The history of twentieth century opera. 1971A.
1971 was an interesting year in the land of opera. Nice productions by Western and American composers. The avant-garde is finally beginning to really take shape (or perhaps it should be ‘shapes’). But there are also a few proper firsts: a second Turkish opera of considerable quality and a second opera from North Korea from a group of musicians that was formed together in the Sea of Blood Theatrical Troupe. They, with the regime’s permission, completed a number of operas which were inspired by revolution. And speaking of revolutions: the socialist ideology reached its zenith in the operas by German composer Hans Werner Henze. More than enough to fill two beautiful broadcasts with.
In this episode excerpts of:
- Alberto Ginastera- Beatrice Cenci
- Gottfried von Einem- Der Besuch der alten Dame
- Hans Werner Henze- Der langwierige Weg in die Wohnung der Natascha Ungeheuer
Other opera and operetta productions from 1971:
- Ulysses Kay- The Capitoline Venus
- Stephen Oliver- The Duchess of Malfi
- Mieczysław Weinberg – The Love of d’Artagnan (Любовь Д’Артаньяна)
- Aribert Reimann- Melusine
- Benjamin Britten- Owen Wingrave
- Dominick Argento- Postcard from Marocco
- Çetin Işıközlü- Ağrı Dağı Efsanesi (The Legend of Mount Ararat)
- Sea of Blood Theatrical Troupe (Pibada Guekdan)- Sea of Blood ( 피바다)
- Heitor Villa-Lobos- Yerma
- Eduard Tubin- The Parson of Reigi
- Heinrich Suermeister- Das Flaschenteufel
- Ján Cikker- Obliehanie Bystrice
- Ned Rorem- 5 micro-operas:
- o The Animals Sick of the Plague
- o The Bird Wounded by an Arrow
- o The Fox and the Grapes
- o The Lion in Love
- o The Sun and the Frogs
- – Đỗ Nhuận- Người tạc tượng (‘The Sculptor’)
- – Gian Carlo Menotti- The Most Important Man
- – Ādolfs Skulte- Princese Gundega
- – Rodion Schtschedrin- Not just love (Не только любовь)
- – Lee Hoiby- Summer and Smoke
