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Nicolae Bretan: Golem (1923) and Arald (1942)
Nicolae Bretan is a composer who probably should have been on this blog years ago, and while I wait for a recording of Luceafarul and Horia being close to two hours, I am offering this double-bill first. He is possibly the most important 20th century Romanian composer other than Enescu, and composed far more operas,…
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Eduard Caudella: Petru RareČ™ (1889/1900)
Opera in three acts. Running Time: 1 hour 58 minutes. I have been slow with producing a new review. Apart from making some changes to my review of Schreker’s Der Singende Teufel, I haven’t done anything for a month at this point. So I decided I would do something different: this time, my first opera…
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Umberto Giordano: La Cena delle Beffe (1924)
Opera in quattro atti. Running Time: 1 hour 30 minutes. Giordano’s penultimate opera was one of his successes of esteem. With a libretto by playwright Sem Benelli (adapting his own successful play) it was unlikely to completely fail like most of his other operas. The opera was a triumph at La Scala in December 1924,…
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Fredrik Pacius: Kung Karls jakt/The Hunt of King Charles (Final Version 1879)
Opera i tre akten. Running Time: 2 hours 22 minutes Fredrik Pacius (1809-1891) is known as the Father of Finnish music, although he was actually German and born in Hamburg, and his first opera (or more properly, a Singspiel), was written to a Swedish text. Pacius revised the score four times (the last in 1880),…
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Emilio Arrieta: La Conquista de Granada (1850)
Opera in tre atti. Running Time: 2 hours 15 minutes. Due to the immense impression that Ildegonda made in 1849 on Queen Isabella II of Spain, the Queen commissioned this work, partially about the life of her predecessor, Isabella of Castile. It took Arrieta and Solera six months to complete the libretto and score before…