“Estrellita”

Music & Lyrics: Manuel M. Ponce

Ailyn Pérez, soprano
Doug Peck, music director

A remarkable scholar and educator, Manuel M. Ponce (1882-1948) was also one of the most celebrated Mexican musicians of the twentieth century. He made his greatest contributions as a composer who could connect the concert hall to the world of Mexican folk song. He wrote extensively for piano, chamber ensemble, and orchestra, and is best known for impressive works for guitar, brilliant folk-song arrangements, and many original songs. Most famous of the latter is “Estrellita” (1912), for which Ponce also wrote the text. While appealing to all voice types, it’s most often performed by lyric sopranos. They can make a memorable effect in this sweetly lyrical melody, with its potentially ravishing leaps to soft high notes. The singer is telling the “estrellita” (“little star”) above that she’ll die without the love of her beloved, so the star must come down and tell her if he loves her just a little.

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“Estrellita” ("Little Star") with Ailyn Pérez

In this excerpt from For the Love of Lyric, one of opera's brightest stars, Ailyn Pérez joins music director Doug Peck to perform “Estrellita” ("Little Star") by Manuel M. Ponce—a composer hailed for his ability to connect the concert hall to the world of Mexican folk song.

Soprano

Ailyn Pérez

Previously at Lyric: Marguerite|Faust (2017|18)

Winner of the coveted Richard Tucker Award, the acclaimed American soprano appears annually at major opera houses internationally. She has starred as Violetta/La traviata in Zurich, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, San Francisco, Milan (La Scala), and London (Royal Opera House, where she returned in the title role/Manon and Liù/Turandot—she also toured with the ROH to Japan as Manon). Other highlights include the title role/Thaïs, Mimì and Musetta/La bohème, and Juliet/Romeo and Juliet (Met); Adina/The Elixir of Love (Munich, Berlin, Vienna, Washington); Countess Almaviva/The Marriage of Figaro and Desdemona/Otello (both in Houston); Tatyana Bakst/Jake Heggie’s Great Scott (world premiere, Dallas); Alice Ford/Falstaff (Glyndebourne); Mimì (Bolshoi Theatre); Marguerite/Faust (Hamburg); and Amelia/Simon Boccanegra (La Scala, Berlin, Zurich). Among Pérez’s concert engagements have been appearances with Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain, Rome’s Accademia di Santa Cecilia, and gala concerts at Lyric, the Met, and the Royal Opera House.

Photo: Todd Rosenberg