La Reina
Available for Production
INSTRUMENTATION
14 Players
fl (=afl, picc), ob (=corA), cl (bcl), bn (=cb) / tpt, tbn / pno (=kbd), 1 perc / 2vln, vla, vlc, db(=ebgtr), laptop for electronic cues
CHORUS
None
ROLES
9 Singers
REGINA (Mezzo-Soprano)
LA SANTA MUERTE (Coloratura Soprano)
EL GRINGO (Baritone)
YOUNG REGINA (Lyric Soprano)
EL POZOLERO (Tenor)
EL GOBERNADOR / GUARD 1 (Tenor)
REPORTER / DEA AGENT / JEFE DE SICARIOS (Tenor)
EL SENOR DEL NORTE / GUARD 2 (Bass Baritone)
DON NETO / WARDEN (Bass Baritone)
DURATION
110’, Two Acts with One Intermission
HISTORY
Commission by ALT: 2012
Libretto Workshop & Reading: January 2013
Public reading part of the The Living Libretto series
Piano/Vocal Workshop & Concert: June 2013
Orchestral Workshop & Concert: January 2016 Presented in partnership with the PROTOTYPE Festival
La Reina is an electro-acoustic opera with text in Spanish and English. Drawing its narrative from the drug trade in Mexico and the United States, the opera is inspired by some of the most vivid real life players in this increasingly violent war from the past and present.
Composer Jorge Sosa’s music blends classically trained voices with a chamber orchestra of acoustic and electronic forces, and powerfully conveys a gripping libretto by Laura Sosa Pedroza.
Regina, a character inspired by Sandra Ávila Beltrán known as “The Queen of the Pacific,” prays in an American prison cell, asking the patron saint of drug dealers, to protect her. Suddenly, the shrine comes to life. La Santa Muerte guides Regina on a journey through her past, forcing her to relive the tragic sequences of death and treason that led to her crowning as the queen of organized crime, and ultimately, her downfall and imprisonment.
Why write La Reina?
Jorge Sosa, Composer
“By the end of President Felipe Calderón's administration, over 6 years, the official death toll of the Mexican drug war was at least 60,000 souls - but estimates set the real death toll well above 120,000, not including 27,000 people who have gone missing missing. Most of these murders and abductions go unreported and are rarely prosecuted. In this era of constant surveillance, GPS systems, satellite imaging, camera-phones and obsessive documentation of daily life, how can a person vanish without a trace? Organized crime operates with impunity and often in conjunction with local, state, and the federal governments. This is a humanitarian crisis that the world refuses to acknowledge. This is a war that has no ideology, no opposing armies, no nationalistic fervor, only human tragedy and desolation.
We are not naïve, thinking that our work will have a significant impact, that it will change the climate of violence, that it could spark positive social change. Instead we hope that we can connect with individuals through the music and the story. We hope that the piece will resonate with people because it reflects real life. At the heart, La Reina is a story of love and betrayal, framed by an international violent conflict. We hope that you will cry, and laugh with us and find a moment of catharsis with this piece. And we hope that if you have experienced violence, or if you are affected by violence, that the music will help you heal as it has helped us by creating it.”
Laura Sosa Pedroza, Librettist
“The world of drug trafficking in Mexico was historically reserved for men. In recent years, however, we more frequently hear stories in the news of women who are involved in organized crime: as traffickers, kidnapers, murderers or even as leaders of drug cartels. Perhaps because we are a conservative society or because we cannot stop associating women with concepts such as maternal nurturing, tenderness, and helplessness, stories of female criminals tend to have a stronger impact on public opinion. It is unavoidable to ask: what drives a woman to become part of a world marked by extreme violence, revenge, and executions?
As a screenwriter for the HBO Latino’s Emmy nominated series Capadocia, which deals with stories of women who have been imprisoned, one of the most interesting parts of my work has been to explore the causes, the context, and the motivations that led women to commit a crime. The possibility to continue to explore these motivations in the context of opera is very attractive to me. Even more so, in these times of extreme crisis and the violence that threaten our country, I consider it a personal obligation to write this piece, to tell the world how much we have suffered in Mexico this last nine years because of this extreme violence.”
Media
Workshop Videos (Complete Workshop Video Available Upon Request)
Materials
Libretto
Piano Vocal Score
Full Score
Interested in licensing this opera? Visit our Licensing and Materials page to start an inquiry!