Rappaccini’s Daughter and Obsidian Butterfly were inspired by the mystic and ritualistic poetry of Daniel Catán’s Mexican compatriot, Octavio Paz. The composer himself has written, ‘I have inherited a very rich operatic tradition. In my work, I am proud to say, one can detect the enormous debt I owe to composers from Monteverdi to Alban Berg. But, perhaps, the greatest of my debts is having learnt that the originality of an opera need not involve the rejection of our tradition, but rather the profound assimilation of it, so as to achieve the closest union between a text and its music’. Often described as neo-impressionist, Catán’s music is richly lyrical with soaring orchestral motifs. He uses the orchestral palette to paint evocative colours, with an often delicate use of percussion.