattia Olivieri as Riolobo, Gabriella Reyes as Rosalba, bass-baritone Greer Grimsley as the captain, tenor Mario Chang as Arcadio, and mezzo-soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera and baritone Michael Chioldi are Paula and Álvaro, all of whom ride as passengers of El Dorado. The famed Mexican composer, Daniel Catán (1949–2011), crafted an expertly emotional opera that brought the magical realism of a South American zeitgeist to life. Appropriately so, Marcela Fuentes-Berain, a student of Gabriel García Márquez, wrote the libretto in an other-worldly style steeped in romanticism. Catán’s music and Fuentes-Berain’s libretto are brought to life under the guidance of Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and are accompanied by dancers and puppetry further immersing the characters in the layers of the jungle.

Overall, the production was truly successful because of its poetic, romantic, and at times humorous story. It was easy to follow helped by the translation projected upon the scrim depicting jungle foliage, and no detail was overlooked. The Amazon magically came to life in Florencia en el Amazonas, and, in the future, a return to the Met would be as welcome and necessary as the debut of new Spanish-language operas.