El color local a "La filla del mar" d'Àngel Guimerà, a "Liebesketten" de Rudolph Lothar i Eugen d'Albert i a "La nereide" de Fernando Fontana i Ulisse Trovati

Abstract

Summary: The local colour plays an important role in the realistic drama as well in the Verismo opera. Normally, both emphasise the rural character, but there are some exceptions, for instance La filla del mar, Liebesketten and La nereide, in which the action takes place in a maritime surrounding: Mediterranean in Guimerà’s and Fontana/Trovati’s work, and Atlantic in Lothar/d’Albert’s. These maritime features are embedded in the vocabulary, the scenography, the occupations of the actors as well as in the individual and collective customs and habits (both popular and religious). In the same way, the inclusion of folk songs contributes to an authentic milieu atmosphere. The nucleus of the conflict in La filla del mar lies particularly in the main protagonist’s (Agatha’s) differentness, which is why Lothar/d’Albert adorn her character with more exotic features than in the Catalan play and at the same time endow the music with a characteristic oriental instrumentation. [Keywords: Àngel Guimerà, Rudolph Lothar, Eugen d’Albert, Fernando Fontana, Ulisse Trovati, La filla del mar, Liebesketten, La nereide, local colour, Catalan theatre, Verismo, opera, Catalan folk songs]