Zamora Festival premieres operatic adaptation of Luis Buñuel's 'Él

The Little Opera Festival in Zamora presented a new chamber opera titled Él, based on Mercedes Pinto’s novel that inspired Luis Buñuel’s 1953 film. The production combines music by Canary‑born composer Laura Vega with stage direction by Argentine director Rita Cosentino. It tells the story of a socially prominent bachelor, Francisco Galván, whose obsessive love leads him to pursue Gloria, the girlfriend of his friend engineer Raúl.

The creators describe the work as an “organic and direct” language that bridges past and present, aiming to bring a psychologically intense narrative to contemporary audiences. The performance featured a trained vocal quartet led by mezzo‑soprano Cris and highlighted the challenges of turning a complex literary text into operatic form.