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Zemlinsky can not be called unknown composer,  but still his music is not as well known in opera  circles as Verdi or others.  Maybe it will be performed more soon.

Zemlinsky - Eine florentinische Tragödie - part 4
http://youtu.be/FzrDsf1nWT4

Thanks for this clip, t-p!

The Bolshoi Theatre was planning to stage Zemlinsky's DER ZWERG two years ago - but due to an illness problem the production was postponed. I don't know if it will ever take place now, considering the upheaval in the Bolshoi and its newly-refurbished building.  I think ZWERG was intended as a small production for their New Stage - I doubt if they are interested in such things now that their 'big stage' is open once again?

Der Zwerg a "small production"?   ;D  If I'm not mistaken, L.A. Opera did Zwerg a few years back.

http://youtu.be/LlOn96xjYms

Raina Kabaivanska - Donizetti's rare opera Fausta - finale
I think it is rare opera. I didn't hear it too often.

I see what you mean, Jim :)  I probably expressed it badly - I meant that they were planning a restricted-budget production which would not live long in the repertoire, but provide some much-wanted variety while they were 'camping out' at the New Stage... during the rebuilding of the Main Stage.  Now the Main Stage is open once more, they have plenty of mainstream stuff queueing up for production :)

For those of you who don't speak German, zwerg means "dwarf".

Ooops, the significance of the work's title slipped under my radar, Jim :)  I thought you were referring to its lush orchestration and casting ;)

Is Rossini: Ermione rare opera or is it not?

http://youtu.be/DYzRXLKfBAw

Glyndebourne Festival Opera

Thanks, t-p: marvellous stuff! But the course of the overture is so predictable that it hardly seems necessary to listen; from the start one knows precisely how it will go! And it's a pity there are no sub-titles, isn't it.

It always surprises me that Rossini's style didn't change through his life.
Other composers  changed and their style matured if I can say so ,but Rossini didn't.
But it is fun nevertheless and audiences love it.   


Maybe Rossini was in many ways like Handel who recycled his material, cut and pasted it etc.

It is hard to argue about what people like and what some like others will not touch with a pole. I understood it some time ago. I can listen to anything really.


I don't have any good clip at the moment ,but something will come up.

Thank you Mr Gerald.


I also wanted to add about Minimalists who write  predictable music. I think it is safe to say that they write predictable music.  I will try to find some clips later perhaps.  ;)

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Maybe Rossini was in many ways like Handel who recycled his material, cut and pasted it etc.
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I think it was largely common practice in Italian opera until Rossini's time, and even a little after, though :)  All of Rossini's contemporaries did this too - Cherubini, Spohr etc.


Indeed so. But like much music of 'the second order', if a sensitive conductor goes in search of the 'affective' moments, and keeps the band on their toes (so that they don't get lazy about phrasing, articulation and dynamic markings), quite effective music-making can result.  This performance has the usual Glyndebourne hallmark of fine detail :)

I have interesting book Studies in music history presented to H.C. Robbins Landon. It is published in 1996.
http://www.amazon.com/Studies-Music-History-Presented-Seventieth/dp/0500016968

The first article is by Malcolm Boyd 'The music very good indeed': Scarlatti's Tolomeo et Alessandro recovered.

It is very interesting article to say the least. I am enjoying it very much now.

There is a lot of information about many historical figures  (Ottoboni, Ruspoli, Maria Casimira) and how operas were performed etc.

Domenico Scarlatti wrote four operas for Queen Maria Casimira's theatre. 

The first one was Tolomeo et Alessandro, overo La corona disprezzata and it was followed with a pastoral, L'Orlando in the printed lebretto of which Domenico Scarlatti si for the first time mentioned as  her maestro di cappella.


Not a note of L'Orlando survives, and until recently contemporary evaluations of Tolomeo et Alessandro could be tested only against the printed libretto and a manuscript copy of Act 1 which remains in priavate hands and is therefore virtually inaccessible. Now (since 1996) we are able to base an assessment of Scarlatti's  achievements in this work on a complete full score of the opera.

D. Scarlatti: Tolomeo ed Alessandro - Overture (Curtis)

http://youtu.be/nLgDzeT6OFw


This is a quote from the article. I hope it is ok with copyright. Belton House is situated a few miles north of Grantham in Lincolnshire. It was built in 1685-6 for Sir John Brownlow, third baronet of Belton, who  represented Grantham in parliament. After his death (apparently his by his own hand) in 1697, the house passed , along with the title, to his brother William  and then to William’s son, another Sir John Brownlow, who lived form 1690 to 1754. This Sir John also pursued a parliamentary career as member for Grantham, and later for Lincolnshire – a career which proved to be, in the words of the Belton House guide book ‘as long as it was undistinguished’. Sir John was, howere, keenly interested in art and literature and assembled an important collection  of books and pictures , including paintings by Guido Reni, Van Dyck and Luca Giordano. When the house and library were acquired by the National Trust  in 1984 it was discovered that he had also owned a manuscript copy of the three acts of Scarlatti’s Tolomeo et Alessandro.

http://youtu.be/p9SJGQFoL_k

I  decided to post here a few more excerpts from the article  by Malcolm Boyd from the same book that I mentioned in my previous post.
There  is a setting of Handel  of Tolomeo et Alessandro . There is interesting comparison of key and tempo markings of two composers.

Here is Domenici Scarlatti. http://youtu.be/RJRFKuSgrpI


This is Handel's setting. Power of youtube!!!!
http://youtu.be/RJRFKuSgrpI


This is Galuppi's opera The Olympics . It is not discussed in the article but it is rare. I only knew Galuppi as harpsichord composer.
http://youtu.be/yQjG5A60na4

Here's an opera that's only been performed once so far; At the Hawk's Well (http://youtu.be/cDBdVCKddrg), but at least it's on YouTube now...



[The You-Tube link is now changed to the short form, as described here: http://artmusic.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,1347.msg5555.html#msg5555 (http://artmusic.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,1347.msg5555.html#msg5555)]