The first performance of Canciones Xacobeas was given by Teresa Berganza in Santiago de Compostela on 8 May 1993 conducted by the composer. Afterwards Berganza often included some of these songs in her recitals. The work sets poems ranging from the 12th to the 20th centuries while taking in an array of images and personages themselves associated with Galicia from Medieval times through to the recent past.
Falla's Siete canciones populares espanolas ranks among his most often heard works including in this arrangement with orchestra made during the early 1940s by Ernesto Halffter. As the title itself indicates, the texts for these songs (which are all relatively brief in their duration) derive largely from traditional or folk sources.
The complete opera of Oberon is not often performed, but the Overture is a popular concert piece, taking its melodies from the main body of the opera. As a complete work it is one of the most remarkable combinations of fantasy and technical skill in modern music. Teresa Berganza is a Spanish mezzo-soprano with an unmistakable voice that was dusky, sultry and sensuous, who is most closely associated with the roles of Rossini, Mozart, and Bizet. She is admired for her technical virtuosity, musical intelligence, and beguiling stage presence.
