Last chance for tears

The name of Osvaldo Golijov seems to be everywhere in the last few years, whether his work is being premiered by major orchestras or creating firestorms of both enthusiasm and opinion.  But external drama aside, this is a composer with an innate sense of storytelling and magic, and ‘Ainadamar’, his collaboration with esteemed playwright Henry David Hwang brings the right kind of drama to Long Beach.The Arabic title translates as “fountain of tears”, and refers to an actual Spanish font that plays a symbolic role in the work and the death of playwright and poet Federico Garcia Lorca.  Told through the tales of actress Margarita Xirgu, who was both close to Lorca and served as his muse in some of his greatest work, the opera becomes “a gripping reflection on the undying faith of a people, the moral duty of the artist and the relationship between artistic and political freedom.”  Superbly sung and staged with vivid, graphic sets and flying acrobats, you won’t see it this way again.  Catch it quick…