Charles Corri
Encyclopedia
Charles Corri was an English musician, conductor and arranger. He spent most of his career working for Lilian Baylis
, as her musical director at the Old Vic
Theatre, and then at Sadler's Wells Opera
.
lists eight members of the Corri family active as musicians in Britain from 1771 onwards. In 1898 Emma Cons
, who ran the Old Vic
Theatre, engaged him as musical director. At the same time she recruited her niece Lilian Baylis
to help run the theatre. The Old Vic was operated on a small budget for the benefit of the local community in a poor area of London. By 1898, Cons had already begun to present regular operatic evenings, offering condensed versions of major operas, always sung in English. Corri was given the task of arranging the opera scores for the Old Vic's tiny orchestra. The Times
wrote, "His masterpiece was said to be a transcription of Tristan
for an orchestra of 13 players"; Baylis's biographer Elizabeth Schafer states that the Old Vic's orchestra comprised 18 players.
After Emma Cons died in 1912, Baylis obtained a licence allowing the Old Vic to stage full performances of operas. In the 1914–15 season, Baylis staged 16 operas and 16 plays (13 of which were by Shakespeare). Corri arranged and conducted the music for the operas, and all the incidental music
for the plays. In the years after the First World War, Corri was praised for his conducting of Mozart
operas, not as well known then as in recent times. His singers included established stars such as Clive Carey
and Heddle Nash
and up-and-coming singers including Winifred Lawson
, Steuart Wilson
and Joan Cross
. In 1922, Corri conducted Grieg
's incidental music for Peer Gynt
when Ibsen
's play received its British premiere at the Old Vic. The Times considered the music "extraordinarily well played by Mr. Corri and his orchestra".
In the 1930–31 season, Corri was joined by Lawrance Collingwood
as his assistant conductor. In that season, Corri conducted The Force of Destiny
, Cavalleria Rusticana
, Pagliacci
, Madame Butterfly
, Lohengrin
, Faust
, Don Giovanni
, Il trovatore
, La bohème
, Tannhäuser
, and Hansel and Gretel; Collingwood conducted Carmen
, The Marriage of Figaro and Tosca
– continuing their policy of presenting opera in English. In January 1931, Baylis re-opened the newly rebuilt Sadler's Wells Theatre. For a time, opera was presented at both the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells. Corri and Collingwood were joined by guest conductors including Percy Pitt
, Constant Lambert
, Geoffrey Toye
and Anthony Collins.
By the middle of the 1930s, the opera company had come to be based at Sadler's Wells. The orchestra was increased to 48 players. In the 1930s, Corri and the company presented standard repertoire works including operas by Mozart
, Verdi
, Wagner
and Puccini
, lighter works by Balfe
, Donizetti
, Offenbach
and Johann Strauss
, some novelties including operas by Holst
, Ethel Smyth
and Charles Villiers Stanford
, and a staged version of Mendelssohn
's oratorio Elijah
.
Corri retired in 1935, and died at the age of 79 in June 1941.
Lilian Baylis
Lilian Mary BaylisCH was an English theatrical producer and manager. She managed the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells theatres in London, and ran an opera company, which became the English National Opera , a theatre company, which evolved into the English National Theatre, and a ballet company, which...
, as her musical director at the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
Theatre, and then at Sadler's Wells Opera
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
.
Life and career
Corri was descended from an Italian family of musicians who settled in Britain in the 18th century. Grove's Dictionary of Music and MusiciansGrove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, it is the largest single reference work on Western music. The dictionary has gone through several editions since the 19th century...
lists eight members of the Corri family active as musicians in Britain from 1771 onwards. In 1898 Emma Cons
Emma Cons
Emma Cons was a British social reformer, educationalist and theatre manager.-Early life:Born in St. Pancras London, she trained as an artist and joined the Ladies' Co-operative Art Guild, London, run by Caroline Hill, mother of the future housing reformer and founder of the National Trust, Octavia...
, who ran the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
Theatre, engaged him as musical director. At the same time she recruited her niece Lilian Baylis
Lilian Baylis
Lilian Mary BaylisCH was an English theatrical producer and manager. She managed the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells theatres in London, and ran an opera company, which became the English National Opera , a theatre company, which evolved into the English National Theatre, and a ballet company, which...
to help run the theatre. The Old Vic was operated on a small budget for the benefit of the local community in a poor area of London. By 1898, Cons had already begun to present regular operatic evenings, offering condensed versions of major operas, always sung in English. Corri was given the task of arranging the opera scores for the Old Vic's tiny orchestra. The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
wrote, "His masterpiece was said to be a transcription of Tristan
Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...
for an orchestra of 13 players"; Baylis's biographer Elizabeth Schafer states that the Old Vic's orchestra comprised 18 players.
After Emma Cons died in 1912, Baylis obtained a licence allowing the Old Vic to stage full performances of operas. In the 1914–15 season, Baylis staged 16 operas and 16 plays (13 of which were by Shakespeare). Corri arranged and conducted the music for the operas, and all the incidental music
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
for the plays. In the years after the First World War, Corri was praised for his conducting of Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
operas, not as well known then as in recent times. His singers included established stars such as Clive Carey
Clive Carey
Francis Clive Savill Carey CBE , known as Clive Carey, was a British baritone, singing teacher, composer, opera producer and folk song collector.-Biography:Clive Carey was born at Sible Hedingham, Essex in 1883...
and Heddle Nash
Heddle Nash
William Heddle Nash was an English lyric tenor who appeared in opera and oratorio in the middle decades of the twentieth century. He also made numerous recordings that are still available on CD reissues....
and up-and-coming singers including Winifred Lawson
Winifred Lawson
Winifred Lawson was an opera and concert singer in the first half of the 20th century. She is best remembered for her performances in the soprano roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas as a member of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.-Life and career:Lawson was born in Wolverhampton, England...
, Steuart Wilson
Steuart Wilson
Sir James Steuart Wilson was an English singer, known for tenor roles in oratorios and concerts in the first half of the 20th century....
and Joan Cross
Joan Cross
Joan Cross was an English soprano, closely associated with the operas of Benjamin Britten. She also sang in the Italian and German operatic repertoires. She later became a musical administrator, taking on the direction of the Sadler's Wells Opera Company.-Career:Cross was born in London...
. In 1922, Corri conducted Grieg
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt , and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.-Biography:Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in...
's incidental music for Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, loosely based on the fairy tale Per Gynt. It is the most widely performed Norwegian play. According to Klaus Van Den Berg, the "cinematic script blends poetry with social satire and realistic scenes with surreal ones"...
when Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
's play received its British premiere at the Old Vic. The Times considered the music "extraordinarily well played by Mr. Corri and his orchestra".
In the 1930–31 season, Corri was joined by Lawrance Collingwood
Lawrance Collingwood
Lawrance Arthur Collingwood CBE was an English conductor, composer and record producer.Lawrance Collingwood was born in London and became a choirboy at Westminster Abbey. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Exeter College, Oxford...
as his assistant conductor. In that season, Corri conducted The Force of Destiny
La forza del destino
La forza del destino is an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on a Spanish drama, Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino , by Ángel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas, with a scene adapted from Friedrich Schiller's Wallensteins Lager. It was first performed...
, Cavalleria Rusticana
Cavalleria rusticana
Cavalleria rusticana is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from a play written by Giovanni Verga based on his short story. Considered one of the classic verismo operas, it premiered on May 17, 1890 at the Teatro...
, Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...
, Madame Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
, Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
, Faust
Faust (opera)
Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...
, Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
, Il trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
, La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
, Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
, and Hansel and Gretel; Collingwood conducted Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
, The Marriage of Figaro and Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
– continuing their policy of presenting opera in English. In January 1931, Baylis re-opened the newly rebuilt Sadler's Wells Theatre. For a time, opera was presented at both the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells. Corri and Collingwood were joined by guest conductors including Percy Pitt
Percy Pitt
Percy Pitt was an English organist and conductor.A native of London, Pitt studied music at the conservatory in Leipzig, also working in Munich with Josef Rheinberger...
, Constant Lambert
Constant Lambert
Leonard Constant Lambert was a British composer and conductor.-Early life:Lambert, the son of Russian-born Australian painter George Lambert, was educated at Christ's Hospital and the Royal College of Music...
, Geoffrey Toye
Geoffrey Toye
Edward Geoffrey Toye , better known as Geoffrey Toye, was an English conductor, composer and opera producer....
and Anthony Collins.
By the middle of the 1930s, the opera company had come to be based at Sadler's Wells. The orchestra was increased to 48 players. In the 1930s, Corri and the company presented standard repertoire works including operas by Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
, Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
and Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
, lighter works by Balfe
Michael William Balfe
Michael William Balfe was an Irish composer, best-remembered for his opera The Bohemian Girl.After a short career as a violinist, Balfe pursued an operatic singing career, while he began to compose. In a career spanning more than 40 years, he composed 38 operas, almost 250 songs and other works...
, Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
, Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
and Johann Strauss
Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
, some novelties including operas by Holst
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
, Ethel Smyth
Ethel Smyth
Dame Ethel Mary Smyth, DBE was an English composer and a leader of the women's suffrage movement.- Early career :...
and Charles Villiers Stanford
Charles Villiers Stanford
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford was an Irish composer who was particularly notable for his choral music. He was professor at the Royal College of Music and University of Cambridge.- Life :...
, and a staged version of Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
's oratorio Elijah
Elijah (oratorio)
Elijah, in German: Elias, is an oratorio written by Felix Mendelssohn in 1846 for the Birmingham Festival. It depicts various events in the life of the Biblical prophet Elijah, taken from the books 1 Kings and 2 Kings in the Old Testament....
.
Corri retired in 1935, and died at the age of 79 in June 1941.