Arizona Opera presenting its 2nd mariachi opera, this one with a Christmas story

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Arizona Opera returns to the stage this weekend for the first time since the pandemic, and you might recognize a few faces among the cast of its regional premiere of “El Milagro del Recuerdo” (The Miracle of Remembering).

Four of the cast members are making their Arizona encores singing the roles they originated when Arizona Opera staged the first-ever mariachi opera “Cruzar la Cara de la Luna” (To Cross the Face of the Moon) in 2014.

The four — baritone Ocatvio Moreno, mezzo-soprano Cecilia Duarte, mezzo Vanessa Alonzo and bass Miguel de Aranda — are re-creating those roles in a Christmastime mariachi opera that explores family and holiday traditions through the lens of missed opportunities.

“El Milagro” is something of a prequel to “Cruzar,” or, in the view of librettist Leonard Foglia, the story in the middle.

And the casting — that was intentional, he said.

“When I was writing this piece, I knew who I was writing for. I wrote it for the people involved” in “Cruzar,” said Foglia, who wrote “Cruzar” with the legendary Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán band leader and composer Pepe Martinez. “They come with so much history and living with these characters.”

“El Milagro” is the third mariachi opera commissioned by Houston Grand Opera, with Foglia as librettist for all three. Martinez composed the music for “Cruzar” and was nearly finished with the followup, “El Pasado Nunca Se Termina,” when he became ill in 2015 and his son, Javier Martinez, stepped in to finish it.

The senior Martinez, who led Mariachi Vargas for nearly 40 years, died in 2016.

Foglia said when he proposed “El Milagro” to Houston Opera, they turned again to Javier Martinez.

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“The Houston Grand Opera gave me the chance to continue the legacy of my father with this opera,” Martinez said from his home in Mexico City in November.

In “El Milagro,” Laurentino (Moreno) returns home in 1962 to Michoacán after working as a bracero (seasonal worker) in the United States. His wife, Renata (Duarte), starts in on him about his long stretches away from home as Laurentino tries to convince her that he wants only to provide for his family.

“These precious moments you can’t get back,” Foglia said of the story’s core theme. “In a way it’s no different than parents working away from their children, but in this case the men are gone for months at a time.”

Martinez said the music is a mix of mariachi, American classic rock, some Broadway, flamenco and pop music.

“I put in a little touch of some rock ‘n’ roll and sounds of Mexico. I tried to (merge) the two cultures but it still sounds like mariachi,” said Martinez, who composed his first song at the age of 8 and drew inspiration from watching his father in the recording studio growing up.

“It’s mariachi with a little orchestra. It has violins, guitarrón, trumpets. It’s really different than the other ones because the presence of mariachi .. they act on stage. The other part of the orchestra they have in the pit.”

Arizona is only the second professional opera company to mount “El Milagro.” Unlike “Cruzar,” whose immigration theme struck an international chord, this opera has a very tight window because it is set around Christmas.

“I am so happy to premiere this opera in Houston and (Arizona),” Martinez said. “It’s very nice that Arizona Opera is giving us a chance to present the opera. There are a lot of Mexican people right there and I think they are going to be identifying in some way.”