Sofía Cancino de Cuevas first quartet for strings, catalogued as Op. 1. In 1940, she received an honorable mention for her symphonic poem "El gallo en Pátzcuaro" for orchestra and male choir, in a contest organized by UNAM. In 1941 she directed the presentation of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" at the Arbeu theater, with the participation of singers (baritone), Carlos Mejía (tenor), and Margarita Cueto (soprano), among others. This made her Mexico's first female conductor. In 1944 she founded the Opera School, with which she conducted "La serva padrona" by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, "Bastien und Bastienne" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and "Il matrimonio segreto" by
The Mandarin's Son The Mandarin's Son The Mandarin's Son ("Сын мандарина" in Cyrillic; "Syn mandarina" in transliteration) is comic opera in one act by César Cui, composed in 1859. The libretto, which includes spoken dialogue, was written by Viktor Krylov. No small influence for this work came from the French composer Daniel Auber, particularly his "Le cheval de bronze", which had a similar setting, and was being performed in Saint Petersburg at the time. Cui dedicated this opera to his bride, Mal'vina Bamberg. (They had married the previous year.) The orchestration is credited to Mily Balakirev. The first performance of "The Mandarin's Son"