A skilful blend of zarzuela and Spanish verismo, with echoes of Bizet’s Carmen and Wagner’s Siegfried, Falla’s two act opera, La vida breve (Life is short), is a powerful, spontaneous, sumptuously orchestrated work, brimming with passionate love, variety of moods and the vividness of the composer’s native Andalusia. Set in a gypsy habitation in Granada against the grim atmosphere of a forge where workers endure harsh daily labour, the plot centres on the beautiful Salud, the gypsy heroine, as she moves from youthful optimism to inescapable death, a victim of passion and ultimate betrayal by her lover.