The Collins Guide To Opera And Operetta - Michael White

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Konchak greatly and he entertains him with singing and dancing.

      ACT III The Polovtsians are celebrating the victory of an allied army and the Russians realise that their countrymen’s situation is becoming desperate. So when Ovlur once again offers to help Igor escape, he accepts. Vladimir, however, is torn between love for his country and love for Konchakovna, who, having failed to persuade him to stay, raises the alarm as Igor and Vladimir are escaping. Igor evades capture but Vladimir does not. However, Konchak is prepared to be magnanimous; he offers Vladimir his freedom and gives him permission to marry Konchakovna.

      ACT IV Sitting sadly on the town walls at Putivl, Yaroslavna suddenly sees Prince Igor approaching and is overjoyed. The bells announce his safe return and Igor emerges with his wife to general acclaim, ready once more to lead his people.

       Music and Background

      The sound-world of Prince Igor is colourful, bold, and a striking mix of Russian-Asian influences, with melodies that seem folk-like but are actually original to the composer. Much of the music was written by later hands, especially in Act III, which was left with large sections missing at Borodin’s death; and Rimsky-Korsakov’s orchestrations add a gloss that wouldn’t otherwise have been there. But the impact of this epic, tableau-like piece is undeniable, and it contains some of the best-loved melodies in all opera.

       Highlights

      More or less the whole of Act II which contains superb arias for most of the principal soloists, including Konchakovna’s lovely ‘Medlenno dyen ugasal’, and finishes with the celebrated ‘Polovtsian Dances’.

      Did You Know?

      

Glazunov’s supreme achievement in the completion of Prince Igor was to have written out the overture (never committed to manuscript) from his memory of Borodin’s improvisation in private performances.

      Recommended Recording

      Boris Martinovich, Nikola Ghiuselev, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Alexandrina Milcheva, Sofia National Opera/Emil Tchakarov. Sony S3K 44878. The only current recording to include the whole of Act III, and very effective even though it doesn’t offer the star names (like Boris Christoff) of rival versions.

      (1913–76)

      Paul Bunyan (1941)

       Peter Grimes (1945)

       The Rape of Lucretia (1946)

       Albert Herring (1947)

      The Little Sweep (1949)

       Billy Budd (1951)

       Gloriana (1953)

       The Turn of the Screw (1954)

      Noye’s Fludde (1957)

       A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1960)

      Curlew River (1964)

      The Burning Fiery Furnace (1966)

      The Prodigal Son (1968)

      Owen ‘Wingrave (1970)

       Death in Venice (1973)

       Arguably the greatest English composer and certainly one of the greatest opera composers of the 20th century, Benjamin Britten was born, raised and effectively spent his whole life on the Suffolk coast in small-town circumstances which influenced his work – most obviously Peter Grimes, Albert Herring and The Little Sweep, which are all set geographically within a few miles of where he lived. The sea is a recurring theme in his music, along with the world of sleep and dreams, the sacrifice of innocence, and the idea of the social outcast. But the determining factor behind almost all these subject choices was his homosexuality, which found expression – as both a source of anguish and of profound creative energy – just below the surface of so many scores. From Peter Grimes onwards, his operas usually have a leading tenor role written originally for his lifelong partner, Peter Pears. Even beyond the opera stage, Britten was principally a vocal rather than symphonic composer. Major scores include the War Requiem, several song cycles (of which the best known is the Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings), the early Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, and a superb sequence of string quartets.

       FORM: Opera in three acts; in English

       COMPOSER: Benjamin Britten (1913–76)

       LIBRETTO: Eric Crozier; after Guy de Maupassant’s story

       FIRST PERFORMANCE: Glyndebourne, 20 June 1947

       Principal Characters

      Albert Herring, a greengrocer’s assistant

Tenor

      Mrs Herring, his mother and owner of the greengrocer’s shop

Mezzo-soprano

      Lady Billows, an elderly lady

Soprano

      Florence Pike, her housekeeper

Contralto

      Miss Wordsworth, a schoolteacher

Soprano

      Mr Gedge, the vicar

Baritone

      Mr Upfold, the mayor

Tenor

      Superintendent Budd

Bass

      Sid, the butcher’s assistant

Baritone

      Nancy, the baker’s assistant

Mezzo-soprano

       Synopsis of the Plot

      Setting: Loxford, a Suffolk market town; spring 1900

      ACT I The festival committee meet at Lady Billows’ house to choose a suitable local girl as Queen of the May. Unfortunately none of the young ladies proposed meets Lady Billows’ exacting moral standards, so a revolutionary solution is put forward: the committee will elect a May King instead, and the honour falls on Albert Herring. Albert, meanwhile, is working in his mother’s shop where he is being roundly teased by Sid and Nancy for his innocence and his subservience

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