Mulattress is a kind of character to which the Cuban Musical Theater has rendered tribute. However, in the Zarzuela, this character is involved in a tragic or unfortunate atmosphere.

The argument of Cecilia Valdés can be described as follows: The action took place in the colonial Havana, around the year of 1830. The beautiful Cecilia ignored she was a legitimate daughter of the rich Spaniard Cándido de Gamboa; Leonardo was Don Cándido's son, he fell in love with Cecilia without knowing she was his sister , then, they became lovers. On the other hand, the mulatto José Dolores Pimienta felt a hopeless love for Cecilia. Being forced by social conventions Leonardo abandoned Cecilia and got married with the rich woman Isabel Llincheta. When the wedding ceremony ended, Pimienta, instigated by Cecilia, killed Leonardo. Finally, Cecilia, who gave birth a daughter from Leonardo was secluded at Paula´s hospital, where she met her mother by fortune, this one recovered her lost memory and recognized her daughter before dying.

The general structure of Cecilia Valdés belongs to the great Spanish Zarzuela but its music and argument are full of cubanness and its pages contain forms, genres and rhythms of the Cuban Traditional Music.The score of this work reveals Roig's great talent on the creations made for theater, due to his experience as violinist and orchestra director for theater plays.
The record published in CD Cecilia Valdés via Caribe Productions Label was managed by the author, to use it as playback in a transmission of this literary work on March, 1962, through the CMQ television channel. For this recording, the great musician Gonzalo Roig teamed up some of the most remarkable voices of Cuban Lyric Art, he used also the voice of the popular singer Barbarito Diez in the slave song. For all these reasons this record has, without a doubt, an anthological character.

Soloists:
Blanca Varela / Cecilia Valdés
Armando Pico / Leonardo Gamboa
Alba Marina / Isabel Ilincheta
Miguel de Grandy / Pimienta
Barbarito Diez / Canto del Esclavo
Conchita García / Dolorita
Julita Muñoz / Dolores Santa Cruz
Chorus directed by David Rendón, Orchestra CMQ conducted by Gonzalo Roig.

See discography in www.discuba.com

Read the article The Angel of Cecilia Valdés.