The new editorial project “Bizet’s Other Operas”

Fishergate Music is publishing successive critical new editions of Georges Bizet’s lesser-known operas, which are available in unreliable editions, if at all. The editor and publisher is the renowned British musicologist Hugh Macdonald, who has contributed significantly to the establishing of Hector Berlioz’s entire output in the musical repertoire in recent years with his “New Berlioz Edition”, published by Bärenreiter. This is also the aim of the series “Bizet’s Other Operas”. The first works, “Djamileh” and “Don Procopio”, are already available in score, vocal score and orchestral parts. “La Jolie Fille de Perth”, “La Maison du Docteur”, “Le Docteur Miracle” and “Ivan IV” will follow. The performance material, available on hire, can be obtained from Bärenreiter · Alkor.

The Emperor Napoleon, like Hernán Cortés, saw himself as the conqueror of great empires. Gaspare Spontini was intended to bring the fame of Cortés to the operatic stage. Hence the genesis of the opera “Fernand Cortez”. But when the Emperor was defeated, a complicated series of reworkings of the opera began. Theater Dortmund is now staging the third version of 1824 on 7 April 2022.

The idea of composing the opera “Fernand Cortez” was thanks to a commission from Emperor Napoleon I following the successful premiere of Gaspare Spontini’s “La Vestale” (1807). The intention was to pave the way for Napoleon’s Spanish campaign through a propaganda piece. The libretto by Victor-Joseph Étienne de Jouy was based on various historical and dramatic sources and took as its subject the conquest of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire, by the Spanish commander Hernán Cortés. The autograph, which is preserved in Paris, reveals that Spontini first set the libretto in its original version. But shortly before rehearsals began, the interior minister demanded a reworking of the text, which was carried out in collaboration with Joseph-Alphonse d’Esménard, eliminating in particular the character of Montezuma as originally envisaged.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” is probably the most frequently-performed Russian opera. But its success was not assured from the outset. Now this stagework is being published by Bärenreiter in an edition reflecting the latest state of research, taking into consideration the somewhat complicated history of its composition. The new edition finally clears up the many mistakes and inconsistencies in the previous editions of the score. It follows the 1885 St Petersburg version which can be regarded as the final authorised version since Tchaikovsky prepared it for the second edition of the score published by Jürgenson in 1891.

With the concert performance of Rameau’s opéra ballet “Les Surprises de l’amour” on 26 January in the Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungarian conductor György Vashegyi and his Orfeo Orchestra continue the series of first performances using the “Opera Omnia Rameau”. The Centre de musique baroque de Versailles once again shares the production. The one-act “Adonis” from the little-known first version of 1748, not performed for another 274 years, is sure to be of particular interest to connoisseurs and admirers of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s work.

Anna Skryleva, General Music Director in Magdeburg, made a virtue out of necessity brought about by the pandemic for the new production of Mozart’s last opera she conducted in May 2020, reducing the orchestral writing to just twenty musicians in a careful, yet sensitive arrangement. The result is a translucent chamber music version, which promises to become an attractive option for smaller opera houses well beyond the current restrictions. The performance material is now available on hire from Bärenreiter/Alkor.

It is hard to believe, but Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Opus summum et ultimum “Les Boréades”, only premiered in 1975 in London, has never before been heard in a German opera house. This is no doubt because of the problematic access to the posthumously-published work. Long awaited by the music world, and by connoisseurs of Rameau in particular, Bärenreiter has just published a critical new edition meticulously prepared by Sylvie Bouissou, Editorial Director of the “Opera Omnia Rameau”. The enterprising Oldenburg Staatstheater, renowned for its Rameau productions, did not want to miss out on this double chance, and on 2 October presents the first German production of “Les Boréades” – at the same time the first performance using the new edition. Under director Christoph von Bernuth, Rameau’s legacy proves to be a parable of the Enlightenment and of striking timeless relevance. Alexis Kossenko conducts once again, following his triumphant success with Rameau’s comédie-ballet “Les Paladins” two years ago in Oldenburg. A further eleven performances are scheduled until 20 November. This gives opera connoisseurs from the larger musical centres the opportunity to experience the programming policy and high artistic level of one of the smaller German opera houses.

Georg Philipp Telemann’s Orpheus opera for the Gänsemarkttheater in Hamburg stands apart from typical works of its time in its opulence. Unfortunately the surviving sources are incomplete. But now, a basis for effective performances is provided by the volume from the Telemann Selected Edition published by Bärenreiter. Amongst Telemann’s surviving Hamburg stage works, “Die wunderbare Beständigkeit der Liebe oder Orpheus” (TVWV 21:18) can be regarded as the most unusual, and at the same time the most problematic in its surviving form. Of all the operas produced at the Theater am Gänsemarkt, it was not only unusual but also unique in that the libretto contains a combination of German, Italian and French; the first known performance of the opera as a “concert” on 9 March 1726, staged by the famous singer Margaretha Susanna Kayser (1690–1775), was peculiar and requires further explanation. “Orpheus” was originally conceived as a typical repertoire opera with different set designs, rich action on stage and varied chorus and dance scenes. It is unclear why the piece was only performed as a concert in 1726. But one-off performances of this type presented an opportunity for the opera house to earn some income, despite the theatres being closed during Lent when opera performances were forbidden in Hamburg.