‘The originality of an opera need not involve the rejection of our tradition,’ Daniel Catán (b1949) writes in the booklet-notes to the Naxos disc, ‘but rather the profound assimilation of it, so as to achieve the closest union between a text and its music.’ Listening to these pieces, one hears strong influences of Puccini, Strauss, Janá?ek, Britten et al. I am not always convinced that Catán’s music makes the most of a text’s dramatic possibilities, but the three works here are ravishing. The Mexican composer’s style is firmly, richly tonal and melodically effusive, with soaring vocal lines; the orchestration dazzles.

Florencia was premièred at the Houston Grand Opera in 1996 and was revived there ‘by popular demand’ in 2001, when this live recording was made. The libretto by Marcela Funetes-Berain is something of an homage to Gabriel García Márquez’s magical realism. The story concerns the voyage of Florencia Grimaldi, a great diva, up the Amazon to reopen the opera house in Manaus, accompanied by a motley group of admirers. For Florencia, though, the real purpose of the journey is to search for an old lover, a butterfly hunter, in an attempt to find lost happiness. The magical elements are manifest in the character Riolobo, a river spirit, a few otherwise inexplicable plot twists and the final scene where Florencia is transformed into a butterfly.

The orchestration is dense but luminous, conveying a sense of the river’s lush beauty, and Catán builds tension through long, Adams-esque pedal points. The brief orchestral interludes that join the various scenes are also effective, helping to create dramatic flow through each of the two acts. What I missed was a strong sense of Florencia’s deep melancholy and longing; she is more radiant than heartsick. The opera’s climax in scene 9 of Act 2 seems a little underpowered – at least in this performance – though Florencia’s transformation makes for a satisfying conclusion.

Patricia Schuman (Florencia) leads a fine cast. Ideally, one wants a stronger-voiced and more characterful Riolobo than Mark S Doss, though he does a perfectly adequate job. Conductor Patrick Summers paces the work unerringly and elicits colourful, vibrant playing from the orchestra.

There is also a luxuriant, shimmering quality to Rappaccini’s Daughter (1988) and Obsidian Butterfly (1984), both based on texts by Octavio Paz. It wouldn’t be fair to judge the former based solely upon the excerpts presented here, but those who enjoy Florencia will certainly find much to admire. Rappaccini’s Daughter boasts a passionate, extended love scene, and while the recording is over-saturated, resulting in some minor distortion, the singing is superb. Obsidian Butterfly is quite a tour de force for the soprano, Encarnación Vázquez, and might be heard as a kind of study for the final scene of Florencia.