Taking Thomas Hardy's short story as its starting point, we are transported to the present for a contemporary take on the novella which explores the power the mind can have over that person's actions. A closed door sparks an obsession so strong that the boundaries between reality and fantasy begin to blur.Ella and her high-finance husband Stephen rent a room in a holiday home on the coast, owned by Susan. Ella discovers that a locked room in the house is rented by a poet - Ben Pascoe - whose work holds a deep fascination for her. The room is held for Pascoe, though he visits rarely.Ella's obsession with Pascoe grows in parallel with the progress of Stephen's biggest City deal. She begins by imagining the poet's voice as she reads his work, but this quickly grows to fantasised encounters with Pascoe in his locked room. Stephen returns from the City and makes love to Ella, but it is not him she wishes for. We see the real Pascoe only once, with Susan.As Stephen's financial dreams are realised and Ella's fantasy consumes her, she learns of Pascoe's death. Despite her changed circumstances, Ella chooses to stay in her new world. / Opéra

Premiered in Vienna in February 1892 under the direction of Hans Richter Massenet's Werther has proven an enduring work one of the composer's most tightly constructed and dramatically urgent. The libretto was fashioned bywriters Georges Hartmann Edouard Blau and Paul Millet after Goethe's 'Sorrows of Young Werther'. Charlotte the eldest daughter of a baliff is engaged to Albert. In his absence she is escorted to the local ball by ayoung visiting poet Werther. Albert returns unexpectedly disappointed at not finding Charlotte he promises her sister he will return in the morning. At the ball Werther falls in love with Charlotte but realises that Alberthas returned and urges Charlotte not to break her promise to marry Albert. Three months later Charlotte and Albert now married walk across the town square on their way to church followed by Werther who is stilldistraught. Albert realizes that Werther must be in love with his wife and Charlotte tells him he must leave town until Christmas. Werther rushes away contemplating suicide.Alone at home on Christmas Eve as Charlotterereads the dejected love letters written to her by Werther he appears and reads to her a passage from a poem where the poet foresees his own death. Charlotte begs him to stop and he realises she loves him too. But she runs fromhis embrace and Werther leaves resolved to die. Albert enters and a message arrives from Werther asking to borrow Albert's pistol. Her reaction convinces him of her love for Werther. The pistols are dispensed and when Albert hasgone she hurries off arriving at his quarters to find him dying. She declares her love and he begs forgiveness and dies.This is the Schirmer edition of the Libretto in French and English.

Operas in three acts Version of the premiere, London 1737. Par HAENDEL GEORG FRIEDRICH. “Charming Berenice” – the Earl of Shaftesbury attended a rehearsal of the opera on 12 May 1737 and went into raptures about this “inexpressible delight”. “Berenice” was premiered at Covent Garden Theatre in London just a few days later on 18 May 1737. “Berenice” is one of the “light” operas and offers a wealth of musical gems, the second movement of the overture having become famous as “The Minuet from Berenice”, for instance, as has Berenice’s extended aria in the third act, in which she reflects on the inconstancy of the god Amor in duet with the solo oboist. The musical imagery which Handel worked into the opera is likewise enchanting, such as the imitation of bees humming in Fabio’s “Vedi l’ape” and the sorrowful cooing of a dove in Selene’s “Tortorella che rimira”. The scholarly-critical new edition contains the musical text of the first performance together with pieces in the appendix which Handel excised or shortened in preparation for the premiere. As is customary with our editions, a preface provides a detailed introduction to the genesis of the work, the story’s historical context, the source material and reception. Furthermore, the edition includes a translation of the libretto and an exhaustive Critical Report./ Répertoire / Opéra

Menotti's 'The Medium' is something of a cautionary tale which had its genesis in a séance attended by the composer himself. The plot of the libretto (by Menotti himself) runs as follows: Living in conditions of near-squalor Baba poses as a medium with her daughter Monica posing as ghosts from the beyond. She takes in Toby a mute as a lodger but distrusts him. The business continues until during a séance she feels a 'cold hand' tightening abouther throat. When her customers return for another session she tells them that she is a fake and demonstrates her tricks but her clients protest that she must be real that it was not Monica's voice they heard. She drives themout and resolves to cast out Toby as well. When Toby returns she shoots and inadvertently kills him. At the conclusion she still wonders if it had been Toby. This Libretto is in English only.

The libretto for Giuseppe Verdi's 'Rigoletto' was adapted by Francesco Maria Piave from Victor Hugo's play Le roi s'amuse which was so controversial it had been banned in Paris after one performance. Le roi here isthe Duke a renowned womaniser who seduces ladies as their husbands are taunted by his hunchback jester Rigoletto. An elderly nobleman Monterone curses them both for seducing his daughter and Ceprano whose wife has been withthe Duke plots with the courtiers to punish him.Rigoletto is suspected of keeping a mistress so while Rigoletto is out the Duke slips into his house and finding Rigolettoâ??s daughter Gilda he proffers his love to herand she is smitten. After he leaves the courtiers break in and carry off Gilda to the Dukeâ??s bedchamber. Soon Rigoletto enters and realises the mistake just in time as the dishevelled Gilda runs in. As Monterone is led to thedungeon Rigoletto vows to avenge them both. Rigoletto pays the assassin Sparafucile to murder the Duke as his sister Maddalena flirts with him. However Maddalena persuades her brother to kill not the Duke but the nextvisitor to the inn instead so overhearing and resolving to sacrifice herself for the Duke Gilda enters the inn and is stabbed. Rigoletto finds Gilda dying and begging forgiveness: Monterone's curse is fulfilled.This isthe Schirmer edition of the Libretto in the original Italian with an English version by Ruth and Thomas Martin.

Opera Vocal Score-'More than anything else Margaret Garner is an opera that reminds us that we all belong to the same human family and it demonstrates what can happen when we forget this fundamental truth... - RichardDanielpour This Opera by Grammy-winning composer Richard Danielpour tells the story of Margaret Garner an enslaved African-American woman in pre-Civil War America who gained notoriety for killing her owndaughter to prevent her from suffering the degradation of a life of slavery. In this adaptation of the famous tale Edward Gaines acquires his deceased brother’s Kentucky estate and pledges to let all of the slave familieson the Maplewood Plantation stay together. However when he takes a special interest in one of the slaves Margaret Garner it is not long before her husband Robert is sent away alone to another plantation. One night Robertsneaks back to Maplewood and attempts to escape with Margaret and their children to the ‘Free State’ of Ohio. They are caught and Margaret murders her children in a crime of passion sparing them from a life of slavery. Margaretis condemned to death and although she is granted clemency at the last minute she chooses the freedom of the gallows over life as a slave. The tragic work features a libretto by Toni Morrison and gained highcritical praise at its first performance in Philadelphia in 2006. Watch a clip from the performance here:

Puccini's 'La Boheme' is based on Henri Murger's novel 'Scènes de la vie de bohème' which draws it's inspiration from the Bohemian lifestyle which was somewhat in vogue in Paris at the time. This Libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa andLuigi Illica runs as follows:Rodolfo's neighbour in his garret Mimi knocks at the door saying her candle has gone out on the stairs. Rodolfo and Mimi sit in the dark talking and fall for each other. They go to meetRodolfo's friends. While there Marcello's former lover Musetta arrives with her new husband Alcindoro but distracting him falls into Marcello's arms. Some time later Mimì pours out her distress to Marcello over Rodolfo'sincessant jealousy Rodolfo is actually concerned about Mimi's poor health and wants to part with her. On realising this the two decide to stay together until spring Marcello and Musetta meanwhile part when she isunfaithful.Some months later Rodolfo Marcello and friends are amusing themselves in the garret when Musetta bursts in saying Mimi is downstairs and has begged to be taken to her lover to die. She dies almost happily recalling their early love.

Opera in three acts-Handel???s Agrippina HWV 6 was performed with great success at the 2015 International Handel Festival in G?ttingen (Germany) using the new B?renreiter edition including the performance material and this vocal score.Agrippina is the last opera that Handel completed and premiered in Italy. The excellent libretto is one of the few original opera libretti that he set to music. The plot is tightly constructed the characters sharply etched and equipped with a wide range of human emotions. Agrippina is married to her third husband the Roman emperor Claudius. After he is presumed dead she attempts with deception andintrigue to place her son Nero on the throne.The vocal score includes all the numbers from the appendix of the full score. These were used either during the successful Venetian series of performances in 1709/10 or were deleted or replaced by other numbers versions and variants.Urtext edition based on the Halle Handel EditionPerformance material available for hireHardback full score (BA4092-01) and paperback vocal score (BA4092-90) available for saleVocal scores includes:- A singing translation in German- Extensive bilingual Foreword (Ger/Eng)- Idiomatic uncluttered Piano reduction

Judith Weir’s work is often inspired by narrative folklore and theatre. This creepy-crawly work was inspired by the novel Die Schwarze Spinne by Jeremias Gotthelf a tale about an evil venomous spider including heartless Count heroic village maiden and a truly otherworldly Green Huntsman and a 1983 news story about the mysterious deaths of the archaeologists who opened the tomb of Casimir IV in Krakow in the 1970’s. There are spoken parts bridging the two stories.Weir employs many musical languages in this alternately boisterous and sinister work: patter songs church hymns recitativo among them. Weir is not at all precious about voicing recommending that allthe roles be sung at any convenient octave Altos substituting for basses at the octave if a children’s Chorus is performing the work. The one-act structure works well for young performers.Judith Weir is one of Britain’s most prolific and successful composers widely known for her operas like The Vanishing Bridegroom and A Night At The Chinese Opera and her many Choral works as well as her pieces for Strings and Piano. She was Artistic Director of the Spitalfields Festival and is a professor at Cardiff University.

Poul Ruders' opera Tycho in 3 Acts was premiered May 15 1987 by Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and Kaare Hansen (conductor) at Helsingør Theater in Aarhus Denmark. Libretto in Danish by Henrik Bjelke. Vocal score: WH31457C Synopsis: In 1597 the famous Danish astronomer and astrologist the nobleman Tycho Brahe flees his castle cum observatory Uraniburg on one of the small islands off the Danish coast. The newly coronated King Christian the Fourth has a grudge against Tycho who in 1572 discovered a new star Stella Nova by using his naked eye only; the telescopewasn’t invented yet. This discovery gained Tycho tremendous fame among his contemporaries within the European scientific circles. The now weakened and embittered old man moves together with his wife Christina whom he raped when she was an adolescent and Jeppe the Dwarf his fool-servant whose life Tycho once saved to the plague-infested city of Prague. There at the Benatky Castle Tycho encounters the main reason for his departure from Denmark: the young German mathematician Johannes Kepler the only scientist among his contemporaries Tycho acknowledges - Tycho is in severe need of intelligent challenge. Which he gets and with a disastrous result for himself. The encouraging encounter with Kepler turns into Tycho's scientific and earthly death verdict. Slowly Tycho realizes that his own conception of the Earth as the indisputable axes of the Universe is shattered by Kepler s theory about Earth encircling the stationary Sun. The ancient picture of the Universe collapses Tycho feels deceived by Kepler who leaves the castle shaken by Tycho's wrath. But they meet again and reunite in a Romanza a Due at Tycho’s death bed. The opera hovers above immense sadness and extreme ridicule - the cast is most peculiar indeed - so in many ways 'TYCHO' may be described at the best as a'Tragic Operetta'

King Arthur (Arr. Laurie)-King Arthur was the only one of Purcell's professionally produced operas to have been designed as a semi-opera; the others were all adaptations of earlier plays. Dryden made a real attempt to integrate the music into the drama but since he ascribed to the dramatic conventions of the period which virtually confined music to allegorical or supernatural beings and thier worshippers or servants shepherds and similar characters the main action mostly occurs in the spoken sections and even the two singing characters Philidel and Grimbald speak more than they sing.

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 a court of enquiry into the unexplaineddisappearance 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 from straight testimony into fantasticalimaginings 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 for months long enough to be fullyaware 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 beginning with a rough ballad of streetviolence 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 a tub-thumping hymn. But the songsserve 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 dazzling eyes which become the lights ofthe 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 play over again.Vocal score withpiano reduction of the instrumental score. Duration c. 1h 25mins.

The Complete Libretto-The enticing music of Puccini's La Bohème perfectly conveys the enchantment of new young love and the anguish that comes with loss and death. This gorgeous souvenir libretto includes extensive background notes and photos from productions staged through the years by the Metropolitan Opera.There's a reason La Bohème has been staged at the Met more often than any other Opera. The passionate and timeless story of love among impoverished young artists in Paris has a marvelous ability to make a powerful first impression (even on those new to Opera) and to reveal unexpected treasures after dozens of hearings.At firstglance La Bohème is the definitive depiction of the joys and sorrows of love and loss; on closer inspection it reveals the deep emotional significance hidden in the trivial things (a bonnet an old overcoat a chance meeting with a neighbor) that make up our everyday lives. This touching story of tenderness and tragedy never fails to move audiences and melt hearts.