The ShortWorks
AMONG WFO’s programme of events are a cluster of gems offering locals and visitors the chance to sample quality one-act operas featuring some of the main evening opera cast members.
The ShortWork operas have become a main feature of the daytime programme, progressing from the ‘opera scenes’ which were introduced in the 80s by the then artistic director Elaine Padmore.
Intimately staged with piano accompaniment and lasting approximately 90 minutes, the ShortWork operas are presented in Clayton Whites Hotel and offer audiences not-to-be-missed opportunity to enjoy a one-act opera performed by cast members of the main attractions at the National Opera House. Tickets for all performances are €30.
Le Docteur Miracle (Doctor Miracle) by Georges Bizet October 23, 26 and 31, 3.30 p.m.
Bizet was just 18 when he composed the comic operette, Le Docteur Miracle, for a competition organised by Jaques Offenbach. Based on a libretto by Léon Battu and Ludovic Halévy which was a French adaptation of a play St Patrick’s Day, by Irish playwright Richard Sheridan, the opera revolves around a young man’s attempts to win the hand of the mayor’s daughter. This charming and lively opera contains echoes of Rossini and gives a foretaste of Bizet’s most famous opera Carmen. Le Docteur Miracle was first performed on April 9, 1857, at the Bouffes-Parisiens in Paris. Sung in English with English surtitles.
Cendrillon (Cinderella) by Pauline Viardot October 24 and 29, November 1, 3.30 p.m.
This particular take on the ‘Cinderella’ story may not be performed as often as the other operatic adaptations by Massenet, Rossini and Isouard, but the plot remains relatively faithful to Perrault’s original fairy tale, albeit in a more light-hearted style. The evil stepmother is replaced with a clumsy, bumbling stepfather and the Fairy Godmother attends the party and entertains the guests.
Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon was first performed on April 23, 1904, at Salon of Mademoiselle de Nogueiras. Sung in French with English surtitles.
L’inganno felice by Gioachino Rossini October 25 and 30, November 2, 3.30 p.m.
Rossini was only 19 when this opera premiered in Venice and yet it was already his fourth opera. L’inganno felice (The Fortunate Deception) belongs to the comic-serious genre and centres around the rescue of a wronged, innocent heroine. It was probably the most rewarding of Rossini’s early works judging from its popularity with the public at its premiere on January 8, 1812, at Teatro San Moisè, Venice.
Sung in Italian with English surtitles.