Ironically, Amilcare Ponchielli's opera La Gioconda is best known not for one of its arias (though Suicidio! certainly rates), but for the ballet music, The Dance of the Hours. The opera is certainly not a regular visitor to the UK opera house, I think that Opera North's production (minus The Dance of the Hours but with Rosalind Plowright in the title role) was its last major UK outing. Now Midsummer Opera is giving us a chance to experience it. David Roblou conducts semi-staged performances at St John's Church, Waterloo, on Friday 7 April and Sunday 9 April 2017, with Zoe South in the title role, plus John Upperton, Sian Woodling, Anna Loveday and Stephen Holloway.
The opera premiered in 1876 at La Scala, Milan, and was in fact the most successful Italian opera between Verdi's Aida (1871) and Verdi's Otello (1887). Though 20 years his junior, Ponchielli never seems to have quite been able to escape the great man's shadow. Ponchielli died in 1886, leaving a legacy of 10 operas of which only La Gioconda keeps a toe-hold in the repertoire.
Full information from the Midsummer Opera website.
Thursday, 6 April 2017
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...
-
Apollo's Cabinet at Bachfest Leipzig in 2024 (Photo: Emanuel Mathias) The early music ensemble Apollo's Cabinet is known for its ev...
-
David Butt Philip (Photo: Andrew Staples) Ralph Vaughan Williams, Alma Mahler, Wagner, Britten: David Butt Philip, James Baillieu; Wigmore H...
No comments:
Post a Comment