Chamber opera

Chamber opera

Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra.

The term and form were invented by Benjamin Britten in the 1940s, when the English Opera Group needed works that could easily be taken on tour and performed in a variety of small performance spaces. The Rape of Lucretia was the first example of the genre, and Britten followed it with Albert Herring, The Turn of the Screw and Curlew River. Other composers, including Hans Werner Henze, Harrison Birtwistle, Thomas Adès, George Benjamin and Philip Glass, have since adopted the term for their own works.

Instrumentation for a chamber opera will vary: Britten scored The Rape of Lucretia for eight singers with single strings and wind with piano, harp and percussion. Matthew King's The Snow Queen has three singers in multiple roles, with an ensemble of seven players while Judith Weir's King Harald's Saga is for a single soprano voice.

The term chamber opera is also sometimes used to describe smaller Baroque operatic works such as Pergolesi's La serva padrona and Charpentier's Les Arts florissants, which also use small instrumental and vocal ensembles.

See also



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • chamber opera — an opera requiring few performers and a small orchestra. * * * …   Universalium

  • chamber opera — an opera requiring few performers and a small orchestra …   Useful english dictionary

  • Gotham Chamber Opera — (GCO) is a professional opera company located in New York City, NY and is a member of Opera America. [ [http://www.operaamerica.org/about/membership/states/ny.asp OPERA America The National Service Organization for Opera ] ] The company focuses… …   Wikipedia

  • Opera North: history and repertoire, seasons 2004– — Opera North is an opera company based at The Grand Theatre, Leeds, England. This article covers the period during which the Music Director has been Richard Farnes. Contents 1 History 2 Repertoire 3 Sources …   Wikipedia

  • Opera Boston — is an opera company in Boston, Massachusetts. It specializes in innovative repertoire and rarely heard works, along with opera education and outreach programs designed to bring opera education to children, in schools and after school programs… …   Wikipedia

  • Opera Rara — is a British record label, founded in the early 1970s by Americans Patric Schmid[1] and Don White[2] to promote concerts of rare and/or forgotten operas by Giacomo Meyerbeer and Donizetti and such other bel canto composers as Giovanni Pacini,… …   Wikipedia

  • Opera a la Carte — may refer to: Opera a la Carte (UK), a UK based chamber opera company Opera a la Carte (US), a Los Angeles USA based Gilbert and Sullivan professional touring company This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an …   Wikipedia

  • Opera in Atlanta — Sign for the Atlanta Opera Opera in Atlanta has a long and uneven history. The first shows performed in Atlanta predate the American Civil War and were primarily performed in makeshift facilities modified for the operatic arts. The main company… …   Wikipedia

  • Opera Azuriales — The Opéra Les Azuriales (Les Azuriales Opera Festival), founded in 1997 by Sarah Holford, the Festival s President, and others from the local community. It takes place each year in August on Cap Ferrat, a part of the Côte d Azur in France. The… …   Wikipedia

  • Opera a la Carte (UK) — For information about the California operetta company, see Opera a la Carte (US). Opera a la Carte is a UK based chamber opera company located in London. It was founded in 1993 by its present General Director, Nicholas Heath, who was a member of… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”