News just in from Fraser in St Bart’s…
The Irish premiere of Celos aun del aire matan is shortly to be held at St Bartholomew’s Church, in leafy Dublin 4. Celos is the earliest surviving Spanish opera, a tale of love, jealousy and intrigue set to music by Juan Hidalgo, composed in around 1660 to a libretto by leading seventeenth-century dramatist Pedro Calderon de la Barca. The score has only recently been prepared for modern performance, and this will be the first ever performance of the opera in Ireland. Further information about the work can be found at https://www.shef.ac.uk/hispanic/events/celos
It is very exciting to have Andrew Lawrence-King and his superb group of students from the University of Sheffield over for the event, which should be an excellent occasion and will be on Wednesday 2 July at 8.00pm. This is to let you know that tickets (at the very reasonable price of €12; concessions €10; under 16s €5) can now be reserved by calling the parish office on 01 668 8522 or emailing music@stbartholomews.ie (they ask you to pay for them on the night, but once you’ve reserved them by phone or email they will definitely be kept for you). They can also be bought on the door.
There will be a further performance the following evening, 3 July, at St Iberius’ church in Wexford – you may find that one more accessible if you’re in that area! Further information on this performance will be forthcoming shortly.
The last Sheffield Uni production to come to these shores was the South American La purpura de la rosa in 2003, which I saw at the Galway Early Music Festival, directed by Andrew Lawrence-King on that occasion as well. It was great fun, and a real eye-opener, and this proves to equal that success. Well worth checking out!
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June 5, 2008 at 9:29 am
Cathy
Hi Michael
Hope the singing is going well and facinating to hear about this early Spanish Opera.
Looking forward to more,
Cathy
June 20, 2008 at 9:13 am
Pat Jackman
Michael,
As requested, here are the details of the Wexford performance. Congratulations on your marvellous website.
Kind regards
Pat Jackman,
Chair
Gorey & Wexford Music Centres.
Celos Aun Del Aire Matan (Jealousy Kills for no Reason)
The University of Sheffield. Artistic Director; Andrew Lawrence-King
St. Iberius Church, Main Street, Wexford Town. Thursday July 3rd 2008.
Wexford opera lovers will have a unique opportunity to see Spain’s very first fully sung opera being performed when The University of Sheffield, in association with Wexford’s new music school, Wexford Music Centre, perform ‘Celos aun del aire matan (Jealousy Kills for no Reason)’ in St. Iberius Church, Wexford on Thursday 3rd July 2008.
The Opera, virtually unknown in modern times before a new edition and performance in Madrid in 2000, dates from 1660 and boasts a libretto by Spain’s leading dramatist of the seventeenth century Pedro Calderón de la Barca and music by the celebrated Court musician Juan Hidalgo.
The production, featuring students from several departments of Sheffield University, is directed by world-famous baroque harpist Andrew Lawrence-King, who regularly plays with Jordi Savall’s Hesperion XXI, and has a host of recordings of Spanish music of the period to his name.
The plot explores the many obstacles that can stand in the way of true love, and includes scenes of great tenderness, high drama and low comedy, along with a fair dose of the supernatural: a man turns into a dog… a lion… a bear… a wild boar… and a wolf. The chaste goddess Diana is pitted against her arch-rival Venus, and they act out their feelings through the tragic tale of Cephalus and Procris.
The performance is in Spanish but a broad range of stage effects and an English narration make the lively production accessible to all.
The Irish performances of this opera also include the Irish premiere on 2nd July at St Bartholomew’s, Ballsbridge, Dublin, as well as the performance in St Iberius. Both shows begin at 8 p.m.
Tickets cost €12 (concessions €10; under 16s €5) and can be booked in advance from St. Iberius between 10a.m. and 4p.m. daily or by calling 085 7131435, and will also be available at the door on the night.
For more information please visit http://www.goreymusic.com/spanishopera.html
July 1, 2008 at 4:09 am
Louise
Dear Michael,
If you are interested in learning more about early Hispanic theatrical music and opera, you might take a look at Songs of Mortals, Dialogues of the Gods, by L. K. Stein, published by OUP in 1993. There are other publications and essays listed at http://www.music.umich.edu/departments/musicology/LouiseStein.htm , though the list is not completely up to date.
The score of the other 17th-century Hispanic opera, La purpura de la rosa, is available in a critical performing edition by L. K. Stein published in Madrid in 1999. The critical performing edition of Celos aun del aire matan is forthcoming from A-R Editions, though excerpts have been published in some of the essays and in the 1993 book.
Jordi Savall and his group performed Celos aun del aire matan in concert versions in Vienna and Barcelona in 2000, but there have been a number of modern performances of the opera, beginning with two very different ones in San Antonio, Texas, and Cologne, Germany, in 1981. Unfortunately, none of the modern performances, including the Sheffield productions, has attempted an historically-informed staging and nobody has yet attempted to completely respect the 17th-century performance conventions for the scoring and the assignment of roles to voice-types. The boldest attempt at historically-informed performance of this repertory is still the 1999 BMG/dhm recording of La purpura de la rosa, conducted by Andrew Lawrence-King with The Harp Consort and an international cast. The CD is still available—if you can find it, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!
Best wishes,
Louise