Opera in the 20th century

1958, a year with many new opera productions but none of which has kept a real repertoire. It was in any case a busy year in the classical music landscape with premieres of the tenth symphony by Havergal Brian, the Lenin Requiem by Hanns Eisler, the first string quartet by György Ligeti, the first symphony by Rodion Shchedrin and the twelfth symphony by Heitor Villa-Lobos. Béla Bartók’s first violin concerto was also premiered exactly 50 years after it was composed. There was also an abundance of beautiful ballet music that year.

In this episode excerpts from:

• Ildebrando Pizzetti- Assassinio Nella Cattedrale
• Dmitri Shostakovich- Moscow, Cheryomushki (Москва, Черемушки)
• Hans Werner Henze- Der Prinz von Homburg

Other opera and operetta productions from 1958:

• Humphrey Searle- The Diary of a Madman
• Antonio Spadavecchia- The Gadfly
• Gian Carlo Menotti- Maria Golovin
• Prenkë Jakova- Mrika
• Lee Hoiby- The Scarf
• Zhang Dinghe- The Tale of Huai Yin (槐荫记)
• Samuel Barber- Vanessa
• Carlisle Floyd- Wuthering Heights
• Jiří Pauer- Zuzana Vojířová
• Darius Milhaud- Fiesta
• Heinrich Sutermeister- Titus Feuerfuchs Oder Die Liebe, Tücke und Perücke
• Hyun Jae-myung- Prince Hodong
• Hugo Weisgall- Purgatory
• Ikuma Dan- Yōkihi (Yang Guifei)
• Vissarion Shebalin- The Sun Above The Steppe (Солнце над степью)
• Wolfgang Fortner- Corinna
• Bohuslav Martinů – Ariane
• Aram Khachaturian- Spartacus (ballet)
• Rebekah Harkness- Voyage Vers L’amour (ballet)
• Vladimir Vlasov- Токтогул (Toktogul)
• Renzo Rossellini- Il Vortices
• Jack Beeson- The Sweet Bye and Bye
• Samuel Barber- Vanessa