Manuel de Falla's short opera "La vida breve" is perhaps the greatest
opera in the entire Spanish repertoire. Premiered in 1913, it is the tragic
story of the poor gypsy Salud, whose lover Paco betrays her and plans to
wed a wealthy young woman. In his production at Valencia's Palau de les
Arts "Reina Sofia", director Giancarlo del Monaco creates a psychological
drama in which Salud is on stage at all times, as if witnessing her own
living nightmare of blood and shame. Conductor Lorin Maazel, whom
national daily El Paìs hails as the "triunfador" of the evening, leads an
exquisite band of soloists headed by Chilean soprano Cristina Gallardo-
Domâs, Jorge de León Paco and María Luisa Corbacho.