Pablo Sorozábal

Pablo Sorozábal (1897–1988) was a Spanish composer of zarzuelas, operas, symphonic works, and the popular romanza, "No puede ser". He was born in San Sebastián, in a working-class family. Trained in San Sebastián, Madrid and Leipzig; then in Berlin, where he preferred Friedrich Koch as composition teacher to Arnold Schönberg, whose theories he disliked. It was in Germany that he made his conducting debut, and the rostrum remained at the centre of his working life. Katiuska (1931) was his stage debut, and the twenty or so zarzuelas which followed combine lyric fire and inimitable orchestration with an unfailing sense of theatre. Best-loved are his classic madrileño comedy La del manojo de rosas (1934) and the “nautical romance” set on the Atlantic Coast La tabernera del puerto of 1936. The latter includes the romanza No puede ser, made internationally popular when sung in the Three Tenors concerts by Plácido Domingo.