Florencia en el Amazonas

Florencia en el Amazonas
Opera by Daniel Catán
The opera's setting, a steamboat on the Amazon in the early 1900s
Librettist	Marcela Fuentes-Berain
Language	Spanish
Based on	Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
Premiere	25 October 1996 (1996-10-25) Wortham Theater Center, Houston, TX

Florencia en el Amazonas (English title: Florencia in the Amazon) is an opera in two acts composed by Daniel Catán. It contains elements of magical realism in the style of Gabriel García Márquez and uses a libretto by Marcela Fuentes-Berain, one of his pupils. The characters are inspired by García Márquez, but the story is not drawn directly from any of his works. Florencia was co-commissioned by Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and Seattle Opera and premiered in Houston on October 25, 1996. It was the first Spanish-language opera to be commissioned by major United States opera houses.

Jointly commissioned by Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera and Seattle Opera,Florencia en el Amazonas had its world premiere at the Wortham Theater Center on 26 October 1996 performed by Houston Grand Opera. The production was directed by Francesca Zambello with sets designed by Robert Israel. The production subsequently opened at Los Angeles Opera in 1997, and then at Seattle Opera in 1998. In 1999 it was performed in concert version by the Ópera de Bellas Artes in Mexico City and received its European premiere in 2006 at the Theater Heidelberg in Germany in a new production directed by Michael Beyer.

The opera has had multiple performances in the United States in the 21st century. These include its revivals at Houston Grand Opera in 2001, Seattle Opera in 2005, and Los Angeles Opera in 2014 and company premieres at Cincinnati Opera, Opera Colorado, Utah Opera, Washington National Opera, Nashville Opera, Arizona Opera, and New York City Opera.