Opera in the 20th century

1956, a year in which classical music had 3 world premieres: The first performance of Luis de Freitas Branco’s Symphony no. 4, the first performance of Benjamin Britten’s Antiphon, and the first performance of Boris Tchaikovsky’s Slavic Rhapsody.
In fact, there were a lot more: just think about Samuel Barber’s Summer Music, Luidi Nono’s Il canto sospeso, and Priaulx Rainier’s undeservedly unfamiliair, Requiem.
On December 10th, De Philharmonie – recently renamed to Antwerp Symphony Orchestra – had their debut performance in Vlaamse opera in Antwerp. In the world of opera there is a lot on offer and a lot of variation, but little real direction. The post-war period until 1956, and actually for some time after that, was actually more or less a period of “we’ll just perform” and afterwards hear what our audience has to say of it. Some of the composers hold on to tradition, while the others just want to be different. But make no mistake, Karlheinz Stockhausen produced his first productions since 1950, and this did not go unnoticed. But it takes courage and it is exhausting to be different. Many are just a flash in the pan, but a few remain and both deserve a place in our show.

In this episode excerpts from:

• Leonard Bernstein- Candide
• Gian Carlo Menotti- The Unicorn, the Gorgon and the Manticore
• Nevit Kodallı- Van Gogh 

Other opera and operetta productions from 1956: 

• Douglas Moore- The Ballad of Baby Doe
• Hans Werner Henze- König Hirsch
• Zhu Benhe, Zhang Jing’an, and Ouyang Qianshu- Red Guards on Honghu Lake (洪湖赤卫队)
• Ernst Krenek- The Bell Tower
• Rodion Shchedrin- The Little Humpacked Horse (ballet)
• Hugo Weisgall- Six Characters in Search of an Author
• Carl Orff- Comoedia de Christi Resurrectione
• Hilding Rosenberg- Porträttet
• Necil Kazım Akses- Timur
• Lennox Berkeley- Ruth
• Ildebrando Pizzetti- Povera gente
• Chen Zi- Spring Blossoms
• Ned Rorem- The Robbers
• Ján Cikker- Beg Bajazid
• Renzo Rossellini-La Guerra

·      Mirill Molchanov- Dawn (Заря)