Margarita Xirgu Subirá ( June , Molins de Rei, Barcelona, Spain â€"
April , Montevideo, Uruguay), also Margarida Xirgu, was a Spanish
stage actress, who was greatly popular throughout her country and
Latin America. A friend of the poet Federico GarcÃa Lorca, she was
forced into exile during Francisco Franco's dictatorship of Spain, but
continued her work in America. Notable plays in which she appeared
include Como tú me Deseas, La casa de Bernarda Alba, and Mariana
Pineda.An opera, Ainadamar, by the composer Osvaldo Golijov and
playwright David Henry Hwang, based on Xirgu's life and her
association with Lorca, was premiered in . A recording of the work
released in on the Deutsche Grammophon label (Catalog #) won the
Grammy awards for Best Classical Contemporary Composition and Best
Opera Recording.Born in Molins de Rei in , her family moved first to
Girona in and finally to Barcelona in . Her first theater work was in
with the Blanca character in Mar i Cel, in the Teatre Romea. In was
really successful with Joventut de prÃncep in the Teatre Principal.
After that, in , she began her film career with Guzmán el Bueno. In
she married Josep Arnall. In Àngel Guimerà wrote “La reina
jove†for her, and that year she created her own theater company. In
a Buenos Aires businessman contracted her for working in South
America.He played the mermaid in La sirena varada in , written by
Alejandro Casona. She starred in the early film version of Garcia
Lorca's Bodas de sangre, filmed in Februaryâ€"March , the only film
version of a Garcia Lorca play to star an actress who was a personal
friend of the author and who had appeared in his works onstage. It is
Ms. Xirgu's only sound film, and it has never been shown on American
television or released on video. It was first shown on Argentine
television in January .
April , Montevideo, Uruguay), also Margarida Xirgu, was a Spanish
stage actress, who was greatly popular throughout her country and
Latin America. A friend of the poet Federico GarcÃa Lorca, she was
forced into exile during Francisco Franco's dictatorship of Spain, but
continued her work in America. Notable plays in which she appeared
include Como tú me Deseas, La casa de Bernarda Alba, and Mariana
Pineda.An opera, Ainadamar, by the composer Osvaldo Golijov and
playwright David Henry Hwang, based on Xirgu's life and her
association with Lorca, was premiered in . A recording of the work
released in on the Deutsche Grammophon label (Catalog #) won the
Grammy awards for Best Classical Contemporary Composition and Best
Opera Recording.Born in Molins de Rei in , her family moved first to
Girona in and finally to Barcelona in . Her first theater work was in
with the Blanca character in Mar i Cel, in the Teatre Romea. In was
really successful with Joventut de prÃncep in the Teatre Principal.
After that, in , she began her film career with Guzmán el Bueno. In
she married Josep Arnall. In Àngel Guimerà wrote “La reina
jove†for her, and that year she created her own theater company. In
a Buenos Aires businessman contracted her for working in South
America.He played the mermaid in La sirena varada in , written by
Alejandro Casona. She starred in the early film version of Garcia
Lorca's Bodas de sangre, filmed in Februaryâ€"March , the only film
version of a Garcia Lorca play to star an actress who was a personal
friend of the author and who had appeared in his works onstage. It is
Ms. Xirgu's only sound film, and it has never been shown on American
television or released on video. It was first shown on Argentine
television in January .
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