For any one interested, George Lloyd's opera Iernin which hasn't been staged since 1935, will be performed at Trinity School Theatre in Croydon on October 24, 25, 26. There are further performances at St John's Hall, Penzance, Cornwall on 1st and 2nd of November. This is a fully staged production by Surrey Opera.
I gather it will be conducted by Jonathan Butcher, who, amongst other things, conducts our local band, the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra. Judging by what he does here on the Island, the performances should at least be musically flawless.
It's a gorgeous opera, and Lloyd appears to have regarded it as his first really good work.
Might they make a recording of their performance? ;)
The opera has already been recorded - with a good set of soloists, BBC Concert Orchestra and conducted by Lloyd himself - and I imagine this would diminish the likelihood of a second recording. It is a 3 CD set issued around 1994 by Albany. Ironic that an American company should have recorded both the opera together with all / most (?) of the symphonies and some choral works of this British composer. No reason, of course, why this shouldn't be the case - but sad that Lloyd has been passed over in his own country.
I wasn't thinking of a commercial recording, Peter, just one that might end up as a podcast or a download - on the George Lloyd website for example. As to the Albany recordings, the use of British performers illustrates a point I was making in the thread about the plight of US orchestras - namely that they (and American composers) are often passed over in their own country in favour of Europeans.
We should not forget, however, that interest in Lloyd's music is entirely a British phenomenon, notably through the efforts of John Ogdon, Richard Itter at Lyrita, the BBC and not least Edward Downes. A broadcast of the 8th set the ball rolling. Lloyd himself eventually made some 40 recordings. According to the GL webwsite, some 30 performances of his music are scheduled (in the UK alone I think) for 2013 - his centenary year - including at least five performances of Iernin. So, there is certainly no longer any neglect of Lloyd's music in Britain, the Albany contract notwithstanding. :)
For 2013? They'd better hurry...
Quote from: eschiss1 on Thursday 24 October 2013, 01:55
For 2013? They'd better hurry...
Well, I suppose the webpage was written some time ago, Eric. Maybe I should have said "were scheduled".
Rumor has it, I read, that "John Socman" is planned for 2014, so my other interpretation (is a Porsche) would have been partially right too... :)
One small correction to my post - the performances aren't confined to the UK, as I see they are including the Cello Concerto being performed in Brisabane by the Queensland SO next month at their Aussie version of "The Last Night of the Proms"! (http://www.qso.com.au/the-last-night-of-the-proms (http://www.qso.com.au/the-last-night-of-the-proms)) ::)
The performances of Iernin are over the next few evenings, in Croydon and Penzance, by Surrey Opera (http://www.georgelloyd.com/index.php/component/gcalendar/event/4/j923e42rvb3uin2lpa6vgpnvjs?Itemid=298 (http://www.georgelloyd.com/index.php/component/gcalendar/event/4/j923e42rvb3uin2lpa6vgpnvjs?Itemid=298))
Well, I had high hopes for this but...oh dear. Frankly, I suspect the opera is probably unperformable now, for a whole variety of reasons, and that the best thing will be to stick with the (pretty good) BBC recording (there is some marvellous music, here and there) and daydream ones way through a private imaginary production...because I doubt anyone will ever see it on a professional opera stage? GL may have believed he was a (thwarted) natural opera composer, but the evidence suggests otherwise. Certainly his father was NOT a thwarted natural dramatist, and the truly dire libretto cripples the piece. I can't bear Puccini, but you must admire his sheer cold-blooded professionalism in bullying his librettists until they produced something razor sharp in which not a word is wasted and in which continuously developing action brings plausible characters to continuing and developing life: unlike Lloyds 1-dimensional stock goodies and baddies declaiming poor verse at one another. (Almost everything is described as being "like the wind" at some point - that's as eloquent or insightful as it gets) At the same time, neither does Iernin manage to rise to the genuinely fey poetry of something like The Immortal Hour. And I'm afraid there were one or two giggles among the audiences at certain infelicities of staging. Maybe John Socman or The Serf are better - but I'm not optimistic? Meanwhile I'm happy to stick with his symphonies...
Quote from: semloh on Thursday 24 October 2013, 03:17
One small correction to my post - the performances aren't confined to the UK, as I see they are including the Cello Concerto being performed in Brisabane by the Queensland SO next month at their Aussie version of "The Last Night of the Proms"! (http://www.qso.com.au/the-last-night-of-the-proms (http://www.qso.com.au/the-last-night-of-the-proms)) ::)
The performances of Iernin are over the next few evenings, in Croydon and Penzance, by Surrey Opera (http://www.georgelloyd.com/index.php/component/gcalendar/event/4/j923e42rvb3uin2lpa6vgpnvjs?Itemid=298 (http://www.georgelloyd.com/index.php/component/gcalendar/event/4/j923e42rvb3uin2lpa6vgpnvjs?Itemid=298))
If anyone can get that cello concerto performance as an upload that would be grand!
Well, maybe it will be broadcast by ABC Classical Radio, which does webstream...
Indeed. I did search for evidence that ABC was broadcasting it but no sign during November. Maybe it'll be broadcast later - I'll certainly keep an eye open for it, and get a recording if I possibly can. ;)
I reckon the Albany Record Company have done a fine job in promoting the symphonic output of George Lloyd and his somewhat more flamboyant American contemporary, Don Gillis. I've derived much pleasure from their recordings of both these composers works, which is more than I can say about many of the more "advanced" 20th Century composers.
I have seen this production and quite frankly, the libretto is so bad that I cannot recommend the opera. The best hope for the future is for someone to re use the story,which could be told in four minutes, and recycle the music around it.
Gosh, that's really fierce criticism. It's very disappointing if it really is that bad. :(
Yes it is. I have always been a champion of Lloyd but this piece is only of academic interest. Some in the audience didn't bother to return after the interval
In that case I'm not iernin' to hear it.
Lloyd himself seems to have been very attached to the piece. Personally I find 'John Socman' a lot more enjoyable. Never heard 'The Serf', apart from one orchestral suite. Generally, although Lloyd seems to have regarded opera as his main concern, I think his symphonies and concertos are better. Some of the choral works too.
I see (http://www.cornishman.co.uk/Yearning-Iernin/story-19916038-detail/story.html (http://www.cornishman.co.uk/Yearning-Iernin/story-19916038-detail/story.html)) that the libretto is written by Lloyd's father (who wrote the librettos for two other Lloyd operas). According to this webpage, Iernin was conceived, composed and first performed in Penzance, and was inspired by the ancient Nine Maidens stones nearby. "It tells the story of a beautiful maiden turned to stone by puritanical priests at the dawn of Christianity, only to reawaken hundreds of years later to entrance a betrothed Cornish nobleman who abandons his wedding for her.
This is set against the backdrop of a soon to be occupied Cornwall and the struggle of its leader and people to retain their independence from the Saxon overlords. It is a story about the defence of the weak and society's fear of change, but above all our fear of and fascination with the unknown. Written during the rise of German National Socialism and alongside the abdication of Edward VIII, the story also strikes some resonant chords with one of the most dramatic periods in British history."
Hmmm ::) ... but then perhaps most opera plots are equally obscure.
You are not alone in thinking the opera a poor piece - a review of Surrey Operas's performance says it all at: http://www.bachtrack.com/review-oct-2013-surrey-opera-iernin (http://tp://www.bachtrack.com/review-oct-2013-surrey-opera-iernin) although I do think it is rather unfair to criticize his operatic writing by comparing him to Britten.
And, of course, not everyone thinks it awful. The Times critic Frank Howes is reported to have given it a "glowing review" when he saw its premiere in Penzance in 1934. More recently....
"This is a lovely opera with something that most of us despaired of finding in a twentieth-century work - tunes that stay in the memory."
Fanfare
" I do find that the heart goes out to this opera. " Gramophone
"Lloyd showed that rarest of all qualities in a British composer, an almost unerring perception of what the stage requires .. an extraordinary achievement."
The Times
[http://www.georgelloyd.com/index.php/latest-news-library (http://www.georgelloyd.com/index.php/latest-news-library)]
Most of it was apparently written when Lloyd was in his teens, and it's the libretto which is the main stumblingblock, so maybe we can lay the blame on his Dad! ;D
"most of us despaired of finding in a twentieth-century work"...
Oh, please... *insert crocodile tears. If you haven't found plenty of twentieth-century works with memorable tunes you have not tried.*
(Then again, "most of us" don't try with anything, so the statement as given is probably accurate, as given.)
It can't have been all bad: it was said to be the third longest running British opera, after The Immortal Hour and Ivanhoe, though apparently rather far behind those too.
Interesting, in view of the subject matter of The Immortal Hour and Ivanhoe. The 'Ancient Britain' theme was obviously still popular, although I'm not sure why - maybe something to do with the war? It was clearly still floating around in Elgar's music too, although King Olaf, Caractacus, etc were written in the 1890s as I recall. Anyway, time I had a listen to said opera! ::)
All of Lloyd's operas are set in Britain and none later than the middle ages: Iernin is the earliest in Cornwall during the dark ages, The Serf in the reign of King Stephen and John Socman in the aftermath of Agincourt, with the Lollard persecution a major theme. Perhaps his father, who was the librettist for all of them, was a historian, amateur or otherwise.
Always a shame when good music is sunk by a bad libretto, and many examples could be cited. You never hear much of Schubert as an opera composer, for instance.
I have come to the conclusion that what George Lloyd needed was a trusted friend and critic who could also persuade him to EDIT his music and CUT where necessary.