External links
- Mansfield Park on Jonathan Dove's website
- "Music: The New Comic Opera at the Savoy" Highlights from Heritage Opera performance
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| Mansfield Park | |
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| Opera by Jonathan Dove | |
| Librettist | Alasdair Middleton |
| Language | English |
| Based on | Mansfield Park by Jane Austen |
| Premiere | |
Mansfield Park is a 2011 chamber opera in two acts by Jonathan Dove with a libretto by Alasdair Middleton based on the 1814 novel by Jane Austen. Initially composed for four handed piano, it has been set to music for 13-piece orchestral ensemble. It tells the story of poor relation Fanny Price, sent at age 10 to live with her uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram, at his family estate, Mansfield Park. [1]
The opera was commissioned by the touring opera company Heritage Opera in 2008. [2] The vocal score was finished in December 2010, the world premiere performance, directed by Michael McCaffery, followed on July 30, 2011 at Boughton House in Northamptonshire. [3] The opera premiered in its initial version scored for four handed piano. It was accompanied by Paul Greenhalgh and Jonathan Ellis, under the musical direction of Chris Gill. [2] The world premiere tour comprised mainly heritage venues in the northwest of England, and one performance at the Arcola Theatre in Dalston, East London, as part of the Grimeborn Festival. [1] Royal Academy Opera gave two performances of the opera in May 2012, [4] and Hampstead Garden Opera gave ten performances in a new production directed by Bruno Ravella in April 2013. [3]
In 2015 the opera received its American premiere in Baltimore, Maryland. [5] It was performed by the Peabody Chamber Opera of the Peabody Institute at the Baltimore Theatre Project. Eileen Cornett served as music director, with Mark Streshinsky as artistic director. [5] Johanna Kvam and Hanna Shin performed the score for four hands piano. [5]
The opera was given its Australian premiere in April 2016 at the Independent Theatre in Sydney in a production by opera company Operantics. [6] [7] The director was Joseph Restubog, the pianists were Nathaniel Kong and Geena Cheung, and it was conducted by Keiren Brandt-Sawdy. [8]
The operas composition for 13-piece orchestra was commissioned by The Grange Festival, and premiered on September 16, 2017. [9]
The Southern California premiere was made in June 2018 by Opera UCLA, directed by Peter Kazaras.
In 2019 the opera was performed with piano by Opera South in February, [10] with orchestra at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in June 2019, [11] [12] and with piano by Waterperry Opera Festival in July, by Vanderbilt University in October, and by Paul Butler School of Music in December.
The orchestral version had its American premiere [13] by Opera Modesto on January 11, 2020, [14] [15] and saw its Canadian premiere by University of Toronto Opera on March 12, 2020. [16] The first Canadian production was cancelled after two performances due to Coronavirus disease 2019. [17] The next Canadian production by the University of British Columbia in February 2021 presented the version for two pianos. [18] Due to the still ongoing pandemic, the singers wore masks and the opera was shown as video stream from the Chan Shun Concert Hall without a live audience. [19]
| Role [20] | Voice type [20] | Premiere cast, 30 July 2011 (Conductor: Chris Gill) [2] | Orchestral version Premiere cast, September 16, 2017 (Conductor: David Parry) [9] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fanny Price | mezzo-soprano | Serenna Wagner | Martha Jones |
| Lady Bertram | contralto | Nuala Willis | Sarah Pring |
| Sir Thomas Bertram | baritone | John Rawnsley | Grant Doyle |
| Maria Bertram | soprano | Eloise Rutledge | Emily Vine |
| Julia Bertram | mezzo-soprano | Paloma Bruce | Angharad Lyddon |
| Edmund Bertram | baritone | Thomas Eaglen | Henry Neill |
| Aunt Norris | soprano | Birgit Rohowska | Jeni Bern |
| Mary Crawford | coloratura soprano | Sarah Helsby Hughes | Shelley Jackson |
| Henry Crawford | tenor | Nicholas Sales | Nick Pritchard |
| Mr. Rushworth | tenor | Darren Clarke | Oliver Johnston |
The initial version from 2011 was written for two players on one piano. The orchestral version from 2017 is written for 13 instrumentalists playing: flute (doubling piccolo), oboe (doubling cor Anglais), clarinet in B♭, bassoon, 2 horns in F, percussion, piano, 2 violins, viola, violoncello and double bass. [20]
The chapters and their titles are sung by the ensemble. [5] [20]
Scene 1: Mansfield Park, Chapter One. The Bertrams Observed.
In which we meet the inhabitants of Mansfield Park.
Scene 2: Chapter Two. First Impressions.
In which we discover that Miss Mary Crawford has twenty thousand pounds and that Mr Henry Crawford is not handsome.
Scene 3: Chapter Three. Sir Thomas Bertram's Farewell
In which Sir Thomas Bertram leaves for Antigua.
Scene 4: Chapter Four. Landscape Gardening
In which Mr Rushworth proposes a trip to Sotherton, his estate.
Scene 5: Chapter Five. In the Wilderness
In which the estate is explored.
Scene 6: Chapter Six. Music and Astronomy
In which songs are sung and stars observed.
Scene 7: Chapter Seven. Lovers' Vows
In which Amateur Theatricals are undertaken.
Scene 8: Chapter Eight. Persuasion
In which Edmund's resolution is tested.
Scene 9: Chapter Nine. The Rehearsal Interrupted
In which Sir Thomas returns.
Scene 10: Chapter Ten. Independence and Splendour, Or Twelve Thousand a Year
In which happiness is defined.
Scene 11: Chapter Eleven. A View of a Wedding, seen from the Shrubbery at Mansfield Park
In which a wedding is celebrated, a honeymoon begun, a revelation made and plot hatched.
Scene 1: Volume Two, Chapter One. Preparations for a Ball
In which Miss Fanny Price accepts a present from Miss Mary Crawford.
Scene 2: Chapter Two. A Ball
In which partners are chosen.
Scene 3: Chapter Three. A Proposal
In which the Bertram family are variously surprised, delighted, disappointed, confused and outraged.
Scene 4: Chapter Four. Some Correspondence
In which much ink is spilt.
Scene 5: Chapter Five. Follies and Grottoes
In which the Rushworths meet an old acquaintance.
Scene 6: Chapter Six. A Newspaper Paragraph
In which occurs a matrimonial fracas.
Scene 7: Chapter The Last
In which Mr Edmund Bertram declares his feelings to his future bride.
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