Handout (flat) Handout (folded) Return to Index

Opera composers from Monteverdi onwards who wrote for noble patrons had to dress their works with appropriate deference. Lully's operas such as Atys (1675) often began with an allegorical prologue in praise of Louis XIV. Mozart was less explicit in his Abduction from the Seraglio (1782) and La clemenza di Tito (1791) written for Joseph II and Leopold II respectively, but both operas model the ideal clemency of an Enlightement ruler. But Benjamin Britten, writing Gloriana for the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953, fell short of the mark, by ending with a portrait of the first Elizabeth old, bald, and burdened with regret. It has taken much ingenuity for later directors to salvage Britten's undoubted musical brilliance in the work.

Most of the class will be devoted to Gloriana. It would be worthwhile to read this synopsis in advance.

Handout (flat) Handout (folded) Class Script

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The shorter clips shown in class are all available on YouTube, with the exception of La clemenza di Tito; I am giving the scene, however, in the 2003 Salzburg production. I had wanted to show it in class, because the title role is sung by a former student of mine, Michael Schade; but this particular production makes him half-mad, which was surely not Mozart's intention!

While Gloriana is well represented on DVDs, if you want to pay for them, the pickings on YouTube are slim. There are only a trailer and a couple of brief excerpts from the Phyllida Lloyd film that I showed. The link below to the Colin Graham production at the English National Opera links to a playlist that includes most, but not all, of the other scenes in the opera, but the video quality is very poor—a shame in a production that I recall mostly for its light and color. *Asterisked clips are different from those shown in class. rb.

LULLY
	Le Roi Danse	* Lully accompanies the King (2000 film by Gérard Corbiau)
	Atys	* Prologue, opening (Opéra Comique, 2011; starts and ends sooner)

MOZART
	Amadeus	* Premiere of The Magic Flute (film of the Peter Shaffer play)
	La clemenza di Tito	* Final scene (Salzburg 2003; a very different production)

BRITTEN'S GLORIANA
	Premiere 1953	* Newsreel * John Bridcut discusses the context
	ENO production 1966/1984	* Act II, scene 3 (playlist contains most of the other scenes)
	Phyllida Lloyd film, 2000	* Entrance of the Queen * End of Act I, scene 1 * Essex's lute song (part only of the scene, very soft)
	Royal Opera production 2013	* Trailer * Comments and rehearsals


IMAGES
The thumbnails below cover the slides shown in class. Click the thumbnail to see a larger image. Click on the right or left of this picture to go forward or back, or outside the border to close.

The class contains work by the following composers, given here in chronological order.
For bios of other composers in the course, click here.

	Jean Baptiste Lully, 1632–87. French composer of Italian origin. Lully became master of music to Louis XIV, writing music in all genres, but most especially operas and ballets. His operas include Alceste (1675), Atys (1676), Persée (1682), and Armide (1686).
	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1756–91. Austrian composer. — The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni featured in Class 4. A child prodigy as both performer and composer, Mozart produced an extraordinary body of work in all genres over a relatively short life. The greatest of his many operas are those he wrote after moving to Vienna: his three collaborations with librettist Lorenza da Ponte—The Marriage of Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787), and Così fan tutte (1790)—framed by two German Singspiels: The Abduction from the Seraglio (1782) and The Magic Flute (1791).
	Benjamin Britten, 1913–76. English composer. Arguably the leading opera composer of the mid-20th century, Britten's major operas have included Peter Grimes (1945), Billy Budd (1951), Gloriana (1953), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960), and Death in Venice (1973), plus many stage works for smaller forces. He was equally active as a composer of vocal and instrumental music, and latterly as a conductor and accompanist,