La-Boheme-Extract.Pdf

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

La-Boheme-Extract.Pdf OVERTURE OPERA GUIDES in association with We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with Overture Publishing on this series of opera guides and to build on the work English National Opera did over twenty years ago with the Calder Opera Guide Series. As well as reworking and updating existing titles, Overture and ENO have commissioned new titles for the series and all of the guides will be published to coincide with the repertory being staged by the company. We hope that these guides will prove an invaluable resource now and for years to come, and that by delving deeper into the history of an opera, the libretto and the nuances of the score, readers’ understanding and appreciation of the opera and the art form in general will be enhanced. Daniel Kramer Artistic Director, ENO The publisher John Calder began the Opera Guides series under the editorship of the late Nicholas John in associa- tion with English National Opera in 1980. It ran until 1994 and eventually included forty-eight titles, covering fifty-eight operas. The books in the series were intended to be companions to the works that make up the core of the operatic repertory. They contained articles, illustrations, musical examples and a complete libretto and singing translation of each opera in the series, as well as bibliographies and discographies. The aim of the present relaunched series is to make available again the guides already published in a redesigned format with new illustrations, revised and newly commissioned articles, up- dated reference sections and a literal translation of the libretto that will enable the reader to get closer to the meaning of the original. New guides of operas not already covered will be pub- lished alongside the redesigned ones from the old series. Gary Kahn Series Editor Sponsors of the Overture Opera Guides for the 2010/11 Season at ENO Ian and Catherine Ferguson Frank and Lorna Dunphy Eric Adler and Richard Everall are gratefully acknowledged for their assistance in the 2018 reprint of this volume La bohème Giacomo Puccini Overture Opera Guides Series Editor Gary Kahn Editorial Consultant Philip Reed OP OVERTURE OVERTURE OPERA GUIDES in association with Overture Publishing an imprint of ALMA BOOKS LTD 3 Castle Yard Richmond Surrey TW10 6TF United Kingdom The articles by William Ashbrook, Nicholas John, Edward Greenfield and Joanna Richardson first published by John Calder (Publishers) Ltd in 1982, the article by David Nice first published in this volume, 2018 This La bohème Opera Guide first published by Overture Publishing, an imprint of Oneworld Classics Ltd, 2010. Reprinted 2018 © Alma Books Ltd, 2010, 2018 All rights reserved Translation © William Weaver Reproduced by kind permission of the author Cover image: Fototeca/Leemage/Lebrecht Music & Arts Printed in United Kingdom by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY ISBN: 978-0-71454-856-2 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not be resold, lent, hired out or otherwise circulated without the express prior consent of the publisher. Contents List of Illustrations 8 Some Aspects of La bohème 9 William Ashbrook Romance and Irony 17 Nicholas John The Music of La bohème 33 Edward Greenfield Henry Murger and ‘la vie de bohème’ 41 Joanna Richardson Period Piece? La bohème on Stage 51 David Nice Thematic Guide 61 La bohème, Libretto 67 Act One 69 Act Two 121 Act Three 169 Act Four 197 Select Discography 233 La bohème on DVD 238 Select Bibliography 242 Puccini Websites 244 Note on the Contributors 245 Acknowledgements 246 List of Illustrations 1. Giacomo Puccini in 1895 (Fototeca/Leemage/Lebrecht Music & Arts) 2. Henry Murger (Lebrecht Authors) 3. Caricature of Puccini, Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica (Lebrecht Music & Arts) 4. Ricordi poster (RA/Lebrecht Music & Arts) 5. Mimì’s death in Puccini’s score (Lebrecht Music & Arts) 6. Postcard from an early Italian production (Lebrecht Music & Arts) 7. The Bohemians from the first Paris production (Lebrecht Music & Arts) 8. Enrico Caruso (Metropolitan Opera Archives) 9. Nellie Melba (Lebrecht Music & Arts) 10. Beniamino Gigli, with Lucrezia Bori (Metropolitan Opera Archives) 11. Licia Albanese (T.P./Lebrecht Music & Arts) 12. Jussi Björling (Ivan Kyncl/ArenaPAL) 13. Victoria de los Angeles (Erich Auerbach/Getty Images) 14. Thomas Allen (Clive Barda/ArenaPAL) 15. Renata Scotto (Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images) 16. Franco Zeffirelli’s production at Salzburg (Siegfried Lauterwasser) 17. Robert Carsen’s production for Flanders Opera (Annemie Augustijns) 18. Julia Hollander’s production for Mid-Wales Opera (Mid-Wales Opera) 19. Luciano Pavarotti and Mirella Freni (Ron Scherl: Arena Images) 20. José Carreras and Teresa Stratas (Johan Elbers/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images) 21. Plácido Domingo and Ilona Tokody (Laurie Lewis/Lebrecht Music & Arts) 22. Tito Beltran and Angela Gheorghiu (Tristram Kenton/Lebrecht Music & Arts) 23. Phyllida Lloyd’s production for Opera North (Stephen Vaughan/Opera North) 24. Steven Pimlott’s production at ENO (Ivan Kyncl/ENO Archive) 25. Baz Luhrmann’s Broadway production (Sue Adler/AFP/Getty Images) 26. Ramon Villazón and Anna Netrebko (Axiom Films) 27. Richard Jones and Antony McDonald’s production at Bregenz (Karl Forster) 28. Jonathan Miller’s production at ENO (Laurie Lewis/ENO Archive) 29. Louise Lloyd at the Soho Theatre (Simon Kane) Thematic Guide Themes from the opera have been identified by the numbers in square brackets in the article on the music. These are also printed at corresponding points in the libretto, so that the words can be related to the musical themes. 61 La bohème Opera in four acts by Giacomo Puccini Libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica English translation by William Weaver La bohème was first performed at the Teatro Regio, Turin, conducted by Arturo Toscanini on 1st February 1896. It was first performed in Britain by the Carl Rosa Opera Company in Manchester on 22nd April 1897 in English. The first performance in London, also in English, was at the Royal Opera House on 2nd October 1897. The first Italian-language performance at the Royal Opera House was on 1st July 1899. It was first performed in the United States in Los Angeles on 14th October 1897, and then in New York on 16th May 1898. THE CHARACTERS Marcello a painter baritone Rodolfo a poet tenor Colline a philosopher bass Schaunard a musician baritone Benoît a landlord bass Mimì a seamstress soprano Parpignol an itinerant toy-seller tenor Musetta a singer soprano Alcindoro a state councillor bass and admirer of Musetta Customs Sergeant bass Customs official, street vendors, students, townspeople, children and peasants Paris, about 1830 67 ATTO PRIMO In soffitta. Ampia finestra dalla quale si scorge una distesa di tetti coperti di neve. A sinistra, un camino. Una tavola, un letto, un armadietto, una piccola libreria, quattro sedie, un cavalletto da pittore con una tela sbozzata ed uno sgabello: libri sparsi, molti fasci di carte, due candelieri. Uscio nel mezzo, altro a sinistra. [1] Rodolfo guarda meditabondo fuori della finestra. Marcello lavora al suo quadro ‘Il passaggio del Mar Rosso’ con le mani intirizzite dal freddo e che egli riscalda alitandovi su di quando in quando, mutando, pel gran gelo, spesso posizione. MARCELLO (seduto, continuando a dipingere) Questo Mar Rosso – mi ammollisce e assidera come se addosso – mi piovesse in stille. (Si allontana dal cavalletto per guardare il suo quadro.) Per vendicarmi, affogo un Faraon! (Torna al lavoro. A Rodolfo) Che fai? RODOLFO (volgendosi un poco) Nei cieli bigi [2] guardo fumar dai mille comignoli Parigi, (additando il camino senza fuoco) e penso a quel poltrone di un vecchio caminetto ingannatore che vive in ozio come un gran signor! 68 ACT ONE In the garret. A spacious window from which one sees an expanse of snow- clad roofs, on the left a stove. A table, a small cupboard, a little bookcase, four chairs, a picture easel, a bed; a few books, many packs of cards, two candlesticks. A door in the middle; another on the left. [1] Rodolfo looks pensively out of the window. Marcello works at his painting ‘The Passage of the Red Sea’ with hands nipped with cold, and warms them by blowing on them from time to time, often changing position, on account of the frost. MARCELLO (seated, continuing to paint) This ‘Red Sea’ of mine makes me feel cold and numb as if it were pouring over me. (He goes a little way back from the easel to look at the picture.) I’ll drown a Pharaoh in revenge. (He turns to his work.) What are you doing? RODOLFO (turning a little) I’m looking at Paris, [2] seeing the skies grey with smoke from a thousand chimneys, (pointing to the fireless stove) and I think of that no-good, hateful stove of ours that lives a gentleman’s life of idleness. 69 Acknowledgements We would like to thank John Allison of Opera, Charles Johnston, George Hall, Mike Ashman and Simonetta Bigongiari of the Centro Studi Giacomo Puccini, Lucca, for their assistance and advice in preparing this guide. www.overturepublishing.com www.eno.org other titles in the overture opera guides series all at £12.00 Vincenzo Bellini – Norma Georges Bizet – Carmen Benjamin Britten – A Midsummer Night’s Dream Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Don Giovanni Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Idomeneo Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Le nozze di Figaro Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Così fan tutte Giacomo Puccini – Tosca Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Eugene Onegin Giuseppe Verdi – Rigoletto Giuseppe Verdi – La traviata Giuseppe Verdi – Simon Boccanegra Giuseppe Verdi – Otello Richard Wagner – Der fliegende Holländer Richard Wagner – Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Richard Wagner – Parsifal www.overturepublishing.com.
Recommended publications
  • Stage by Stage South Bank: 1988 – 1996
    Stage by Stage South Bank: 1988 – 1996 Stage by Stage The Development of the National Theatre from 1848 Designed by Michael Mayhew Compiled by Lyn Haill & Stephen Wood With thanks to Richard Mangan and The Mander & Mitchenson Theatre Collection, Monica Sollash and The Theatre Museum The majority of the photographs in the exhibition were commissioned by the National Theatre and are part of its archive The exhibition was funded by The Royal National Theatre Foundation Richard Eyre. Photograph by John Haynes. 1988 To mark the company’s 25th birthday in Peter Hall’s last year as Director of the National October, The Queen approves the title ‘Royal’ Theatre. He stages three late Shakespeare for the National Theatre, and attends an plays (The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale, and anniversary gala in the Olivier. Cymbeline) in the Cottesloe then in the Olivier, and leaves to start his own company in the The funds raised are to set up a National West End. Theatre Endowment Fund. Lord Rayne retires as Chairman of the Board and is succeeded ‘This building in solid concrete will be here by the Lady Soames, daughter of Winston for ever and ever, whatever successive Churchill. governments can do to muck it up. The place exists as a necessary part of the cultural scene Prince Charles, in a TV documentary on of this country.’ Peter Hall architecture, describes the National as ‘a way of building a nuclear power station in the September: Richard Eyre takes over as Director middle of London without anyone objecting’. of the National. 1989 Alan Bennett’s Single Spies, consisting of two A series of co-productions with regional short plays, contains the first representation on companies begins with Tony Harrison’s version the British stage of a living monarch, in a scene of Molière’s The Misanthrope, presented with in which Sir Anthony Blunt has a discussion Bristol Old Vic and directed by its artistic with ‘HMQ’.
    [Show full text]
  • Composers Mascagni and Leoncavallo Biography
    Cavalleria Rusticana Composer Biography: Pietro Mascagni Mascagni was an Italian composer born in Livorno on December 7, 1863. His father was a baker and dreamed of a career as a lawyer for his son, but following the good reception obtained by Mascagni’s first compositions was persuaded to allow him to study music at the Milan Conservatoire, where his teachers included Amilcare Ponchielli and Michele Saladino, and where he shared a furnished room with his fellow-student Giacomo Puccini. His first compositions won him financial support to study at the Milan Conservatory. He was of a rebellious nature and intolerant of discipline, and in 1885 he left the Conservatoire to join a modest operetta company as conductor. He became part of the Compagnia Maresca and, together with his future wife, Lina Carbognani, settled in Cerignola (Apulia) in 1886, where he formed a symphony orchestra. Here Mascagni composed at a single stroke, in only two months, the one-act opera Cavalleria rusticana, based on the short story by Verga, which was to win him the first prize in the Second Sonzogno Competition for new operas. The innovative strength of the opera and the resounding worldwide success which followed its first performance (1890, Teatro Costanzi, Rome) marked the beginning of an artistic life rich in achievements and satisfactions, both as composer and as conductor. He became increasingly prominent as a conductor and in 1892 conducted his opera I Rantzau around Europe. Further successes included Amica (1905) and Isabeau (1911), alongside such failures as Le maschere (1901). In 1915 he experimented with writing for cinema in Rapsodia satanicawith Nino Oxilia.
    [Show full text]
  • Royal Opera House Performance Review 2006/07
    royal_ballet_royal_opera.qxd 18/9/07 14:15 Page 1 Royal Opera House Performance Review 2006/07 The Royal Ballet - The Royal Opera royal_ballet_royal_opera.qxd 18/9/07 14:15 Page 2 Contents 01 TH E ROYA L BA L L E T PE R F O R M A N C E S 02 TH E ROYA L OP E R A PE R F O R M A N C E S royal_ballet_royal_opera.qxd 18/9/07 14:15 Page 3 3 TH E ROYA L BA L L E T PE R F O R M A N C E S 2 0 0 6 / 2 0 0 7 01 TH E ROYA L BA L L E T PE R F O R M A N C E S royal_ballet_royal_opera.qxd 18/9/07 14:15 Page 4 4 TH E ROYA L BA L L E T PE R F O R M A N C E S 2 0 0 6 / 2 0 0 7 GI S E L L E NU M B E R O F PE R F O R M A N C E S 6 (15 matinee and evening 19, 20, 28, 29 April) AV E R A G E AT T E N D A N C E 91% CO M P O S E R Adolphe Adam, revised by Joseph Horovitz CH O R E O G R A P H E R Marius Petipa after Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot SC E N A R I O Théophile Gautier after Heinrich Meine PRO D U C T I O N Peter Wright DE S I G N S John Macfarlane OR I G I N A L LI G H T I N G Jennifer Tipton, re-created by Clare O’Donoghue STAG I N G Christopher Carr CO N D U C T O R Boris Gruzin PR I N C I PA L C A S T I N G Giselle – Leanne Benjamin (2) / Darcey Bussell (2) / Jaimie Tapper (2) Count Albrecht – Edward Watson (2) / Roberto Bolle (2) / Federico Bonelli (2) Hilarion – Bennet Gartside (2) / Thiago Soares (2) / Gary Avis (2) / Myrtha – Marianela Nuñez (1) / Lauren Cuthbertson (3) (1- replacing Zenaida Yanowsky 15/04/06) / Zenaida Yanowsky (1) / Vanessa Palmer (1) royal_ballet_royal_opera.qxd 18/9/07 14:15 Page 5 5 TH E ROYA L BA L L E T PE R F O R M A N C E S 2 0 0 6 / 2 0 0 7 LA FI L L E MA L GA R D E E NU M B E R O F PE R F O R M A N C E S 10 (21, 25, 26 April, 1, 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, 20 May 2006) AV E R A G E AT T E N D A N C E 86% CH O R E O G R A P H Y Frederick Ashton MU S I C Ferdinand Hérold, freely adapted and arranged by John Lanchbery from the 1828 version SC E N A R I O Jean Dauberval DE S I G N S Osbert Lancaster LI G H T I N G John B.
    [Show full text]
  • Bellini's Norma
    Bellini’s Norma - A discographical survey by Ralph Moore There are around 130 recordings of Norma in the catalogue of which only ten were made in the studio. The penultimate version of those was made as long as thirty-five years ago, then, after a long gap, Cecilia Bartoli made a new recording between 2011 and 2013 which is really hors concours for reasons which I elaborate in my review below. The comparative scarcity of studio accounts is partially explained by the difficulty of casting the eponymous role, which epitomises bel canto style yet also lends itself to verismo interpretation, requiring a vocalist of supreme ability and versatility. Its challenges have thus been essayed by the greatest sopranos in history, beginning with Giuditta Pasta, who created the role of Norma in 1831. Subsequent famous exponents include Maria Malibran, Jenny Lind and Lilli Lehmann in the nineteenth century, through to Claudia Muzio, Rosa Ponselle and Gina Cigna in the first part of the twentieth. Maria Callas, then Joan Sutherland, dominated the role post-war; both performed it frequently and each made two bench-mark studio recordings. Callas in particular is to this day identified with Norma alongside Tosca; she performed it on stage over eighty times and her interpretation casts a long shadow over. Artists since, such as Gencer, Caballé, Scotto, Sills, and, more recently, Sondra Radvanovsky have had success with it, but none has really challenged the supremacy of Callas and Sutherland. Now that the age of expensive studio opera recordings is largely over in favour of recording live or concert performances, and given that there seemed to be little commercial or artistic rationale for producing another recording to challenge those already in the catalogue, the appearance of the new Bartoli recording was a surprise, but it sought to justify its existence via the claim that it authentically reinstates the integrity of Bellini’s original concept in matters such as voice categories, ornamentation and instrumentation.
    [Show full text]
  • Giacomo Puccini Krassimira Stoyanova
    Giacomo Puccini Complete Songs for Soprano and Piano Krassimira Stoyanova Maria Prinz, Piano Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) 5 Ave Maria Leopolda (Giacomo Puccini) Conservatory. It is introduced by solemn organ harmonies (Milan, 20 May 1896) with strong treble line. The melody is shaped by slow Songs This short song is a setting of one of the composer’s letters lingering inflections of considerable emotional intensity. The Giacomo (Antonio Domenico Michele Seconda Maria) Gramophone Company (Italy) Ltd. The tone of this song, to the conductor Leopoldo Mugnone (who conducted hymn moves on to a more questioning phase, and concludes Puccini (1858-1924) was born into a family with long musical by the famous librettist Illica, a man of exuberant and violent Manon Lescaut and La Bohème in Palermo). It is a jocular with a smooth organ postlude. The tune was used by the traditions. He studied with the violinist Antonio Bazzini passions, celebrates the positivism of the late 19th century. salutation, offering greetings to his spouse Maria Leopolda, composer in his first opera Le Villi (1883) as the orchestral (1818-1897) and the opera composer Amilcare Ponchielli The text reflects that, although life is transient, we sense the from the dark Elvira (Bonturi, Puccini’s wife) and the blonde introduction to No. 5 and the following prayer Angiol di Dio. (1834-1886), and began his career writing church music. existence of an ideal that transcends it, conquering oblivion Foschinetta (Germignani, Puccini’s stepdaughter), who He is famous for his series of bold and impassioned operas and death. The musical setting is confident and aspirational, send kisses and flowers.
    [Show full text]
  • Operas Performed in New York City in 2013 (Compiled by Mark Schubin)
    Operas Performed in New York City in 2013 (compiled by Mark Schubin) What is not included in this list: There are three obvious categories: anything not performed in 2013, anything not within the confines of New York City, and anything not involving singing. Empire Opera was supposed to perform Montemezzi’s L'amore dei tre re in November; it was postponed to January, so it’s not on the list. Similarly, even though Bard, Caramoor, and Peak Performances provide bus service from midtown Manhattan to their operas, even though the New York City press treats the excellent but four-hours-away-by-car Glimmerglass Festival like a local company, and even though it’s faster to get from midtown Manhattan to some performances on Long Island or in New Jersey or Westchester than to, say, Queens College, those out-of-city productions are not included on the main list (just for reference, I put Bard, Caramoor, and Peak Performances in an appendix). And, although the Parterre Box New York Opera Calendar (which includes some non-opera events) listed A Rite, a music-theatrical dance piece performed at the BAM Opera House, I didn’t because no performer in it sang. I did not include anything that wasn’t a local in-person performance. The cinema transmissions from the Met, Covent Garden, La Scala, etc., are not included (nor is the movie Metallica: Through the Never, which Owen Gleiberman in Entertainment Weekly called a “grand 3-D opera”). I did not include anything that wasn’t open to the public, so the Met’s workshop of Scott Wheeler’s The Sorrows of Frederick is not on the list.
    [Show full text]
  • COMPOSER: Giacomo Puccini
    COMPOSER: Giacomo Puccini HOW TO SAY THE NAME: ‘Puccini’ is said like Poo-chee-knee. ‘Giacomo’ is said like ‘Jee-ah-ko-mo’. BORN: December 22, 1858 – Lucca Italy DIED: November 29, 1924 – Brussels, Belgium (Diagnosed with throat cancer and died of a heart attack) BURIED: A specially built chapel in the grounds of his estate in Torre del Lago, Toscana, Italy. FULL NAME: Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini SPOUSE: Elvira Gemignani CHILDREN: Antonio Puccini FAMILY INFO: ▪ Five generations of his family were musicians and church organists. ▪ His father died when he was 6 years old and his uncle ensured that he continued his music studies. ▪ Puccini he became a choirboy at San Martino and San Michele and at the age of 14 he began to play organ for the convent church - his wages helped to support his family MOST POPULAR COMPOSITIONS (all operas): Madame Butterfly La bohème Tosca Turandot SOME INTERESTING FACTS: ▪ His music is very popular, especially in Italy. ▪ He was a leading composer during the Romantic Period. ▪ His music is full of long and beautiful tunes. ▪ Gianni Schicchi is different from all his other operas—it’s a comedy! ▪ His last opera, Turnadot, wasn’t finished when he died. It was finished instead by Franco Alfano. ▪ He died very rich. ▪ In 1903 Puccini was involve in a car accident and was seriously injured. The car was driven by his chauffeur and his wife, Elvira and their son, Antonio were also in the car when it off the road and flipped over. Both mother and child were spared any serious injury receiving only minor scrapes and bruises.
    [Show full text]
  • Problems of Tempo in Puccini's Operas
    Problems of Tempo in Puccini's Arias Author(s): Mei Zhong Source: College Music Symposium, Vol. 40 (2000), pp. 140-150 Published by: College Music Society Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40374404 Accessed: 22-08-2018 17:38 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms College Music Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to College Music Symposium This content downloaded from 129.105.215.146 on Wed, 22 Aug 2018 17:38:20 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Problems of Tempo in Puccini's Arias Mei Zhong problems of tempo in Puccini's soprano arias are surprisingly vexing for per- formers, given that the composer provided many indications in his scores, including many metronome markings, and supervised the preparation of several singers who went on to make early phonograph recordings of his arias. The difficulties arise from the lack of markings in some cases, ambiguous or impractical markings in others (with some evidence that at times Puccini himself was not reliable in this matter), doubts about the authorship of some markings, and wide variations in tempo among recorded perfor- mances.
    [Show full text]
  • Overture Opera Guides
    overture opera guides in association with We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with Overture Publishing on this series of opera guides and to build on the work English National Opera did over twenty years ago on the Calder Opera Guide Series. As well as reworking and updating existing titles, Overture and ENO have commissioned new titles for the series and all of the guides will be published to coincide with repertoire being staged by the company at the London Coliseum. We hope that these guides will prove an invaluable resource now and for years to come, and that by delving deeper into the history of an opera, the poetry of the libretto and the nuances of the score, read- ers’ understanding and appreciation of the opera and the art form in general will be enhanced. John Berry Artistic Director, ENO The publisher John Calder began the Opera Guides series under the editorship of the late Nicholas John in association with English National Opera in 1980. It ran until 1994 and eventu- ally included forty-eight titles, covering fifty-eight operas. The books in the series were intended to be companions to the works that make up the core of the operatic repertory. They contained articles, illustrations, musical examples and a complete libretto and singing translation of each opera in the series, as well as bibliographies and discographies. The aim of the present relaunched series is to make available again the guides already published in a redesigned format with new illustrations, some newly commissioned articles, updated reference sections and a literal translation of the libretto that will enable the reader to get closer to the intentions and meaning of the original.
    [Show full text]
  • Players of Shakespeare 
    POSA01 08/11/1998 10:09 AM Page i Players of Shakespeare This is the fourth volume of essays by actors with the Royal Shake- speare Company. Twelve actors describe the Shakespearian roles they played in productions between and . The contrib- utors are Christopher Luscombe, David Tennant, Michael Siberry, Richard McCabe, David Troughton, Susan Brown, Paul Jesson, Jane Lapotaire, Philip Voss, Julian Glover, John Nettles, and Derek Jacobi. The plays covered include The Merchant of Venice, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Taming of the Shrew, The Winter’s Tale, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth, among others. The essays divide equally among comedies, histories and tragedies, with emphasis among the comed- ies on those notoriously difficult ‘clown’ roles. A brief biographical note is provided for each of the contributors and an introduction places the essays in the context of the Stratford and London stages. POSA01 08/11/1998 10:09 AM Page ii POSA01 08/11/1998 10:09 AM Page iii Players of Shakespeare Further essays in Shakespearian performance by players with the Royal Shakespeare Company Edited by Robert Smallwood POSA01 08/11/1998 10:09 AM Page iv The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge , United Kingdom The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge , United Kingdom West th Street, New York, –, USA Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne , Australia © Cambridge University Press, This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge Typeset in ./pt Plantin Regular A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress cataloguing in publication data Players of Shakespeare : further essays in Shakespearian performance /by players with the Royal Shakespeare Company; edited by Robert Smallwood.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction: Theatre, Space, and World-Making
    Notes Introduction: Theatre, Space, and World-making 1. This work is primarily focused on theatre studies but its argument also pertains to the broader field of performance studies. 2. For a fuller discussion of this text, the significance of land rights, the importance of simultaneous occupation, and the staging of landscape in Australia, see my Unsettling Space (2006, pp. 25–48). 3. Escolme describes the ways in which a similar design decision was used in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Richard II with Sam West, directed by Steven Pimlott at The Other Place in 2000. Her interpretation of this moment takes the argument about the externalities in a different direction – she explores the ‘violence done to conventions of inside and outside’ (2006, p. 107) – but she recognizes this staging technique as a challenge to space, reality, and as a result, the politics of the play itself. A movie that mirrors this approach is Tim Robbins’s 1999 Cradle Will Rock about the actual 1937 attempt to mount Marc Blitzstein’s left-leaning musical of the same name. It depicts the power of theatre in the United States where the hunt for Communists among artistic communities destroyed lives and careers. Thanks to Fred D’Agostino for alerting me to this film. 4. Barker’s argument may appear to be utopian rather than heterotopic but as I argue in Chapter 1, there are intersections between these terms. While heterotopia also has a utopian aspect, I regard it as more likely to be materialized than utopia. 5. Of course, analysing performance necessarily calls on a broad range of theatrical features.
    [Show full text]
  • Genesis IV Summer 2004 Edition
    GENESIS IV THE ALUMNI MAGAZINE OF SAINT IGNATIUS COLLEGE PREPARATORY, SAN FRANCISCO, SUMMER 2004 2 Development News A Legacy for a father from Chronicle reporter John Wildermuth ’69 • SI thanks parents who have completed their pledge to support the school. 7 Feature Articles The Buddy System: Tom Leach ’94 & Bill Duggan ’93 are the success behind TV’s Curb Appeal • Mike Nevin ’61 & Ed McGovern ’75 are among the top COVER STORY: The Class of 2004 received 10 most infl uential in San Mateo County • Physics teachers Byron Philhour their diplomas … Page 18. & James Dann ask students to look at the sky and wonder • Celine Alwyn ’98 & Brendan Quigley ’78 are in and behind the spotlights on Broadway. 18 School News COVER STORY: Class of 2004 honored at 145th commencement ceremonies • Valedictorian Kevin Feeney asks students to heed the prophets • St. Antho- ny’s Fr. John Hardin receives President’s Award • Chad Evans bikes across the US to raise awareness for poverty. SPORTS: The Boys’ Varsity 8 took third in the nation in crew … Page 31. 32 Alumni News All-Alumni Sports Day brings 400 graduates back to SI • Actor, Producer, Director Geoff Callan ’85 does it all • Sean Cheetham ’95 fi nds faith through art • Looking back 15 years on coeducation. 42 Sports Highlights Boys’ Varsity Crew takes third in nation • Alumni lacrosse players win na- tional championship 45 Departments Keeping in Touch • Births • In Memoriam • Feedback • Calendar On the cover: The Class of 2004 celebrates outside St. Ignatius Church mo- ments after they received their diplomas. Photo by Paul Totah.
    [Show full text]