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Zarzuela is connected with the Spanish opera La Zarzuela, which entranced audiences with its different vocal and musical styles. The word toured into English in the 18th century. Alfred Einstein (the musicologist cousin of Albert) assisted in its establishment in the language by including it in his 1947 work Music in the Romantic Era. More recently, the word has begun to appear on the Spanish culinary stage as a term for a rich and savory seafood dish. A couple of the specific entrées that have emerged are the piebald "zarzuela de maiscos," a mixture of seafood, and the "zarzuela de pescados," a potpourri of fish.
Examples of zarzuela in a Sentence
Scott Cantrell, Dallas News, 13 Feb. 2020
Pacific Lyric started out performing zarzuela, a Spanish-language style of opera, in Los Angeles in 2009.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Sep. 2019
Born in Spain, Domingo grew up singing zarzuelas onstage in Mexico with his parents.
—Los Angeles Times, 13 Aug. 2019
Martínez Casado, who played mother Juana, was stage-trained in opera and zarzuelas.
—Carlos Frías, miamiherald, 21 Dec. 2017
Rodriguez also pulls in more disparate strands from Frida’s time and place, including tangos and elements of zarzuela, ragtime, vaudeville and 1930s jazz.
—Paul Hodgins, Orange County Register, 8 June 2017
Cite this Entry
“Zarzuela.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zarzuela. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
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