Chihuahua
Paul A. Epstein
About this work:
Please contact the composer directly for performance materials.
A chamber opera in six scenes with original libretto by Toby Olson.
First production: Temple University Opera Theater, Oct., 2001
Available on request: Score, compact disk, videocassette
Chihuahua is based upon a folk tale gathered along the Mexican border. In this bigoted tale, a wealthy American woman rescues a sick chihuahua in Mexico, smuggles her back to New York City, then discovers that she is not a chihuahua at all, but a Mexican sewer rat. In the chamber opera version of the tale, "Rata" is resurrected through the ministrations of the "Indian Mothers" and becomes Chihuahua, symbol of Mexican fortitude, once again.
Chihuahua is set in 1923, at a time when American interests were involved in the exploitation of Mexican oil, and David, husband of Connie (who has smuggled Rata out of Mexico), is a rich American oil man who thinks of his wife only in monetary terms. David has taken Connie from Mexico as a child bride, just as he has taken the oil. But the illness of Rata, the chihuahua, causes Connie to question her place as a "trinket-wife" in her husband's eyes. She vows to return to Mexico and "Consuela," her real and authentic name.
There's a Chorus, too, in Chihuahua, The Indian Mothers of Mexico, and it effects Rata's cure, which is mother's milk, so that sewer rat becomes chihuahua after all.
Chihuahua takes the form of a comedy, and in the last scene all characters are transformed into right thinking people: David turns from exploiter into humanitarian; the Veterinarian becomes a social activist; Connie returns to her rightful place in Mexico. And Rata is resurrected, and takes her place as the leader of an accomplished revolution at the opera's end.
Critical response:
Toby Olson’s tautly constructed libretto is so packed with symbolism, irony, surrealism and historical allusions that this brief work, suspended upon Paul Epstein’s delicate, neo-Baroque score, creates a swirl of thoughts and emotions for an alert and inquisitive audience. For whatever extra demands this dense story places upon the listener, it was, ultimately, a unique pleasure to be so stimulated by an evening of musical theater. Olson retells an urban legend, in the dark-hued manner
—Peter Burwasser, Philadelphia City Paper
Year composed: 1999
Duration: 01:00:40
Ensemble type: Opera/Theater:Chamber Opera, Two or More Singers
Instrumentation: 1 Flute, 1 Oboe, 1 Clarinet, 1 Piano, 1 Violin, 1 Viola, 1 Cello, 1 Double bass, 3 Soprano, 1 Mezzo-Soprano, 1 Tenor, 1 Bass-Baritone
Instrumentation notes: doubling: cl/bcl