Opera of Rudolfo Anaya's 'Bless Me, Ultima' set to premiere

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The highly anticipated opera adaptation of Rudolfo Anaya's famed novel "Bless Me, Ultima," one of the most recognizable works of Mexican-American Literature, is set to premiere. And the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque announced this week that all five dates for the "Bless Me, Ultima" opera later this month already have been sold out. Center executive director Rebecca Avitia says the excitement around the "Bless Me, Ultima" opera shows that Latinos will attend opera productions if they can recognize the themes and if those productions have Hispanic performers. The opera was written by California-based composer Hector Armienta. Experts say Anaya's novel sparked the Chicano literary movement in the late 1960s and influenced a generation of Latino writers.