20 Oct 2008
Works on the Theme of “Greeks Bearing Gifts”
The following are works based on Greek literature, myth and literature.
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Mefistofele at Orange’s Chorégies
This is the one where a very personable devil tells God that mankind is so far gone it isn’t worth his time to bother corrupting it further.
A culinary coupling from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
What a treat the London Music Conservatoires serve up for opera-goers each season. After the Royal Academy’s Bizet double-bill of Le docteur Miracle and La tragédie de Carmen, and in advance of the Royal College’s forthcoming pairing of Huw Watkins’ new opera, In the Locked Room, based on a short story by Thomas Hardy, and The Lighthouse by Peter Maxwell Davies, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama have delivered a culinary coupling of Paul Hindemith’s The Long Christmas Dinner and Sir Lennox Berkeley’s The Dinner Engagement which the Conservatoire last presented for our delectation in November 2006.
THOMAS: Hamlet, Moscow 2015
Hamlet: Opéra in five acts. Music composed by Ambroise Thomas. Libretto by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier after The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare.
La Púrpura de la Rosa
Advertised in the program as the first opera written in the New World, La Púrpura de la Rosa (PR) was premiered in 1701 in Lima (Peru), but more than the historical feat, true or not, accounts for the piece’s interest.
Das Liebesverbot, Vienna 1962
Das Liebesverbot: Grosse komische Oper in two acts.
Lohengrin, Bayreuth 2010 Live
Opera in three acts. Words and music by Richard Wagner.
Parsifal, Bayreuth 2012 Live
Parsifal. Bühnenweihfestspiel (“stage dedication play”) in three acts.
Music from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“German poet, dramatist and novelist. One of the most important literary and cultural figures of his age, he was recognized during his lifetime for his accomplishments of almost universal breadth. However, it is his literary works that have most consistently sustained his reputation, and that also serve to demonstrate most clearly his many-faceted relationship to music. . . .
Operas based on the works of Friedrich von Schiller
This theme relates to operas based on the works of Friedrich von Schiller.
Operas Based on French Literature
Here are operas based on French literature from Balzac, Hugo and beyond:
Jules Massenet: Le Cid
Le Cid, Opéra in 4 acts
Vincenzo Bellini: I puritani
I puritani, opera seria in three acts
Vincenzo Bellini: Zaira
Zaira, Tragedia lirica in two acts.
G. F. Handel: Athalia
Athalia: Oratorio (sacred drama) in 3 acts
DONIZETTI: Lucrezia Borgia
Lucrezia Borgia: Melodramma in a prologue and two acts.
BERTIN: La Esmeralda
La Esmeralda: Opéra in four acts.
VERDI: Ernani — Florence 1957
Ernani: Dramma lirico in four parts.
von Waltershausen: Oberst Chabert
Oberst Chabert (Colonel Chabert): Tragic opera in 3 acts.
VERDI: Otello — La Scala 1954
Otello: Dramma lirico in four acts.
Music composed by Giuseppe Verdi. Libretto by Arrigo Boito after The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice by William Shakespeare.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a comedy in five acts with incidental music.
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Repertoire
- BERLIOZ: Les Troyens
- PAISIELLO: Fedra
- STRAUSS : Elektra
- SACCHINI: Oedipe à Colone
- PACINI: Medea
- GLUCK: Alceste
- LULLY: Alceste, ou Le triomphe d’Alcide
- GLUCK/BERLIOZ: Orphée
- GLUCK: Paride ed Elena
- MOZART/STRAUSS: Idomeneo
- TRAETTA: Ippolito ed Aricia
- ROSSINI: Ermione
- MARTÍN Y SOLER: Andromaca
- CHERUBINI: Medea
- VINCI: La Partenope
- JOMMELLI: Fetonte