florencia en el amazonas (english title: "florencia in the amazon") is an opera in two acts composed by daniel catán. 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. the characters are inspired by garcía márquez, but the story is not drawn directly from any of his works. "florencia" was co-commissioned by houston grand opera, los angeles opera, and seattle opera and premiered in houston on october 25, 1996. it was the first spanish-language opera to be commissioned by major united states opera houses.