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Talk:Opera in English/Archive 1

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Archive 1

Foreign works

The first work that "opera in English" calls to mind for me is The Rake's Progress, arguably American, but what about Oberon and, iirc, the premiere of Masnadieri? Perhaps another category is needed, separate from translations.Sparafucil 07:25, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

G & S

Why is Gilbert and Sullivan not mentioned on this page? I realize that they wrote operettas, not strictly formal opera, but I suspect that they are far better known than any other British opera writers, so they should be mentioned, if only to refer the reader to the page on British operetta (I realize it does not exist at present- that is my point.). JesseW 04:16, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Opera is dead

In terms of new compositions, opera is dead. Musicals, such as "Billy Eliott" as the way forward. Some of Purcell's best music is in "The Fairy Queen", "King Arthur" and "The Tempest" - none of which were strictly speaking, operas. Ogg 07:43, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Is this article useful?

This article is so general that I wonder whether it is worth retaining. What do other people think? In any case I would think that pages on English Opera, Welsh Opera, Scottish Opera, Irish Opera would be better.

Kleinzach 12:38, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

The main problem is that there's a lot of cultural blend in British musicians: Is Judith Weir a Scottish or English composer? Does Sullivan's Irish ancestry count for anything? It inspired a symphony by him, so it does seem to have meant something, even if he was born in London. Etc. By calling it English, we may hit a dangerous state. Adam Cuerden talk 22:10, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

Planned revision of this article

First, I suggest moving it to English-language opera. Opera divides up by language better than it does by nationality (e.g. Italian opera should contain works by Handel, Gluck and Mozart). This article can cover all anglophone opera from Britain, the USA and the Commonwealth. If any of these sections get too big we can create sub-articles later.

Provisional subsections:

  • British opera:
    • Origins: the masque, Davenant and The Siege of Rhodes (generally held to be first true English opera - music now lost)
    • Purcell and his era: Blow's Venus and Adonis, Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, semi-opera. Influence of Lully? Some other composers who might rate a mention: Locke, Grabu, Eccles.
    • The 18th century: the impact of Handel and Italian-language opera seria. Handel's English-language "quasi-operas": Acis and Galatea, Semele. Arne. Ballad opera: The Beggar's Opera and its progeny (Dibdin etc.).
    • The 19th century: foreign opera dominant (mention of Weber's Oberon); Savoy opera and British operetta.
    • The early 20th century: Vaughan Williams, Holst, Delius, "pastoral school", Boughton's fairy operas.
    • Britten and after: Peter Grimes big watershed in the history of British opera; Tippett; contemporary stuff- Maxwell Davis, Birtwistle, Weir et al.
    • Principal opera houses/companies
  • American opera
    • 18th-19th centuries: ballad opera and early American opera
    • Operetta and musical comedy (Victor Herbert et al)
    • Kern and Gershwin, the emergence of the musical
    • mid-C20 opera - Moore, Thomson, Blitzstein, Barber, Menotti, Bernstein, Floyd
    • late C20 - Sondheim, Glass, Adams, Bolcom, Previn, Adamo et al (trends: minimalism, "news operas"; also opera-musical crossover e.g. Sondheim)
    • Principal opera houses/companies
  • Canadian opera (NB: make sure no French-language stuff gets included because we don't want angry Quebecois on our case).
    • Early operatic performance and composition
    • Search for 'the great Canadian opera' - Louis Riel
    • Later compositions
    • Principal opera houses/companies
  • Australian opera
    • Principal opera houses/companies

--Folantin 16:01, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

Sounds fine to me: per discussion at WP:WPO I'm moving this page over to Opera in English. Moreschi Want some help? Ask! 10:24, 18 April 2007 (UTC)
I've fleshed out the American section above. --GuillaumeTell 11:04, 18 April 2007 (UTC)
A revision of this article is underway at User:Moreschi/Workspace 1. Please feel free to help out. Cheers, Moreschi Want some help? Ask! 11:11, 18 April 2007 (UTC)
I've also added a few suggestions. Barnabypage 12:20, 18 April 2007 (UTC)


If we're keeping the title Opera in English, we should probably mention translations... Adam Cuerden talk 12:06, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

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