Goldschmidt, Berthold: Beatrice Cenci (1949/50) 110'
Opera in 3 Acts
Music Text Deutsch
Libretto by Martin Esslin after Shelley's verse drama 'The Cenci' (E)
Scoring
S, M, A, 3T, 2Bar, 2B; chorus 3(III=picc).3(III=corA).3(III=bcl).3(III=dbn)-4.3.3.1-timp.perc(2/3): susp.cym/BD/tgl/xyl/glsp/vib/cyms/tam-t/lg tam-t/t.bells/TD/SD-harp- strings.
Abbreviations (PDF).
Territory
This work is available from Boosey & Hawkes for the world.
For full details on this stagework, including synopsis and roles, please visit our Opera section.
World Premiere
4/16/1988
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Pro Musica Chorus of London / London Chamber Symphony / Odaline de la Martinez
World stage premiere
9/10/1994
Magdeburg
Max K. Hoffmann, director / Theater Magdeburg / Mathias Husmann
Repertoire Note Deutsch
Goldschmidt’s second opera was one of four prize-winning works in the British Arts Council’s ‘Festival of Britain’ competition in 1949, but it never received the promised performance and had to wait forty years for its concert premiere in London in 1988 and its staged premiere in Magdeburg in 1994. Consciously written in a modern ‘bel canto’ idiom, Beatrice Cenci is a more opulent and romantic opera than its predecessor and contains some of Goldschmidt’s most passionate and eloquent music.
Press Quotes Deutsch
"Its story is moving, its framework taut and its web of themes individually memorable."
Daily Telegraph
"...disturbing, allusive and pungently beautiful."
Boston Globe
"Goldschmidt's opera music deserves a firm place in the repertoire: written so that the text is truly sung, the music is rich and colourful, stimulating and touching; the singers are helped by its easy vocal lines, and the listener held spellbound by its graphic, illustrative power..."
Westdeutscher Zeitung
Recommended Recording
Simon Estes, Della Jones, Roberta Alexander, Fiona Kimm, Peter Rose, Erich Wottrich, Siegfried Lorenz, Reinhard Beyer, Stefan Stoll, John David de Haan, Ian Bostridge, Berlin Radio Chorus, Berlin Deutsches Symphony Orchestra, Lothar Zagrosek
Sony S2K66836
Opera in 3 Acts
Music Text Deutsch
Libretto by Martin Esslin after Shelley's verse drama 'The Cenci' (E)
Scoring
S, M, A, 3T, 2Bar, 2B; chorus 3(III=picc).3(III=corA).3(III=bcl).3(III=dbn)-4.3.3.1-timp.perc(2/3): susp.cym/BD/tgl/xyl/glsp/vib/cyms/tam-t/lg tam-t/t.bells/TD/SD-harp- strings.
Abbreviations (PDF).
Territory
This work is available from Boosey & Hawkes for the world.
For full details on this stagework, including synopsis and roles, please visit our Opera section.
World Premiere
4/16/1988
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Pro Musica Chorus of London / London Chamber Symphony / Odaline de la Martinez
World stage premiere
9/10/1994
Magdeburg
Max K. Hoffmann, director / Theater Magdeburg / Mathias Husmann
Repertoire Note Deutsch
Goldschmidt’s second opera was one of four prize-winning works in the British Arts Council’s ‘Festival of Britain’ competition in 1949, but it never received the promised performance and had to wait forty years for its concert premiere in London in 1988 and its staged premiere in Magdeburg in 1994. Consciously written in a modern ‘bel canto’ idiom, Beatrice Cenci is a more opulent and romantic opera than its predecessor and contains some of Goldschmidt’s most passionate and eloquent music.
Press Quotes Deutsch
"Its story is moving, its framework taut and its web of themes individually memorable."
Daily Telegraph
"...disturbing, allusive and pungently beautiful."
Boston Globe
"Goldschmidt's opera music deserves a firm place in the repertoire: written so that the text is truly sung, the music is rich and colourful, stimulating and touching; the singers are helped by its easy vocal lines, and the listener held spellbound by its graphic, illustrative power..."
Westdeutscher Zeitung
Recommended Recording
Simon Estes, Della Jones, Roberta Alexander, Fiona Kimm, Peter Rose, Erich Wottrich, Siegfried Lorenz, Reinhard Beyer, Stefan Stoll, John David de Haan, Ian Bostridge, Berlin Radio Chorus, Berlin Deutsches Symphony Orchestra, Lothar Zagrosek
Sony S2K66836
Click here to purchase this CD from Amazon
Mailing List
Sign up for news updates and offers via email
SIGN UP
Featured Publication
Britten: War Requiem
Britten's pacifist masterwork, combining war poetry by Wilfred Owen with the Latin Requiem Mass, is included in the Masterworks Library of full scores, ideal for conductors, students and music lovers.
READ MORE