Barcelona. (International).

The applause at the end of her grand aria in Act III would not die down. Mezzo Dolora Zajick bowed and put her hand on her chest repeatedly, and finally started her exit. It was time for the orchestra to continue, under Richard Bonynge, but the fourth- and fifth-floor stalwarts still had a few more "bravas" to shout. Finally, they had to be hushed by other patrons, an unusual event among the restrained crowd at the Liceu.

There was no doubt who was the star of the Liceu's new production of Donizetti's La Favorite. Zajick showed her amazing command of bel canto in a performance that was at once impassioned and technically flawless. The American singer, a favorite at the Liceu (where she has sung Eboli and Amneris), managed to transform the absurd role of Leonor de Guzman into a proud, humiliated, suffering character. Few singers can produce such even, rich sound in such a wide range across the musical staff.

The Liceu never seems to tire of this work: La Favorita has appeared in sixty-one seasons and 231 performances since its premiere in 1850, with such legendary Leonoras as Ebe Stignani, Fedora Barbieri and Fiorenza Cossotto. Nevertheless, this production marked the Liceu premiere of the original French text and score (though Bonynge bowed to public taste by using the more dramatic ending of the Italian version, in which the curtain falls as the heroine dies). Bonynge led the Liceu forces with a firm hand both in the delicate passages that accompany arias and in the bombastic finales.

The Liceu presented a strong cast to support Zajick. Josep Bros was a ...