Henry Clifford (opera)
Encyclopedia
Henry Clifford is a grand opera
in three acts composed by Isaac Albéniz
to an English libretto
written by Francis Money-Coutts
(under the pseudonym
"Mountjoy"). It premiered at the Gran Teatro del Liceo
on 8 May 1895. The opera is based on historical figures and events and is set in 15th century England
during the Wars of the Roses
, fought between the rival houses of Lancaster
and York
. The title character, Henry Clifford, 10th Baron de Clifford, was the only son of John Clifford
, a Lancastrian commander killed in the bloodiest battle of the war, the Battle of Towton
, on 29 March 1461. Henry Clifford himself was one of the chief commanders in the Battle of Flodden Field
against the Scots in 1513.
. Other operas in the series are Pepita Jiménez
(1896) and Merlin
(1902).
Albéniz began writing the opera while living in London
, but subsequently moved to Barcelona
where he completed the piano-vocal score for the second act. After a few months he became uncomfortable with the conservative cultural conditions under the Bourbon dynasty
in Spain
, and moved to Paris
where the remainder of the work was completed in 1894-95.
at the Gran Teatro del Liceo
on 8 May 1895. The singers included Emauel Suagnes in the title role, Angelica Nava as Lady Clifford, and Andrés Perellò de Segurola as Sir John Saint-John. Although the opera was originally written in English, Italian was standard at the Liceo, and an Italian
libretto was supplied by Giuseppe M. Arteaga Pereira. The libretto was published in both English and Italian (Barcelona: J.B. Pujol, 1895). The work was given five performances with the final performance on May 12.
The opera was reconstructed and recorded in 2002 by the Spanish musicologist and conductor José De Eusebio
. On 24 January 2009, he conducted the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria in the world premiere performance of Henry Clifford with its original English libretto in the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
. The performance was in concert version with John MacMaster as Henry Clifford, Ana María Sánchez as Lady Clifford, María Rey-Joly as Annie Saint-John, David Wilson-Johnson as Sir John Saint-John, and Larissa Diadkova as Lady Saint-John.
reported that the "applause, acclamations, and shouts of enthusiasm ... still sound in our ears." The Spanish critic J. Roca y Roca, writing in the same newspaper, said: "Albéniz triumphed over everything: over the distrust of certain unimaginative spirits ill-disposed to recognize the superior merits of a composer who has excelled as an outstanding concert pianist; he has triumphed over the suspicions and fears of the theater management...; Albéniz, finally, has succeeded in becoming a prophet in his own country." The critic blamed the shortness of the run on inadequate rehearsal, a lack of support from the theater's management, and the fact that the first performances were at the end of the season.
Grand Opera
Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterised by large-scale casts and orchestras, and lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events...
in three acts composed by Isaac Albéniz
Isaac Albéniz
Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual was a Spanish Catalan pianist and composer best known for his piano works based on folk music idioms .-Life:Born in Camprodon, province of Girona, to Ángel Albéniz and his wife Dolors Pascual, Albéniz...
to an English libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
written by Francis Money-Coutts
Francis Money-Coutts, 5th Baron Latymer
Francis Burdett Thomas Nevill Money-Coutts, 5th Baron Latymer was a London solicitor, poet, librettist, and wealthy heir to the fortune of the Coutts banking family. He is now remembered chiefly as a patron and collaborator of the Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz.-Family history:His father was the...
(under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
"Mountjoy"). It premiered at the Gran Teatro del Liceo
Liceu
The Gran Teatre del Liceu , or simply Liceu in Catalan and Liceo in Spanish, is an opera house on La Rambla in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain...
on 8 May 1895. The opera is based on historical figures and events and is set in 15th century England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
during the Wars of the Roses
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York...
, fought between the rival houses of Lancaster
House of Lancaster
The House of Lancaster was a branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. It was one of the opposing factions involved in the Wars of the Roses, an intermittent civil war which affected England and Wales during the 15th century...
and York
House of York
The House of York was a branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet, three members of which became English kings in the late 15th century. The House of York was descended in the paternal line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, the fourth surviving son of Edward III, but also represented...
. The title character, Henry Clifford, 10th Baron de Clifford, was the only son of John Clifford
John Clifford, 9th Baron de Clifford
John Clifford, 9th Baron de Clifford, also 9th Lord of Skipton was a Lancastrian military leader during the Wars of the Roses...
, a Lancastrian commander killed in the bloodiest battle of the war, the Battle of Towton
Battle of Towton
In 1461, England was in the sixth year of the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars between the Houses of York and Lancaster over the English throne. The Lancastrians backed the reigning King of England, Henry VI, an indecisive man who suffered bouts of madness...
, on 29 March 1461. Henry Clifford himself was one of the chief commanders in the Battle of Flodden Field
Battle of Flodden Field
The Battle of Flodden or Flodden Field or occasionally Battle of Branxton was fought in the county of Northumberland in northern England on 9 September 1513, between an invading Scots army under King James IV and an English army commanded by the Earl of Surrey...
against the Scots in 1513.
Composition
Henry Clifford was written in 1893-95, the first of a series of operas by Albéniz which were commissioned and supplied with English libretti by the wealthy Englishman Francis Money-CouttsFrancis Money-Coutts, 5th Baron Latymer
Francis Burdett Thomas Nevill Money-Coutts, 5th Baron Latymer was a London solicitor, poet, librettist, and wealthy heir to the fortune of the Coutts banking family. He is now remembered chiefly as a patron and collaborator of the Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz.-Family history:His father was the...
. Other operas in the series are Pepita Jiménez
Pepita Jiménez
Pepita Jiménez is a lyric comedy or comic opera with music written by the Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz. The original opera was written in one act and used an English libretto by Albéniz's patron and collaborator, the Englishman Francis Money-Coutts, which is based on the novel of the same name by...
(1896) and Merlin
Merlin (opera)
Merlin is the last of the operas of Isaac Albéniz. It is in three acts and the libretto was written in English by Francis Money-Coutts, 5th Baron Latymer ....
(1902).
Albéniz began writing the opera while living in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, but subsequently moved to Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
where he completed the piano-vocal score for the second act. After a few months he became uncomfortable with the conservative cultural conditions under the Bourbon dynasty
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
where the remainder of the work was completed in 1894-95.
Performance history
Albéniz conducted the premiere of Henry Clifford (under the title Enrico Clifford) in BarcelonaBarcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
at the Gran Teatro del Liceo
Liceu
The Gran Teatre del Liceu , or simply Liceu in Catalan and Liceo in Spanish, is an opera house on La Rambla in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain...
on 8 May 1895. The singers included Emauel Suagnes in the title role, Angelica Nava as Lady Clifford, and Andrés Perellò de Segurola as Sir John Saint-John. Although the opera was originally written in English, Italian was standard at the Liceo, and an Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
libretto was supplied by Giuseppe M. Arteaga Pereira. The libretto was published in both English and Italian (Barcelona: J.B. Pujol, 1895). The work was given five performances with the final performance on May 12.
The opera was reconstructed and recorded in 2002 by the Spanish musicologist and conductor José De Eusebio
José De Eusebio
José De Eusebio is a Spanish conductor and musicologist. He is particularly known for his work on the neglected operas of the Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz....
. On 24 January 2009, he conducted the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria in the world premiere performance of Henry Clifford with its original English libretto in the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria commonly known as Las Palmas is the political capital, jointly with Santa Cruz, the most populous city in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the ninth largest city in Spain, with a population of 383,308 in 2010. Nearly half of the people of the island...
. The performance was in concert version with John MacMaster as Henry Clifford, Ana María Sánchez as Lady Clifford, María Rey-Joly as Annie Saint-John, David Wilson-Johnson as Sir John Saint-John, and Larissa Diadkova as Lady Saint-John.
Critical reception
Writing about the 1895 Barcelona premiere, the newspaper La VanguardiaLa Vanguardia
La Vanguardia is Catalonia's leading daily newspaper as well as the fourth best-selling in Spain. It has its headquarters in Barcelona, Catalonia's largest city....
reported that the "applause, acclamations, and shouts of enthusiasm ... still sound in our ears." The Spanish critic J. Roca y Roca, writing in the same newspaper, said: "Albéniz triumphed over everything: over the distrust of certain unimaginative spirits ill-disposed to recognize the superior merits of a composer who has excelled as an outstanding concert pianist; he has triumphed over the suspicions and fears of the theater management...; Albéniz, finally, has succeeded in becoming a prophet in his own country." The critic blamed the shortness of the run on inadequate rehearsal, a lack of support from the theater's management, and the fact that the first performances were at the end of the season.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 8 May 1895 (Conductor: Isaac Albéniz) |
|---|---|---|
| Henry Clifford | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Emauel Suagnes |
| Lady Clifford | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Angelica Nava |
| Sir John Saint-John | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Andrés Perellò de Segurola |
| Lady Saint-John | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
Concetta Mas |
| Annie Saint-John | soprano | Adele Marra-Mirò |
| Colin ("Nicola" in the Italian libretto) | baritone | Francesco Puyggener |
| Messenger | tenor | |
| Herald | baritone | |
| Soldiers, peasants, Lady Clifford's attendants, crowd (children, men and women) | ||
Recording
Albéniz: Henry Clifford - Orquesta Sinfonica de MadridMadrid Symphony Orchestra
The Madrid Symphony Orchestra , founded in 1903, is the oldest existing Spanish symphony orchestra not linked to an opera house in Spain.-History:...
- Conductor: José de Eusebio
- Principal singers: Aquiles Machado (Henry Clifford); Alessandra Marc (Lady Clifford); Carlos Álvarez (Sir John Saint John); Jane Henschel (Lady Saint John); Ana Maria Martínez (Annie Saint John); Christian Immler (Colin); Ángel Rodríguez (Messenger).
- Recording location & date: Auditorio Nacional de Música de Madrid, 19–27 July 2002
- Label: DeccaDecca RecordsDecca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
- 473 937-2 (2 CDsCompact DiscThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
)
Sources
- Baxter, Sue (White Label Productions Limited), ed., Libretto & booklet for CD recording Decca 473 937-2, Ediciones Iberautor/Instituto Complutense de Cencias Musicales (ICCMU), 2003.
- Carr, Victor, Recording review: Albéniz: Henry Clifford - Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid, Decca, Classics Today. Accessed 22 January 2009.
- Casaglia, Gherardo Amadeus Almanac 8 May 1895. Accessed 24 January 2009.
- Clark, Walter Aaron, Isaac Albeniz: Portrait of a Romantic, Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN 0199250529
- Díaz Ramos, Roberto, "La cara oculta de Isaac Albéniz", La Provincia, 25 January 2009 (in Spanish). Accessed 26 January 2009.
- Greenfield, Edward, Recording review: Albéniz: Henry Clifford - Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid, Decca, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 13 June 2003. Accessed 22 January 2009. - La VanguardiaLa VanguardiaLa Vanguardia is Catalonia's leading daily newspaper as well as the fourth best-selling in Spain. It has its headquarters in Barcelona, Catalonia's largest city....
, "Espectáculos", 7 May 1895, page 6 (in Spanish). Accessed 24 January 2009. - La Vanguardia, "El estreno de la ópera «Henry Clifford»", 8 May 1885, page 4 (in Spanish). Accessed 24 January 2009.
- Payá, Juanjo, "Henry Clifford, un regalo para Albéniz desde las Islas", La Opinión de Tenerife, 25 January 2009 (in Spanish). Accessed 26 January 2009.
- Woolf, Jonathan, Recording review: Albéniz: Henry Clifford - Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid, Decca, Musicweb International, 2003. Accessed 22 January 2009.
External links
- Libretto in English and the Italian translation used for the premiere.