This painting, La llegada de Angela Peralta a Mazatlan, is part of the retrospective and captures the arrival of the renowned Mexican operatic soprano in Mazatlan in 1883:
There is quite a story behind this image. Peralta, who was a gifted pianist, harpist, and composer as well as singer, had been the toast of Mexico and Europe from her operatic debut at the age of 15, but ran into some social trouble:
On a visit to Mexico in 1871, Peralta established her own touring opera company for which she frequently sang her signature roles – Amina in La sonnambula and Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor...In the mid-1870s she began an affair with the Mexican lawyer and entrepreneur Julián Montiel y Duarte, which caused a scandal in Mexico City. The city's social elite boycotted her performances and hired hecklers to harass her during performances. Her reputation recovered..., but she kept her vow never to sing in Mexico City again.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81ngela_Peralta
Her 1883 arrival with her troupe in Mazatlan was triumphant:
On 22 August, the troupe arrived in the port city of Mazatlán, where they were to perform Il trovatore and Aida. The city of Mazatlán prepared an elaborate welcome for her. Her boat docked at a pier decorated with garlands of flowers, and she was greeted by a band playing the Mexican National Anthem. When her carriage arrived, her admirers unhitched the horses and pulled it themselves to the Hotel Iturbide, where she once again saluted the crowds from her balcony. However, within a few days, she and 76 of the troupe's 80 members were to die in the yellow fever epidemic that swept the city shortly after their arrival.
Her lover Julian Montiel y Duarte arrived at her deathbed to marry her - this story isn't about opera, it should be an opera!
One of the many reasons to be impressed by Peralta is that she played a significant part in the development of a national music:
She...created the leading female roles in three operas by Mexican composers: Ildegonda (1866) and Gino Corsini (1877) by Melesio Morales, and Guatemotzin (1871) by Aniceto Ortega del Villar.
Back to Antonio Lopez Saenz: This article in English gives the flavor of his personality, a single man dedicated to his art, but in a cheerful rather than tortured way:
http://www.pacificpearl.com/archive/2009/march/feature1.htm
Here is another article, translated from Spanish:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/antonio-lopez-saenz-maestro-sinaloense.html&ei=Oe0AT7nJG-v0sQKk1OiaDw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDQQ7gEwAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dantonio%2Blopez%2Bsaenz%2Bbiografia%26hl%3Den%26prmd%3Dimvnso
I hoped that there would be a book about him in the museum's gift shop that I could buy, but the only monograph is sadly out of print.
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