"The Nightingale and the Rose" [Elena Firsova]

"The Nightingale and the Rose" [Elena Firsova]

Firsova, Elena; music (Russian, born 1950)

Rossetti, Christina Georgina; text (English, 1830-1894)

Wilde, Oscar; text (English, 1854-1900)

1990-1991 [composition]

Sikorski

genre: chamber opera

solo: soprano|tenor|mezzo-soprano

chorus: women’s SSAA chorus|TTBB chorus|SATB voices with divisi

instrumentation: flute|oboe|clarinet|bassoon|horn|trumpet|trombone|percussion|harp|strings|celesta

origin: Russia

female composer

English

Rossetti poem(s): "Remember"|"Later Life: A Double Sonnet of Sonnets"|"Monna Innominata"|"Acme"

Work contains texts by multiple authors

Notes about the text: The libretto is based on the text from Oscar Wilde's fairy tale "The Nightingale and the Rose," and "culminates with the four songs of the Nightingale, settings of the four sonnets by Christina Rossetti: 1. 'Remember me, when I am gone away'; 2. 'Sleep, unforgotten sorrow, sleep awhile'; 3. 'So tired am I, so weary of to-day'; 4. 'Time flies, hope flags, life piles a wearied wing.'" ("The Nightingale and the Rose (opera)")

Composition history: "The opera was written at the request of Paul Esterházy, the director of the Ulm Theatre in Germany [...] This was the last work the composer completed in the Soviet Union before she moved to England in 1991. However, the idea of the staging in Germany was abandoned when Paul Esterházy suddenly left the Ulm Theatre." ("The Nightingale and the Rose (opera)")

Performance history: World Premiere: "1994-07-08 | Almeida Theatre, London | Julian McGowan, des / Caroline Gawn, dir | Conductor: David Parry \ Company: Rachael Hallawell, Philip Sheffield, Carol Smith"

Format 1: musical score

performance time 90 minutes

Other data reference(s): "Firsova, Elena | The Nightingale and the Rose (1990-91)." Boosey & Hawkes, https://www.boosey.com/pages/opera/moreDetails?musicID=5752&langId=1. Accessed 3 June 2022.
"The Nightingale and the Rose (opera)." Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nightingale_and_the_Rose_(opera). Accessed 3 June 2022.

Cataloguer: Emily McConkey, University of Ottawa

Record: CRM-remember-firsova

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