CCM Opera Remembers Daniel Catán

Acclaimed and beloved composer Daniel Catán passed away suddenly on Saturday April 9 at the age of 62. He was in Austin, TX at the time where he was teaching for a semester at the Butler School of Music, University of Texas.

Catán is known best for his lyrical romantic style and especially his operas, the most recent of which, Il Postino premiered with great success at Los Angeles Opera in September 2010, starring Plácido Domingo. His second opera Florencia en el Amazonas was frequently performed and garnered great acclaim when it premiered at Houston Grand Opera in 1996. Florencia en el Amazonas has the distinction of being the first opera in Spanish commissioned by a major American company. The success of that opera led to the commission of Salsipuedes for Houston Grand Opera. Catán had recently created a new chamber version of his first opera La Hija de Rappaccini (which was performed here at CCM in 2008) and was currently at work on his fifth opera Meet John Doe which was due to premiere in October 2012.

In 2008 Mr. Catán visited CCM and graciously offered his time and talents to students who where preparing his opera La Haja de Rappaccini. Below we’ve posted a clip from the CCM Studio Opera production of La Hija de Rappaccini with Wesley Lawrence (DMA) as Giovanni.