A Village Romeo and Juliet is an opera by Frederick Delius, the fourth of his six operas. The composer, with his wife Jelka, wrote the English-language libretto based on the novella by Swiss author Gottfried Keller from his collection Seldwyla Folks (). Keller was inspired by a newspaper notice about the suicide of a young couple; he then set the story in a Swiss village torn by a feud between two neighbouring families, similar to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Performance history The first performance was at the Komische Oper Berlin on 21 February 1907, as . Thomas Beecham conducted the British premiere at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in London on 22 February 1910. The US premiere was on 26 April 1972 in Washington, D.C.
The New York City Opera (NYCO) staged the work in 1973 for the opera's New York City premiere with Richard T. Gill as Marti, June Angela as the child Vreli, Patricia Wells as the adult Vreli, John Stewart as Sali, David Holloway as the Dark Fiddler, and Thomas Jamerson, William Ledbetter and David Griffith as the Three Barge Men. In his review of the NYCO production, music critic Allen Hughes wrote, "This piece has had few productions in the 72 years of its existence, and the reasons for that are not hard to find. To begin, it is, essentially, two hours of mood music for orchestra with secondary parts for singers, and the orchestra envisioned by Delius was so vast as to be impractical for conventional opera presentation. Furthermore, the staging implications were such that they could not be realized adequately in a theater depending upon physical sets and for effects."
While the opera has rarely been staged, the orchestral interlude between scenes 5 and 6, "The Walk to the Paradise Garden", is heard separately in concerts and has been recorded many times.
Roles +RoleVoice typePremiere cast, 21 February 1907Conductor: Fritz CassirerManzbaritoneMartibaritoneSali, son of Manz as a childsopranoSali, son of Manz as a mantenorWilli MerkelVreli, daughter of Marti sopranoLola Artôt de PadillaBiography Artot de Padilla biographyThe dark fiddlerbaritoneTwo peasant menbaritonesThree peasant womensopranosGingerbread womansopranoMinnie EgenerWheel of fortune womansopranoCheap jewellery womanmezzo-sopranoMerry-go-round manbaritoneSlim girlsopranoWild girlmezzo-sopranoPoor horn playertenorHunchbacked bass playerbass
The premiere of the English version featured Walter Hyde as Sali; Ruth Vincent as Vrenchen (Vreli); Robert Maitland as the Black Fiddler (sic); Harry Dearth as Manz; Dillon Shallard as Marti; Muriel Terry as the young Sali and the Wild Girl; Betty Booker as the young Vrenchen and the Slim Girl; Arthur Royd as the Poor Horn Player; and Albert Archdeacon as the Hunchback Bass Player."Music – Royal Opera Covent Garden", The Times 23 February 1910, p. 13
Synopsis Two young lovers, Sali and Vreneli, whose families are locked in a bitter feud over a piece of land in rural Switzerland, die by drowning themselves.
Recordings YearCastConductor,orchestraLabel1946–1952Rene Soames,Vera Terry,Gordon Clinton,Denis Dowling,Frederick Sharp Sir Thomas Beecham,Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus CD: EMI Classics,Cat: ??CD: Naxos,Cat: 8.110982-83"Delius: A Village Romeo and Juliet", Cat: 8.110982-83, 2CDs, Naxos, Liner notes1971 Robert Tear,Elizabeth Harwood,John Shirley-Quirk,Benjamin LuxonMeredith Davies,Royal Philharmonic OrchestraJohn Alldis ChoirCD: EMI Classics,Cat: ?Anthony Payne, Review of recording of "Delius: A Village Romeo and Juliet". Tempo (New Series), 106, pp. 53'54 (1973).1989 Arthur Davies,Helen Field,Thomas Hampson,Stafford Dean,Barry Mora Sir Charles Mackerras,ORF Symphony OrchestraArnold Schoenberg Choir CD: Decca, Cat: 430 275-2Used as soundtrack for Petr Weigl's 1992 film Romeo a Julie na vsi1995 Eva-Christine Reimer, Karsten Russ,, David Midboe,Attila KovacsKlauspeter Seibel,Opernhaus Kiel Orchestra and Chorus(sung in German) CD: CPOCat: CPO 999 328-2
References
Notes
Sources
External links
A Village Romeo and Juliet, work details, Boosey & Hawkes
"Discography", classicalarchives.com