This study addresses the critical reconstruction of La Esclava (1921) by José Mauri Esteve as a central case for understanding the emergence of a national operatic language in Cuba and the processes of textual transmission within Cuban lyric theatre. Preserved in a fragmentary condition and dispersed across orchestral parts, piano reductions, and divergent vocal copies, the work must be examined from the perspective of the continuing archive, understood as the critical articulation of heterogeneous material testimonies.

The lecture will first present the current state of the surviving sources and the principal stages in the transmission of the work from its premiere to later twentieth-century revival attempts. Second, it will examine the methodological criteria applied in the comparison of vocal versions and partial orchestral materials, with the aim of restoring the dramatic and musical structure of the work as a Cuban opera in three acts. Particular attention will also be given to the role of archival collections associated with the Díaz-Ayala Collection and related holdings in reconstructing the documentary framework of the work. Finally, the paper will reflect on the place of La Esclava within the historiography of Cuban lyric theatre and on the implications of its reconstruction for establishing a canonical version oriented both toward scholarly research and contemporary performance practice.

This event is free and open to the public. This event will be held in Spanish. To confirm your in-person attendance, please write ics@fiu.edu or call (305) 348–1991