Oresteia (opera)
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Oresteia (Орестея in Cyrillic) is an opera in three parts, eight tableaux, by Sergei Taneyev, composed during 1887-1894. (Strictly speaking, the composer titled the work a "musical trilogy.") The Russian libretto was adapted by A.A. Wenkstern from the The Oresteia of Aeschylus. The opera was premiered on October 29 [O.S. October 17] 1895 at the Mariinsky Theatre. The most well-known excerpt from Oresteia is the entr'acte played before the second tableau of Part III, "The Temple of Apollo at Delphi." This passage, as well as other themes from the opera, figured into one of Taneyev's other works, namely, his orchestral overture entitled Oresteia (1889). This overture -- not included in the printed score of this opera -- constitutes a separate 18-minute-long symphonic poem based on themes from the trilogy.
Contents |
[edit] Characters and Setting
[edit] Part I. Agamemnon
- Agamemnon, king of Argos: bass
- Clytemnestra, his wife: alto
- Aegisthus, his first cousin: baritone
- Cassandra, a Trojan prisoner: soprano
- A Guard: bass
- People, female servants of Clytemnestra, warriors, captives, bodyguards.
The action takes place in Argos, before the Atrides palace.
[edit] Part II. The Libation Bearers
- Clytemnestra: alto
- Ghost of Agamemnon
- Elektra, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra: soprano
- Orestes, son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra: tenor
- A Slave: bass
- Female servants of Clytemnestra
Tableau 1: The interior of the Atrides palace.
Tableau 2: An olive grove.
Tableau 3: Scenery of Part I.
[edit] Part III. The Eumenides
- Orestes: tenor
- Apollo Loxias: bariton
- Pallas Athena: soprano
- Areopagite: bass
- Libation-Bearer: bass
- Furies, Athenian people, areopagites participating in the pan-Athenian procession.
Tableau 1: A deserted place on the seashore.
Tableau 2: Interior of Apollo's temple at Delphi.
Tableau 3: Athens.
[edit] Bibliography
- 100 опер: история создания, сюжет, музыка. [100 Operas: History of Creation, Subject, Music.] Ленинград: Издательство "Музыка," 1968, pp. 426-432.
[edit] External links
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