Thelma is frankly not a very promising title for an opera. Norma cuts the mustard, but the name Thelma has too many odd contemporary references to be taken seriously at first. Thelma is in fact the name of the heroine of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's first (and only) opera. The opera was rejected by Carl Rosa Opera and the composer consigned it to a draw to be forgotten. Now the piece is receiving its world premiere, tomorrow, at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon, presented by Surrey Opera in a production directed by Christopher Cowell.
By all reports, Coleridge-Taylor's music for the opera is strikingly attractive but the libretto leaves a lot to be desired. The libretto is the reason why Carl Rosa Opera rejected the piece and Christopher Cowell has had a go at improving things for this performance. Cowell has stuck to Coleridge-Taylor's plot and to his rhyming scheme; I'm afraid that my heart sinks when I think of a libretto in rhyming English, but there you are.
We are promised a grand romantic opera, something that English composers do not seem to have been good at creating. Plenty had a go, but few, very few, seem to actually work on the stage. (Sullivan's Ivanhoe anyone?). Coleridge-Taylor was coming rather late to the party, Thelma was written in 1907, and composers now had to deal with not only Wagner's influence but Debussy's. Coleridge-Taylor died far too early to give any indication whether he would have had another go at opera, but his best pieces such as Hiawatha have an infectious romanticism that would have seemed to make him perfect for opera.
The performances are part of a year long festival of events celebrating Samuel Taylor-Coleridge.
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts this month
-
Wagner: Das Rheingold - Ingeborg Børch as Fricka, Keel Watson as Wotan - Regents Opera 2022 (Photo Steve Gregson) On Sunday 21st May 2023, R...
-
Halevy: La Tempesta - conducted by Francesco Cilluffo at Wexford Festival Opera 2022 (Photo: Clive Barda ArenaPAL) Conductor Francesco Cill...
-
Jataneel Banerjee's Gaṅgā at Tete-a-Tete Opera Festival in 2022 (Photo Claire Shovelton) Composer Jataneel Banerjee's new chamber o...
-
Donizetti: L'esule di Roma - Nicola Alaimo, Albina Shagimuratova, Carlo Rizzi, Britten Sinfonia - Opera Rara at Cadogan Hall (Photo Ru...
-
Wagner: Die Walküre - Keel Watson (Wotan) - Regents Opera 2023 (Photo: Steve Gregson Regents Opera's new production of Wagner's Die...
-
Cautionary Tales - National Opera Studio with Opera North at Wilton's Music Hall (Photo Malcolm I Johnson) Cautionary Tales : Judith We...
-
Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud A Dangerous Obsession: The Relationship of Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud ; Ben Vonberg-Clark, Julien...
-
Dragon Voices: The giant Celtic horns of Ancient Europe; John Kenny; Delphian Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Nov 22 2016 Star r...
-
Carys Davies, a previous member of WNO Youth Opera and current RWCMD student, in WNO’s main scale production of The Magic Flute . The step b...
-
Middle Temple Hall in its wisteria (Photo courtesy of Julius Drake ) Brahms: Zigeunerlieder , duets by Brahms and Schumann, songs by Kurt We...
No comments:
Post a Comment