Puccini wrote his second opera, Edgar, in 1889 and it was premiered at La Scala, Milan. Based on a play by Alfred de Musset it features a young man torn between the love of a pure girl, and passion for a gypsy. Sounds familiar? The opera was tepidly received, and Puccini revised it twice, the second time reducing the four acts to three. It was even less successful in the revised form and Puccini abandoned it, using some of the music for Tosca. Now the enterprising New Sussex Opera are giving the UK premiere of the original four act version, with a strong cast, featuring John Hudson and Mary Plazas, conducted by Nicholas Jenkins.
The autograph of acts 2 and 4 of the original version was only re-discovered in 2008, allowing Puccini's original version to be reconstructed (the autograph of acts 1 and 3 is in the Ricordi archives). The New Sussex Opera production will only be the third ever production of this version of the opera. The show is directed by Tony Baker, who directed their highly successful production of Gounod's Mireille last year.
Performances are at Lewes Town Hall, 25/10, Cadogan Hall, London, 28/10, Kings Theatre, Southsea, 4/11, Floral Hall, Eastbourne 11/11. Further details from the New Sussex Opera website.
Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts this month
-
What about blowing the box to pieces: composer Eímear Noone on writing for video games, films and TVEímear Noone (Photo: Andy Paradise) Dublin and LA-based composer Eímear Noone is known for her scores for video games, films and TV. She re...
-
Lehár : The Merry Widow - Alex Otterburn, Henry Waddington - Scottish Opera (Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic) Lehár: The Merry Widow ; Paula Sides,...
-
Gimnazija Kranj Symphony Orchestra I get all sorts of mail, people sending my information on concerts and recordings. Everything gets gl...
-
Gilbert & Sullivan: Trial by Jury - Jamie MacDougall - Scottish Opera (Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic) Gilbert & Sullivan: Trial by Jury ,...
-
Purcell: Dido & Aeneas - Joshua Saunders as Aeneas with the Witches - Guildhall School (Photo: David Monteith-Hodge) Purcell: Dido and...
-
Johann Strauss: Die Fledermaus - The Grange Festival (Photo: © Richard Hubert Smith) Johann Strauss: Die Fledermaus ; Sylvia Schwartz, And...
-
Edward Gardner & Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra - Aldeburgh Festival (Photo: Britten Pears Arts) Daniel Kidane: Sirens , Mark...
-
Silhouette of the clarinettist Anton Stadler For whom Mozart wrote the Clarinet Quintet David Gow, Beethoven, Shostakovich, Mozart; Peter Ci...
-
William Boyd and Colin Mathews (Photo: Mark Allan) During his long career the composer Colin Matthews has been associated with several othe...
-
Apollo's Cabinet at Bachfest Leipzig in 2024 (Photo: Emanuel Mathias) The early music ensemble Apollo's Cabinet is known for its ev...
No comments:
Post a Comment