1984 (opera)
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1984 is an opera composed by Lorin Maazel, with a libretto by J.D. McClatchy and Thomas Meehan. Maazel's first opera, it premiered on 3 May 2005 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in a production directed by Robert Lepage.
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[edit] Cast
The opera is based on George Orwell's novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. In contrast with the conventions of most operas, it casts the hero, Winston, as a baritone (sung by Simon Keenlyside at the premiere), while the lead tenor takes the role of the villain, O'Brien (sung by Richard Margison at the premiere). The part of Julia was sung by soprano Nancy Gustafson in the original production. Other individual parts in the opera include Syme, Parsons, and Charrington, a gym instructress/drunken woman, a prole woman, and a café singer. Maazel incorporates an important role for the chorus, which sings a "hate chorus" for the rallies Orwell called Two Minutes Hate, as well as a rousing "National Anthem of Oceania." The telescreen voice was spoken by Jeremy Irons. The childrens chorus was provided by the New London Childrens Choir and Cardinal Vaughan Boys School.
[edit] Production
The work was originally intended as a joint commission by the Royal Opera House and the Tokyo Opera. The Tokyo Opera ultimately backed out, which prompted Maazel to step in and finance nearly half the costs of production personally. The company he formed for the purpose, Big Brother Productions, paid about £400,000 toward these costs. While this saved the opera from oblivion, it also led to charges that the Royal Opera House was spending taxpayer money to support a vanity project.
[edit] Criticism
Maazel's foray into composing opera met with fairly harsh reviews. New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini described the music as evoking a variety of musical styles, but concluded that Maazel's work reflected his career in conducting rather than composition, and thus failed to find his personal voice as a composer.
The production and design were received more favourably.
[edit] External links
| Characters | Winston Smith | Julia | O'Brien | Big Brother | Emmanuel Goldstein |
|---|---|
| Places | Oceania | Eastasia | Eurasia | Airstrip One | Room 101 |
| Classes | Inner Party | Outer Party | Proles |
| Ministries | Ministry of Love | Ministry of Peace | Ministry of Plenty | Ministry of Truth |
| Concepts | Ingsoc | Newspeak (wordlist) | Doublethink | Goodthink | Crimestop Two plus two make five | Thoughtcrime | Prolefeed | Prolesec |
| Miscellaneous | Thought Police | Telescreen | Memory hole | Goldstein's book Two Minutes Hate | Hate week |
| Adaptations | 1956 film | 1984 film | 1953 US TV | 1954 BBC programme | Opera |
| Influence | Nineteen Eighty-Four in popular media Parody: Me and the Big Guy |
