Manuel Penella

Manuel Penella Moreno
(born July 31, 1880 –
died January 24, 1939)

Manuel Penella was a Spanish composer. His father was the composer Manuel Penella Raga. His daughter Magdalena Penella Silva married the politician Ramón Ruiz Alonso; through her, he was the grandfather of actresses Emma Penella, Elisa Montés and Terele Pávez.

He studied music with his father, Manuel Penella Raga, director of the Conservatory of Valencia, and later composition with Salvador Giner. He intended to become a concert violinist but due an injury of his left hand, he turned to composition. After graduating, he worked for a time as an organist in a church in Valencia, but soon chose to dedicate himself to the theater, spending much of his time traveling with zarzuela and opera companies throughout Central and South America.

He wrote many operas, operettas, and zarzuelas. Although his most popular work at home and abroad is the frequently revived opera Española El gato montés (a special favorite of Plácido Domingo, who revived it several times and recorded it for Deutsche Grammophon), several of his other works still enjoy popularity in Spain and the Spanish-speaking world, notably the chamber opera Don Gil de Alcalá (scored in Mexican style for strings and harp), some of his revues and the ambitious, late zarzuela La malquerida (1935).

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