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Oresteia (opera)

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Oresteia (Орестея in Cyrillic) is an opera in three parts, eight tableaux, with music by Sergei Taneyev, composed during 1887-1894. The composer titled this work, his only opera, a "musical trilogy." The Russian libretto was adapted by A.A. Wenkstern from the The Oresteia of Aeschylus. The opera was premiered on October 29 [O.S. October 17] 1895 at the Mariinsky Theatre. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov wrote that soon after the premiere, the Mariinsky management made cuts to the opera, which angered Taneyev.[1]

The most well-known excerpt from Oresteia is the entr'acte played before the second tableau of Part III, "The Temple of Apollo at Delphi." This passage, as well as other themes from the opera, figured into one of Taneyev's other works, namely, his orchestral overture entitled Oresteia (1889). This overture -- not included in the printed score of this opera -- constitutes a separate 18-minute-long symphonic poem based on themes from the trilogy.

Harlow Robinson has noted that the opera avoids dramatic treatment of the murders of Agamemnon, Cassandra, Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, depicting those events off-stage.[1]

Characters and Setting

Part I. Agamemnon

  • Agamemnon, king of Argos: bass
  • Clytemnestra, his wife: alto
  • Aegisthus, his first cousin: baritone
  • Cassandra, a Trojan prisoner: soprano
  • A Guard: bass
  • People, female servants of Clytemnestra, warriors, captives, bodyguards.

The action takes place in Argos, before the Atrides palace.

Part II. The Libation Bearers

  • Clytemnestra: alto
  • Ghost of Agamemnon
  • Elektra, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra: soprano
  • Orestes, son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra: tenor
  • A Slave: bass
  • Female servants of Clytemnestra

Tableau 1: The interior of the Atrides palace.
Tableau 2: An olive grove.
Tableau 3: Scenery of Part I.

Part III. The Eumenides

  • Orestes: tenor
  • Apollo Loxias: bariton
  • Pallas Athena: soprano
  • Areopagite: bass
  • Libation-Bearer: bass
  • Furies, Athenian people, areopagites participating in the pan-Athenian procession.

Tableau 1: A deserted place on the seashore.
Tableau 2: Interior of Apollo's temple at Delphi.
Tableau 3: Athens.

Recording

  • Deutsche Grammophon 2709 097 (original LP issue): Victor Chernobayev, Lydia Galushkina, Anatoly Bokov, Nelli Tkachenko, Tamara Shimko, Ivan Dubrovin, Arkady Savchenko, Ludmilla Ganestova, Stanislav Frolov, Mikhail Pushkariev; Chorus and Orchestra of the Belorussian State Opera and Ballet; Tatyana Kolomizheva, conductor[2] [1]

This performance was later released on two cds on the Melodiya label, but is sadly long out of print. (Reference: Amazon/classical music/Taneyev:Oresteia)

References

  1. ^ a b c Robinson, Harlow (1991). "The Oresteia. Sergei Taneyev". The Opera Quarterly. 8 (1): 159–161. Retrieved 2007-09-16.
  2. ^ Norris, Geoffrey, Review of Taneyev's Oresteia (1980). The Musical Times, 121 (1644): p. 109.

Bibliography

  • 100 опер: история создания, сюжет, музыка. [100 Operas: History of Creation, Subject, Music.] Ленинград: Издательство "Музыка," 1968, pp. 426-432.
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