Through current theories of ideology, propaganda and musical reception, examines the development and impact of early opera in Spain and the Americas through close examination of the New World´s first three extant operas: Tomás de Torrejón´s Lima production of ´La púrpura de la rosa´ (1701), Domenico Zipoli´s Jesuit opera, ´San Ignacio de Loyola´ (ca. 1720), and a recently-discovered indigenous opera from the Jesuit missions, the anonymous ´San Francisco Xavier´ (ca. 1720-1740).
