Ruben Blades - Maestra Vida Primera Parte (Remastered 2025) (1980/2025) [Official Digital Download 24/192]

Maestra Vida is the name of the first original salsa opera (the first in history corresponds to Larry Harlow's 1973 Hommy, an adaptation of the rock opera Tommy by The Who), composed by the Panamanian artist Rubén Blades, recorded in studio with the inclusion of symphonic instruments and produced by Willie Colón in 1980 for the Fania Records label.

Distributed as a double album (Fania F576/577), Maestra Vida marked a milestone in the salsa genre by introducing elements of Latin American literary narrative to music, through what Blades called Focila, his artistic project for a Latin American City Folklore by which he proposed music at the service of the expression of urban facts and contradictions, commonly avoided by the commercial Afro-Caribbean rhythms of the time. Although it is a salsa opera, as it became known since its release on the market, it includes themes that are not specifically of that genre, such as the bolero.

Manuela's voice corresponds to Rubén Blades' mother, Anoland Díaz, culminating a long dream cherished by Rubén and never repeated in another recording.

Maestra Vida was not mounted at the time of its release and had to wait until many years later for it to be taken to the stages.

TRACKLIST

1. Ruben Blades - Prólogo (Remastered 2025)
2. Ruben Blades - Manuela (Remastered 2025)
3. Ruben Blades - Carmelo: Parte I (Remastered 2025)
4. Ruben Blades - Como Tú / Carmelo: Parte II (Remastered 2025)
5. Ruben Blades - Yo Soy una Mujer (Remastered 2025)
6. Ruben Blades - La Fiesta (Remastered 2025)
7. Ruben Blades - El Nacimiento de Ramiro (Remastered 2025)
8. Ruben Blades - Déjenme Reír (Para No Llorar) (Remastered 2025)



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