Chester-Music - Opera

A chamber opera in one act for soprano tenor baritone and bass soli TTBB chorus and orchestra commissioned for the Wells 800 Celebration in 1982. Libretto by Peter Porter. Vocal score with piano reduction. Duration: c. 55minutes.Orpheus is a Chamber Opera or perhaps more properly might be described as an ‘Opera-Cantata’. It is designed to be performed as a short opera fully staged and costumed or as a concert piece. Either way itsstructure is dramatic rather than reflective. It tells the story of Orpheus probably the most familiar story in music and en emblem of their art for composers of all periods as a direct narrative. Since the legend is set inthe world of pagan mythology it has been lightly Christianised for its Church setting. The Aeneid has often been seen as speaking of Christ avant la lettre and Renaissance Humanists were always willing to identify forerunnersof Christian types in Classical personages: in this manner Orpheus pursues without undue emphasis musical parallels with St Francis St Cecilia and even Adam and Eve.The work is framed briefly by a prologue and epilogue. ThePrologue introduces the four solo singers Hades (bass) Orpheus (tenor) Eurydice (soprano) and Charon (baritone). It also introduces the chorus who do not only portray at various stages Orpheus’s wedding companions thedenizens of Hell and Blessed Spirits in the Elysian Fields but also comments on the action as it proceeds.

Phaedra by German composer Hans Werner Henze is a 'concert opera' in two acts whose first performance was given at the Berlin State Opera in 2007. Phaedra was Henze's penultimateopera and this item presents the vocal score with the entire work lasting around 75 minutes.?The parts are for Mezzo-Soprano Soprano Tenor Countertenor Bass Baritone as well as a mime. Featuring aunique libretto by Christian Lehnert and sound effects by Francesco Antonioni this opera presents the wonderful story of Phaedra filled with drama and fantastic music. This VocalScore?presents the work in German and English language with German lyrics. Phaedra?was co-commissioned and co-produced by Staatsoper Unter den LindenBerlin Berliner Festspiele Thé tre de la Monnaie Brussels Alte Oper Frankfurt and Wiener Festwochen. Hans Werner Henze?was a hugely prolific composer who drew influences from a wide number of sources.Phaedra is regarded as among his greatest works and would certainly make for a stunning performance.

Saariaho’s L’armour De Loin is an opera in five acts and was premiered in Salzburg in August 2000 with additional productions being staged at the theatre Bern in Switzerland. The story is based on the life ofPrince of Bleye one of the first great troubadours of the 12th century and follows his glowing passion for a woman from the East of whom he has only heard is the central theme of the libretto. Libretto written by AminMaalouf.This is the Full Score of Saariaho’s remarkable opera.

An opera in four acts for ensemble chorus and soloists in full score from minimalist composer Philip Glass. It is Glass's first and longest opera taking approximately five hours to complete with no intermission. Given thenature of the music - the lengthy repetition of small elements very gradual development and change recurring patterns - audience members are free to enter and leave as they wish.

This short opera (duration of 50 minutes) aptly designed for children to perform with modest resources is a version of the familiar tale though with certain adaptations.Musically the piece is a bright sequence of littlesongs choruses dialogue scenes and dances probably best suited to children between the ages of eight and twelve though the parts of the ugly sisters can usefully be taken by boys with broken voices.The music is scored foran orchestra of recorders trumpet percussion strings and keyboard and ranges through a variety of styles. The opera has eleven solo parts and a chorus who act as a train ball guests and the magic kittens. It is alsosuitable for performance by children aged eight and upwards.

Chamber opera in a prologue and one act. A ghost story telling of the mysterious disappearance of three lighthouse keepers in the Hebrides. This is a mystery story in the form of a chamber opera. The prologue is set as acourt of enquiry into the unexplained disappearance of the three keepers from a lighthouse. Questions are posed by a solo horn which may sound from among the audience and three officers give answer. Gradually they move fromstraight testimony into fantastical imaginings of evil during a 'flashback' to the lighthouse; but then we snap back to the courtroom. In the main act the three singers become the vanished keepers. They have been together formonths long enough to be fully aware of each other's weaknesses; petty bickerings suggest a relationship which is stable but liable to become highly unstable at any moment. They sing songs to reduce the tension Blazes beginningwith a rough ballad of street violence accompanied by violin and banjo. Sandy's song with cello and out-of-tune upright piano is a thinly disguised description of sexual bliss and Arthur's with brass and clarinet is atub-thumping hymn. But the songs serve only to resurrect in their minds ghosts from the past and as the fog descends each of the keepers becomes convinced that he is being claimed by the Beast. They prepare to meet its dazzlingeyes which become the lights of the relief vessel and the three men reappear as officers met at the lighthouse only by an infestation of rats. They leave and at the end the last hours of Blazes Sandy and Arthur begin to playover again.Study Score. Duration c. 1h 25mins.

The fifteenth full Opera from the prolific Hans Werner Henze and the first to feature a self-penned libretto. After the poems he wrote for his Songs from the Arabian Henze has produced this unusal tale through adaptingboth Arab and Persian legends and invoking the same half-real half-imaginary Arabia as the song cycle. The story itself is a fairy tale comedy with much in common with The Magic Flute. The orchestral arrangement is huge featuring quadruple wind five percussionists and a part for tape.

This short opera (duration of 50 minutes) aptly designed for children to perform with modest resources is a version of the familiar tale though with certain adaptations. Cinderella is an au pair girl who arrives on the scene bytrain and there are three ugly sisters who get their just deserts in marriage to the appalling leaders of the armed forces. Writing for children in the Orkney Islands Davies has also included some local references: these can bechanged to suit other times and places. Musically the piece is a bright sequence of little songs choruses dialogue scenes and dances probably best suited to children between the ages of eight and twelve though the parts of theugly sisters can usefully be taken by boys with broken voices.Text only.Duration c. 50mins.

Iain Bell's A Harlot's Progress is an Opera in six scenes featuring a libretto by Peter Ackroyd based upon William Hogarth’s 1730 etchings of the same name.This is a full score for Soprano Mezzo-Soprano (x2) Baritone Tenor and Bass soloists with SATB chorus and Orchestra.