Speranza
"The Mines of Sulphur" is an opera in three acts by Richard Rodney Bennett, his
first full-length opera, composed in 1963.
Beverley Cross wrote the libretto,
based on his play Scarlet Ribbons, at the suggestion of Colin Graham, who
eventually directed the first production in 1965.
The opera is dedicated to
Benjamin Britten, whose Aldeburgh Festival had originally commissioned the
opera.
"The Mines of Sulphur" premiered on 24 February 1965 at Sadler's Wells
Theatre in London.
It received numerous subsequent performances, including in
Cologne, Marseille, Milan, Toronto, Los Angeles, and New York City (at the
Juilliard School).
Most productions were well received, except for one directed
by John Huston at La Scala.
After the mid-1970s, however, the work was mostly
forgotten, until a popular revival by Glimmerglass Opera in 2004.
The
Glimmerglass production was then brought to the New York City Opera, and
also commercially recorded in 2005.
It had 7 performances at Wexford Festival
Opera in 2008.
Roles
Role -- Voice
type -- Premiere Cast, February 24, 1965
(Conductor: Colin
Davis)
Boconnion, a deserter tenor Gregory Dempsey
Tovey, a
tramp baritone Gwin Griffiths
Rosalind, a gypsy mezzo-soprano Joyce
Blackham
Braxton, a landowner bass-baritone Frank Olegario
Jenny, an
actor soprano Catherine Wilson
Leda, an actor contralto Ann Howard
Fenney, an
actor tenor David Hillman
Tooley, an actor baritone David Bowman
Sherrin, an
actor/manager bass Harold Blackburn
Trim, a mute silent (mime/dancer)John
Fryatt
The opera is set in an old, decaying West
Country manor house, in the mid-18th century.
Rosalind has returned to the manor
of Braxton, her master, where she had formerly been a servant and where Braxton
had been treating her abusively.
Boconnion, a military deserter wanted on
charges of killing a man, and the tramp Tovey arrive.
Boconnion, Tovey and
Rosalind conspire to kill Braxton, and carry out this plan.
The three steal
Braxton's riches and begin to celebrate their new wealth, planning to escape
with it as well.
A group of itinerant actors then arrives at the manor.
Boconnion agrees to give them shelter, in return for entertainment.
The troupe
bears a resemblance to actors who had visited the manor centuries earlier.
The
actors present their newest play, "The Mines of Sulphur", about an elderly count
who weds a beautiful girl, who falls in love with the count's valet.
The count
threatens the lovers, and the girl urges the valet to kill the count.
The play
parallels the prior situation of Boconnion, Braxton and Rosalind.
At the point
just before the girl and the valet are about to kill the count, Boconnion halts
the play.
The actress Jenny (the wife in the play) faints, and Tooley takes her
upstairs, where he discovers the murdered landowner.
Boconnion imprisons the
actors in the cellar and plans to set fire to the manor to get rid of them the
next morning.
Boconnion then kisses Jenny to taunt Rosalind, but then it is
revealed that Jenny has the plague.
A ballad from Jenny reaffirms a link between
her troupe and the earlier actors.
The actors then somehow have vanished from
the locked cellar, and Jenny takes her leave.
Rosalind, Boconnion and Tovey see
that the manor door has the plague mark painted on it, and they stay in the
manor, realizing that they are doomed.
Recording
Chandos CHSA
5036(2): Kristopher Irmiter, Beth Clayton, Brandon Jovanovich, James Maddalena,
Dorothy Byrne, Brian Anderson, Michael Todd Simpson, Caroline Worra, Andrew
Gorell; Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra; Stewart Robertson, conductor (live
recording)
References
Elizabeth Forbes, Obituary for Colin
Graham. The Independent, 11 April 2007.
Stanley Sadie, "Richard Rodney
Bennett's The Mines of Sulphur. Tempo (New Ser.), 73, 24-25 (1965).
Allan
Kozinn, "A Dark and Stormy Night, With Doings to Match". New York Times, 25
October 2005.
Andrew Clark, "Arts & Ideas: The Mines of Sulphur, New
York City Opera". Financial Times, 26 October 2005.
Review by Andrew Clark,
Financial Times, 20 October 2008
Information from AmadeusOnline.net
Joe Law, "The Mines of Sulphur. Richard Rodney Bennett". The Opera Quarterly,
21(4), 775-778 (2005).
Sources
Susan Bradshaw. "The Mines of
Sulphur". In L. Macy. Grove Music Online. http://www.grovemusic.com.
Anthony
Tommasini (2005-10-21). "A Composer Happily Returns To 'The Mines'". The New
York Times: p. E1.
Categories:
English-language operas
Operas by Richard Rodney
Bennett
Operas
1965 operas
Operas set in England
Operas based on
plays
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment