This has been another breathless survey, and lots of important people have been haunting me because they were not included. The two earlier articles on Zarzuela and references to de Falla gave some space to Spain, but I omitted Bizet in the French blog, although I had included him in the \u2018French Connection 1\u2019 article earlier. Saint Saens\u2019s \u2018Samson et Dalila\u2019 ; Massenet\u2019s \u2018Manon\u2019 too are important for themselves as well as for their contribution to the development of lyric opera.<\/p>\n
And then the Russians were left out altogether, whereas Glinka\u2019s \u2018A Life for the Tsar\u2019 in 1836 was perhaps the first nationalistic opera, followed by Mussorgsky\u2019s \u2018Boris Godunov\u2019 and the several operas of Rimsky Korsakov. Tchaikovsky\u2019s operas are Russian in spirit if not primarily nationalistic. \u2018Eugene Onegin\u2019 is a wonderful work and I saw a superbe production in Amsterdam\u2019s Musik Theatre some time ago. The first act \u2018Letter Song\u2019 is one of the finest soprano arias in all music. In Bohemia, Smetana produced the still very popular \u2018The Bartered Bride\u2019 which I have seen in a delightful performance. A new recording on the Chandos label under the veteran conductor Sir Charles Mackerras has just been released and received a warm welcome. Mackerras has been a powerful advocate of the operas of Janacek, another man-alone amongst composers, and I have seen two of his extraordinary operas notable for their jagged rhythms vying with heart rending melody, performed by Opera North and the English National Opera.<\/p>\n
Opera has become enormously expensive, but for most composers it remains \u2013 and I quote from the Oxford Dictionary of Music \u2013 their \u2018greatest and most attractive challenge. With the development of mechanical and electrical techniques and the advance of the stage producer to an importance comparable with that of the conductor, the staging of opera has become more exciting and controversial\u2019. One thing however remains the same \u2013 the behaviour of performers and management which can be as operatic off the stage as on. So as I write there is a major crisis at English National Opera and since Ricardo Mutti\u2019s departure, also at La Scala, Milan. Both opera houses have been recently refurbished or rebuilt, but their domestic dramas remain.<\/p>\n
B.R.
Looking ahead, it has been suggested that I add one or two concert-going experiences, so I\u2019ll do that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This has been another breathless survey, and lots of important people have been haunting me because they were not included. The two earlier articles on Zarzuela and references to de Falla gave some space to Spain, but I omitted Bizet in the French blog, although I had included him in the \u2018French Connection 1\u2019 article earlier. Saint Saens\u2019s \u2018Samson et Dalila\u2019 ; Massenet\u2019s \u2018Manon\u2019 too are important for themselves as well as for their contribution to the development of lyric opera. And then the Russians were left out altogether, whereas Glinka\u2019s \u2018A Life for the Tsar\u2019 in 1836 was perhaps <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"yoast_head":"\n