It contains elements of magical realism in the style of Gabriel García Márquez and uses a libretto by Marcela Fuentes-Berain, one of his pupils.

In 1999 it was performed in concert version by the Ópera de Bellas Artes in Mexico City and received its European premiere in 2006 at the Theater Heidelberg in Germany in a new production directed by Michael Beyer.

She boards the steamboat El Dorado for a trip up the Amazon River, along with several passengers who are traveling to hear her sing.

She does not interact much with the other passengers initially, and the thread connecting the subplots in the story is provided by the ship's mate, Ríolobo, who also is the focus for the elements of magical realism.

With the captain tragically obliterated and Ríolobo having disappeared, Arcadio takes the helm but the ship runs aground.

Realizing how Florencia draws inspiration from love, Rosalba decides to give in to her feelings for Arcadio.

Florencia despairs of a reunion with Cristóbal, but in the end she is magically transformed into a butterfly, to represent her spirit going off to be reunited with her lover.