Francisco Salas

Francisco Lleroa y Salas (12 March 1812 in Albaicín, Province of Granada – 21 June 1875 in Madrid) was a Spanish classical opera singer (bass-baritone), one of the crucial figures in the revival of the zarzuela genre.

In October 1831 Salas made his soloist debut substituting the bass protagonist in I fidanzati, ossia Il contestabile di Chester by Pacini, and had success.

From this moment he left the choir to perform "partiquinos y suplementos", and already in 1833 his name opened the playbill for the Le calife de Bagdad by Boieldieu.

Salas' reputation at that time was based mainly on the comedy roles in Italian operas (I due Figaro by Mercadante, Un'avventura di Scaramuccia by Ricci and works by Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti).

Notable is El contrabandista, of which the press wrote that it was "the first Spanish production of such a class in modern time" (la primera producción española de esta clase en los tiempos modernos).

With some other songs and a new stage work by Basili, La pendencia, Salas arranged with a tenor Ojeda in 1844 a northern tour ending in Paris.

The society felt the request for a typically Spanish theater, and the Academia Real de la Música created an association to support such attempts.

In 1848 composer Rafael Hernando with librettist Mariano Pina Bohígas produced Colegialas y soldados at the Teatro del Instituto Español [es].