'Only The Truth' Gets At Reality Through Legend
Gilberto Reyes is a musician who grew up to Mexican parents in Southern Texas. He says as a kid he was not afraid of El Cucuy, or the boogeyman. He was more concerned about Camelia La Tejana, or Camelia of Texas.
"I remember when I was a kid listening to the songs, thinking, 'Wow. Una bandida,' " Reyes says. "This incredible woman with power to make men do whatever she wants at her will, you know."
The song Reyes heard was the 1973 "Contrabando y Traicion" or "Contraband and Betrayal" by the band Los Tigres del Norte.
It tells the story of Emilio and Camelia La Tejana, who cross the border into the U.S. through Tijuana in a car with tires filled with hierba mala — marijuana. Once they get to Los Angeles, Emilio tells Camelia he's leaving her for his true love. Camelia didn't take this well: She shot him seven times and disappeared with the money.
The song was so popular it spawned several films about her in the mid-1970s, a popular soap opera now on Telemundo and an opera.
The libretto was written by Ruben Ortiz Torres, who teaches visual arts at the University of California, San Diego. The music is by his sister, Gabriela Ortiz, one of Mexico's most renowned classical composers.
"My sister approached me and asked me if I would like to write an opera," Torres says. "But for my surprise there were operas about everything. At some point I realized, pretty much everything had been done."
Then one day, on a newsstand, he saw a magazine he used to read as a kid. Alarma! Únicamente la verdad! (Alarm! Only The Truth!) was, like a lot of Mexican dailies, filled with blood, broken hearts and babes.
"And it occurred to me that Alarma would be a perfect source to make an opera," Torres continues. "It's this very gory, gruesome tabloid. But all the stories in Alarma are these dramatic, tragic stories."
Torres had found the operatic story he needed. "This guy, Eleazar Pacheco Moreno, committed suicide by placing his head on the train tracks," he says. "And according to the magazine, Eleazar, he was committing suicide because he'd been rejected by Camelia La Tejana."
The opera, called ¡Únicamente la verdad! or Only the Truth, opens at the scene of the suicide. The recording features Nieves Navarro as Camelia.
The thing is: Camelia la Tejana was likely not real. The musician with Los Tigres Del Norte who wrote the song says he made her up. But every now and then a local newspaper would attribute an actual crime to her. And just about as often, a woman will come out, claiming she's the real Camelia la Tejana.
The opera is mostly a collage of interviews with these would-be bandidas. In one scene, a reporter asks a woman who says she is the real Camelia what her relationship with Mexican law enforcement is. My relationship with law enforcement, Camelia says, is excellent.
Even though the opera was finished in 2008, that's a line that rings loudly in Mexico today, where the recent disappearance of 43 college students has revealed the collusion between a local governor and the drug cartels and sparked massive protests.
Ortiz says being nominated for a Latin Grammy matters to her not just because it puts classical music in the same public space as Latin pop, but also because her work is critical of the situation in Mexico today.
"When we started writing this opera, we never imagined how big the problem was going to get," Ortiz says in Spanish. "I never imagined it would be thousands of deaths and disappearances. We hear a lot of versions, but no one knows what is going on."
And at the end of the day, she says, her opera is not about the drug war. It's about how we construct the truth.
"This is what's happening here in Mexico," she says. "You question everyone. This is why the opera is called Only the Truth. We talk about everything, except for the truth."
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Transcript
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
The Latin Grammys are taking place tonight, recognizing the styles from reggaeton to Latin rock. In the classical music categories, the nominees include an unusual opera. NPR's Jasmine Garsd has the story behind the opera "Only The Truth." It's a fictional story inspired by a Mexican legend.
JASMINE GARSD, BYLINE: Gilberto Reyes is a musician who grew up to Mexican parents in southern Texas. He says as a kid he was not afraid of El Cucuy, or the boogeyman, he was more concerned about Camelia La Tejana, or, Camelia of Texas.
GILBERTO REYES: I remember when I was a kid listening to the song and thinking wow, really? Una bandida?
GARSD: Una bandida - a female bandit.
REYES: This incredible woman with power to make men do whatever she wants at her will.
GARSD: The song Reyes heard was the 1973 "Contrabando Y Traicon" or "Contraband And Betrayal" by the band Los Tigres del Norte.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CONTRABANDO Y TRAICON")
LOS TIGRES DEL NORTE: (Singing in Spanish).
GARSD: It tells a story of Emilio and Camelia La Tejana, who crossed the border into the U.S. through Tijuana in a car with tires filled with hierba mala - marijuana.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CONTRABANDO Y TRAICON")
TIGRES DEL NORTE: (Singing in Spanish).
GARSD: Once they get to Los Angeles, Emilio tells Camelia he's leaving her for his true love. Camelia doesn't take this well. She shoots him seven times and disappears with the money. The song was so popular it spawned several films about her in the mid-1970s, a popular soap opera - now on Telemundo - and an opera opera.
(SOUNDBITE OF "ONLY THE TRUTH" SONG)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: (Singing in Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (Singing in Spanish).
GARSD: The libretto was written by Ruben Ortiz Torres, who teaches visual arts at the University of California San Diego. The music is by his sister, Gabriela Ortiz, one of Mexico's most renowned classical composers.
RUBEN ORTIZ TORRES: My sister approached me and asked me if I would like to write an opera, but for my surprise, there were operas about everything and at some point I realized that pretty much everything had been done.
GARSD: Then one day on a newsstand he saw a magazine he used to read as a kid, Alarma! Unicamente La Verdad! or, Alarm! Only The Truth! It's like a lot of Mexican dailies, filled with blood, broken hearts and babes.
TORRES: And it appeared to me that Alarma would be a perfect source to make an opera because it is this very gory, gruesome tabloid. All the stories are these dramatic, tragic stories.
GARSD: Ruben Ortiz Torres had found the operatic story he needed.
TORRES: This guy committed suicide by placing his head on the train tracks and according to the magazine, he was committing suicide because he had been rejected by Camelia La Tejana.
GARSD: The opera takes its name from the magazine, "Unicamente La Verdad" - "Only The Truth." It opens at the scene of the suicide.
(SOUNDBITE OF "ONLY THE TRUTH" SONG)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: (Singing in Spanish).
GARSD: The thing is Camelia La Tejana was likely not real. The musician with Los Tigres del Norte who wrote the songs says he made her up. But every now and then, a local newspaper would attribute an actual crime to her and just about as often, a woman will come out claiming she's the real Camelia La Tejana. The opera is mostly a collage of interviews with these would-be bandidas.
(SOUNDBITE OF "ONLY THE TRUTH" SONG)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: (Singing in Spanish).
GARSD: In one scene, a reporter asks a woman who says she is the real Camelia what her relationship with Mexican law enforcement is.
(SOUNDBITE OF "ONLY THE TRUTH" SONG)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: (Singing in Spanish).
GARSD: My relationship with law enforcement, she says, is excellent.
(SOUNDBITE OF "ONLY THE TRUTH" SONG)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #3: (Singing in Spanish).
GARSD: Even though the opera was finished six years ago, that's a line that rings loudly in Mexico today, where the recent disappearance of 43 college students has revealed the collusion between a local governor and the drug cartels and sparked massive protests.
GABRIELA ORTIZ: (Spanish spoken).
GARSD: Gabriela Ortiz, who composed the music to the opera, says being nominated for a Latin Grammy matters to her not just because it puts classical music in the same public space as Latin pop, but also because her work is critical of the situation in Mexico today.
ORTIZ: (Through translator) When we started writing this opera, we never imagined it would be thousands of deaths and disappearances.
GARSD: And at the end of the day, Ortiz says her opera is not about the drug war. It's about how we construct the truth.
ORTIZ: (Through translator) This is what's happening here in Mexico. You question everyone. This is why the opera is called "Only The Truth." We talk about everything, except for the truth.
GARSD: Jasmine Garsd, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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