In The Shadow Of The Bat - Concerto for Three Trombones and Orchestra by Niels Marthinsen (2009). Programme note: In the Shadow of the Bat is a triple concerto for three trombones and orchestra inspired by Batman and his enemies The Joker Two-Face and The Penguin. A central idea of modern versions of the Batman myth is that the batman is created by the fantastic villains that he fights and they are created by him - and that Batman is driven by revenge and hate barely held in check by an intense sense of justice. Batman represents 'the dark side' while the villains are hyper-imaginative colourful creative caracters who happen to be completely insane. The rivalry between soloists and orchestra is anything but friendly: The three soloists represent one villain each the orchestra 'is' the batman - and while the villains take centre stage during most of the concerto they are eventually overwhelmed by the sheer power of the orchestra and sent where they belong: The lunatic's asylum. The concerto begins with the creation of the batman: An eight year old boy persuades his parents to leave an opera performance before it is over; outside in an alley they are shot and killed by a criminal while the boy watches. And he decides that all criminals must be punished! Then follows the Villaineuos Fugue: a multi-part fugue-like exposition of villain motives and stylistic environments. It is the exposition of the joker (alto trombone) two-face (tenor trombone) and the penguin (bass trombone). And after a brief and very slow interlude where the three criminals form an alliance and make their plans the Toccata of Crime begins: Bright fast moving highly energetic expansive and colourful music still dominated by the soloists. But later the orchestra moves to centre stage with slow omnious swooping bat-music that climaxes as the soloists are defeated by the orchestra. In the Shadow of the Bat is commissioned

Lyric opera in two acts. Libretto by David Pountney.Commissioned?jointly by the Royal Academy of Music London UK and The Juilliard School New York USA.UK premiere: 18th March 2011 - Royal Academy of MusicOpera and Sinfonia at the Royal Academy of Music London conducted by Jane Glover.US premiere: 16th November 2011 - Students of The Julliard School at Peter Jay Sharp Theatre New York conducted by AnneManson.Overview.The piece consists of three interlocking stories of students involved in political action in three different situations.?Die Weiße Rose? was the name taken by a group of students atthe University of Munich led by Sophie and Hans Scholl. They produced leaflets protesting against the National Socialist government of Germany in 1942-3 until they were arrested and guillotined.?Soar to Heaven? follows twocharacters Wu and Zhou involved on opposite sides of the Cultural Revolution in China.?The Oxford Revolution? tells the story of James Meredith who fought a lonely battle against segregation and racial prejudice to becomethe first black student to enrol at ?Ole Miss? the University of Mississippi in the USA.Librettist's Note.There are inevitably and properly some differences between the original libretto and whatMax ultimately set to music. Most of these are insignificant but all the Latin texts in the opera were added by Max and texts for the alternating black / white choruses (Scene 19) and final chorus (Scene 28) were written by him.

Of the four episodes of the 'Ring Cycle' 'Die Walkure' is most often performed separately and may be Wagner's best-loved work. The source of this affection is certainly the sensitive depictions of Siegmund and Sieglinde's loveand the father-daughter relationship of Wotan and Brünnhilde.Siegmund stumbles into an unfamiliar house Sieglinde's for shelter and the two fall for each other quickly. However Sieglinde's husband (from a forcedmarriage) Hunding is a kinsman of Siegmund's foes and challenges Siegmund to a duel. Sieglinde gives Hunding a sleeping potion and the two realise they are brother and sister. Siegmund claims Sieglinde as his bride. Watching Wotan and Fricka tell Brünnhilde that she must defend Hunding's marriage rights. Brünnhilde sets out to observe the lovers. When Sieglinde falls asleep Brünnhilde berates Siegmund but when he argues she decides to help him.Hunding and Siegmund battle when Siegmund is about to win however Wotan appears and shatters his sword; he is killed. Brünnhilde escapes with Sieglinde and the broken sword. Wotan fells Hunding with a wave of his handand leaves to punish Brünnhilde. Sieglinde realises she bears Siegmund's child so takes the pieces of the sword and rushes off into the forest to hide. Brünnhilde herself flees to the Valkyries' Rock to hide but Wotan fins herand sentences her to become a mortal woman: she must lie in sleep to be claimed by any man who finds her but behind a wall of fire that only the bravest hero can pierce. This is the Schirmer edition of the Libretto inthe original German with an nglish translation by Stewart Robb.

lyric coloratura. The OperAria repertoire collection for all voice genres that was successfully launched last year has produced lyrical soprano progeny: From Adele to Zerbinetta, from Pamina to Mimi and Ellen Orford - the first two (of altogether four) soprano volumes contain a representative sampling of important arias from the multifaceted lyrical repertoire. Classical audition arias can be found there, just as vocal gems from opera rarities and arias of classical modernity, each one obviously reliably and carefully edited. Accessorizing one's own lyrical voice, the singer will find a wealth of material such as: information on the composer, the librettist, the work, the vocal range, on questions concerning versions and scoring as well as on the storyline, along with instructive tips from a singer's viewpoint provided by experienced voice teachers and a Phonetics Text Assistant on CD-ROM with diverse possibilities of use. OperAria is the ideal vocal coach for all voice types. Edited by Peter Anton Ling, the books address all singers and are conceived above all for training and auditions. In addition, through their careful selection, they offer valuable inspiration for opera recitals. / Date parution : 2019-09-06/ Recueil / Soprano Colorature

An opera by John Tavener and Gerard McLarnon based on the Dostoyevsky short story. Commissioned by the Bath Festival for the Nash Ensemble and premiered at the Theatre Royal Bath in June 1977.Duration c. 45mins. Large (A3)score.

Based on the legend of Tristan and Isolda Wagner's 'Tristan und Isolde' has long been acknowledged as the beginning of musical modernism. It is said that the entire opera is an attempt to resolve the tension setestablished in the first eight bars. In the story Isolde plots to kill Tristan the man who is taking her to be betrothed to King Marke of Cornwall. She deeply resents him as she had nursed him back to health after abattle only to find he was the slayer of her fiancé Morold. Isolde asks her companion Brangäne to prepare a potion that will cause death but instead she brews a love-potion. Both drink it and fall hopelessly for each other. Theycontinue their affair when they reach Cornwall but are spied on by Mark?s man Melot who wounds Tristan. Tended by Kurwenal he holds onto life just long enough for Isolde to reach him then falls and dies. As Isolde standsstricken by grief Marke and Melot arrive to pardon the lovers but Kurwenal does not believe this kills Melot and is himself killed. Isolde feels Tristan calling to her from the ?realm of night? and even as Brangäne tries topersuade her to live falls dead next to him.

A Melodrama Interspersed With Music. Par BENDA GEORG. Georg Anton Benda's melodrama „Medea' (1775) was one of the most successful German musical theatre works of the late 18th century. With a libretto by Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter, the work soon became a great influence within the melodrama genre. For several decades, it was performed all over central Europe, developing an impressive reception history. Between 1775 and about 1790, the melodrama was considered an extremely popular (albeit controversial) part of musical theatre, in particular in German-speaking regions. Consequently, Benda's „Medea' was at the center of many heated debates. Unlike opera, the melodrama does not present the libretto in sung form, but rather, the text is spoken and combined with orchestral music and scenes. The traditional opera forms (aria, recitative, ensemble, chorus) are dissolved and replaced by a new interplay of music, speech, and scenes. A focus on a single protagonist and the quick, delicate alternation between spoken text and music allows for the development of conflicting and contradictory psychological profiles with a heightened intensity within the melodrama. Near the end of his life, Benda revised the work significantly, drawing from his experience of real performances and their effectiveness. The changes leading to the new version of his „Medea' music were quite extensive, affecting almost every single measure: numerous details of the part writing (tempi, voice leading, rhythms, accompanying figures etc.) were revised, the instrumentation was changed, middle voices were led in a more lively manner, and the music as a whole was shortened and effectively compressed. The composer regarded the latter, modified „Medea' as the authorized version of the work. The premiere took place in 1784 in Mannheim, however, the altered work received little attention since then and has become tangible again for the first time with the OPERA Edition. All previous editions of the work - and along with them, all previous recordings - are based on the earlier version of 1775. The third volume of the OPERA series 'Medea” contains a linen-bound book and the edirom on a USB stick in credit card format. The number of users permitted to simultaneously use the digital content of the edition is not limited. For further information regarding the work and the OPERA series, please visit www.opera-edition.com and Takte online/ Répertoire / Récitant et Orchestre

Cavalleria rusticana (Rustic Chivalry) is one of the primary examples of Italian realism. It was both the best and worst thing that happened to Mascagni for its success - never to be repeated - weighed upon the composer all hislife. Based on Vergaâ??s play of the same name the libretto by Targioni-Tozzetti runs as follows: Lola and Turiddu had been lovers but when Turiddu went away to battle Lola married Alfio. When Turiddu returned he and Lolacontinued their affair secretly while he tried to make Lola jealous by starting a casual affair with Santuzza who fell genuinely in love with him. On Easter Sunday Santuzza realising the affair goes to see Turiddu'smother Lucia who keeps a tavern in the village. She is horrified to learn of her sonâ??s infidelity and leaves for the church just missing Turiddu who saunters in thinking of his night with Lola. He is surprised and annoyed tofind Santuzza there and the two begin to quarrel. Lola makes things worse by appearing and taunting Santuzza. Turiddu finally hits Santuzza and escapes.Santuzza tells Alfio of the illicit affair whereupon Alfio flies intoa rage and swears that he will avenge himself the code of honour requires Turiddu's blood to be shed. According to tradition he refuses a glass of wine from Turiddu indicating the dispute and the two make plans to fight.Rushing into the tavern Turiddu bids his mother her to take care of Santuzza. Mamma Lucia is alarmed and as he rushes off Santuzza enters and throws her arms around Lucia's neck just as a woman screams that Turiddu has beenkilled.This is the Schirmer edition of the Libretto in the original Italian with an English translation by Joseph Machlis.

Carl Maria von Weber's fame rests mainly on ?Der Freischütz'. The unprecedented success of this opera overshadowed all his other works and contributed to their increasing fall into oblivion. Certain works such as ?Preciosa', ?Oberon', and ?Euryanthe', the overtures, solo concertos and piano sonatas, the lieder and chamber works enjoyed great popularity and were widely known in Germany and abroad as late as the second half of the 19th century. However, any chance of a revival of Weber's influential and substantial oeuvre was wasted in the 1920s, when a complete edition - begun by Hans Joachim Moser and with potential contributors including Wilhelm Kempff, Hans Pfitzner, Max von Schillings, Fritz Stein and Richard Strauss - failed after the third volume.Ever since there have been numerous attempts to restart a complete edition of Weber's works, but as this kind of project would have required the co-operation of scholars from both sides of the inter-German border, the political situation after 1945 was not conducive to any such enterprise. Careful negotiations led to the first tangible steps in the 1980s. The intention, right from the beginning, was to place Weber's work in context, and not to separate his musical output from his influential work as a writer, critic and organiser in the musical field, but to publish his compositions together with his letters, diaries and other literary output as the best way to document the cross-fertilisation between his musical, literary and practical activities.Since the German re-unification both working-parties concerned - at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, and at the Musikwissenschaftliches Seminar, Detmold/Paderborn - have co-operated on the complete edition of the musical works (c. 45 volumes in 10 series: sacred music - cantatas, odes and other occasional works - stage works - lieder and vocal works - orchestral works - chamber music - music for piano - piano reductions - miscellanea, arrangements and orchestrations - works of doubtful attribution). The diaries (6-8 vols.) are edited in Berlin and the letters (8-10 vols.) and other writings (2 vols.) in Detmold. This complete edition aims to be a reliable basis of scholarly debate as well as for the authentic performance practice of Carl Maria von Weber's music. Conforming to the standards of recent historico-critical editions, the textual material will be based on all available authentic sources, accompanied by a detailed documentation of the genesis and a list of variants for each work. The musicological importance of the works will be evaluated by placing them in their historical context, the presentation of their genesis, history and Critical Commentaries. The letters, writings and diaries will be treated as inter-related and relevant to each other in the commentaries, therefore readers should benefit from a wealth of concise information and cross-references. / Piano Et Orchestre

Many students only need a few opera arias in their vocal study. Selected Opera Arias extracts 10 arias useful to the typical voice student from the G. Schirmer Opera Anthology, with plot notes, translations and IPA, and combines them with the diction lessons recorded by top coaches in New York, and accompaniments recorded by coaches on staff at Lyric Opera of Chicago. The voice student gets a value priced, complete package for the very best instruction.LA BOHEME: Mi chiamano Mimi - Quando men vo - DON GIOVANNI: Batti, batti, o bel Masetto - FAUST: Ah! Je ris de me voir (The Jewel Song) - FIDELIO: O wär' ich schon mit dir vereint - GIANNI SCHICCHI: O mio babbino caro - GIULIO CESARE: Piangero la sorte mia - LE NOZZE DI FIGARO: Deh vieni, non tardar - ROMEO ET JULIETTE: Ah! Je veux vivre - DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE: Ach, ich fuhl's. / Voix Et Piano

Performed by Vincent Abato alto saxophoneAccompaniment: Harriet Wingreen pianoSaxophone master Vincent Abato of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra demonstrates these beginning-level pieces on alto saxophone; thenyou step in and take his place learning valuable basic techniques used by this virtuoso. Includes a high-quality printed music score containing the solo part annotated with performance suggestions; and a compact disc withcomplete versions (with soloist) followed by piano accompaniments to each piece minus the soloist.