La Dueña (The Duenna) (1997)

The Duenna is een Engelstalige opera in drie aktes van de Spaans-Catalaanse componist Roberto Gerhard (1896-1970). De componist baseerde het libretto op de komedie The Duenna van Richard Brinsley Sheridan uit 1775. De opera ging in 1949 in première op de BBC Radio en werd goed ontvangen. Het werk is gedeeltelijk atonaal - Gerhard was een leerling van Schoenberg. "Gerhard was intent on creating that apparently impossible paradox, an English zarzuela or tonadilla, but he could not have achieved the depth and poignancy of that involuntary self-confession with folk music references alone. The Duenna gains its strength from this hybrid status, but it was that quality, no doubt, that kept it off the stage for so long. It wasnt until 1992 that The Duenna finally reached the stage, 22 years after Gerhards death. Yet John Gardners judgement (The greatest of all Spanish operas and one of the greatest English ones, too) seems not too much of an exaggeration." (Gramophone)

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