Les Indes Galantes possibly semi staged but with someone like Vivienne Westwood designing the costumes and would love to see live on stage L'Amore de Tre Rei with a strong cast of singing actors,and Cinq Mars in spite of its lukewarm reception at the premier is a wonderfully exciting score by Gounod.
Several French operas contend for revival, perhaps 'Louise' most of all, but I'd love to see again Rabaud's 'Marouf' ( to be revived in Paris shortly) and Bruneau's 'L'Attaque du Moulin', heard long ago as a broadcast from Monte Carlo.
Rienzi - uncut, perhaps over two nights. Halevy's 'Charles VI' or 'La reine de Chypre'. Felicien David's 'Herculaneum' or 'La perle du Bresil'. Nidermeyer's 'Marie Stuart' or 'Stradella'.
Halévy's La Reine de Chypre? Yes. Noé? (A fabulous opera by Halévy, deliciously finished by Bizet): Yes. Complete La Juive? Yes. And -of course, integral revivals of the biggest box office draw and most important artistic influence of the 19th c. before Wagner: Meyerbeer. Le Prophète, Les Huguenots and L'Africaine, Dinorah and L'Etoile du Nord, in complete performances of the new editions, please.
I would like to see all the early Verdi operas which are totally ignored (Un giorno di regno, Il corsaro,Attila,Ernani,Jerusalem, Oberto and from the later period of course Vespri siciliani, and performances of Forza del destino are long overdue.)Flotow's delightful Martha has not been heard for ages.
A recent recording of Arthur Sullivan's 'Ivanhoe' has shown what a neglected masterpiece this work is, deserving a full-scale professional staging. Donizetti's 'Rosmonda d'Inghilterra' and Rossini's 'Le Siege de Corinth' are both crying out for British stagings, and I would love to see Meyerbeer's 'L'Africaine' revived, which the ROH staged so spectacularly in the 1970's but, sadly, before I came to London.
Rienzi - still repertory fare in Germany. And why not Die Feen or Das Liebesverbot? - languishing in oblivion due more to Wagner's selective autohagiography than to any intrinsic weakness. Anything by Marschner, Lortzing, or Weber beyond Freischütz. Guillaume Tell. Thaïs. Moses und Aron. Il segreto di Susanna (Wolf-Ferrari), because it poses the greatest un-PC challenge for any producer today! (I'm a non-smoker.)
More suggestions:
Marschner Hans Heiling and/or Der Vampyr
Eugen d'Albert Tiefland.
Puccini Le Villi
Also - a general point - if you go to the trouble of rare revivals can we at least hear them complete. I saw a Les Huguenots at ROH, in the 70's I think, which was full of cuts including the (musically) important duet in Act 3 for Marcel and Valentine, presumably cos the tonedeaf director thought it was dramatically superfluous.
[I have been trying to send you a message, but I'm not sure if it was actually posted, so I'll try again]
I agree with previous comments, particularly Halevy and lesser-known Verdi. Other suggestions:
Roberto Gerhard La Duena; Mendelssohn Die Hochzeit des Camacho; almost any lesser-known Donizetti; Dallapiccola Il Prigioniero, Ulisse; Charpentier Louise, Schumann Genoviefa; Berthold Goldschmidt Beatrice Cenci, Der gewaltige Hahnrei; lesser-known Mascagni; Weill Royal Palace, Der Zar, Silbersee, Lost in the Stars; Kenneth Leighton Columba; Granados Goyescas; Busoni Arlecchino, Turandot. I would be very interested indeed if you presented any of these operas.
Albert Herring, but with a full company on the main stage. First saw it when I was 12 and was blown away by the May feast scene; the meat pies were even steaming. More Britten, please!
La Fiamma by Respighi. Of special interest to a film scholar like myself since it shares a plot with Carl Dreyer's classic of Danish cinema, Day of Wrath.
I'd second quite a few of the suggestions above. But rather than list my personal enthusiasms, why not actually ask all Covent Garden operagoers?
Could you not propose a current wish list of lesser-known works which ROH are considering for possible future stagings, and ask us all to vote in order of enthusiasm?
Traditionally intendants keep their ideas close to their chests, but a poll circulated to everyone on your mailing list, all the Friends, and more widely, would give you some indication of public demand - and would encourage opera lovers to know that you care about their opinions.
How about a new production of Louise, with Sonya Yoncheva in the title role? (What's the use of having rarely staged operas if you don't cast them properly? Hint, hint...)
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12 February 2013
La Locandiera by Salieri, I also agree with Suzanne for Il filosofo di campagna by Galuppi.
Semiramide with Joyce DiDonato and Renee Fleming if possible.
Les Indes Galantes possibly semi staged but with someone like Vivienne Westwood designing the costumes and would love to see live on stage L'Amore de Tre Rei with a strong cast of singing actors,and Cinq Mars in spite of its lukewarm reception at the premier is a wonderfully exciting score by Gounod.
Several French operas contend for revival, perhaps 'Louise' most of all, but I'd love to see again Rabaud's 'Marouf' ( to be revived in Paris shortly) and Bruneau's 'L'Attaque du Moulin', heard long ago as a broadcast from Monte Carlo.
Rienzi - uncut, perhaps over two nights. Halevy's 'Charles VI' or 'La reine de Chypre'. Felicien David's 'Herculaneum' or 'La perle du Bresil'. Nidermeyer's 'Marie Stuart' or 'Stradella'.
Halévy's La Reine de Chypre? Yes. Noé? (A fabulous opera by Halévy, deliciously finished by Bizet): Yes. Complete La Juive? Yes. And -of course, integral revivals of the biggest box office draw and most important artistic influence of the 19th c. before Wagner: Meyerbeer. Le Prophète, Les Huguenots and L'Africaine, Dinorah and L'Etoile du Nord, in complete performances of the new editions, please.
I would like to see all the early Verdi operas which are totally ignored (Un giorno di regno, Il corsaro,Attila,Ernani,Jerusalem, Oberto and from the later period of course Vespri siciliani, and performances of Forza del destino are long overdue.)Flotow's delightful Martha has not been heard for ages.
We'll be getting 'Les vêpres siciliennes' next season!
A recent recording of Arthur Sullivan's 'Ivanhoe' has shown what a neglected masterpiece this work is, deserving a full-scale professional staging. Donizetti's 'Rosmonda d'Inghilterra' and Rossini's 'Le Siege de Corinth' are both crying out for British stagings, and I would love to see Meyerbeer's 'L'Africaine' revived, which the ROH staged so spectacularly in the 1970's but, sadly, before I came to London.
Rienzi - still repertory fare in Germany. And why not Die Feen or Das Liebesverbot? - languishing in oblivion due more to Wagner's selective autohagiography than to any intrinsic weakness. Anything by Marschner, Lortzing, or Weber beyond Freischütz. Guillaume Tell. Thaïs. Moses und Aron. Il segreto di Susanna (Wolf-Ferrari), because it poses the greatest un-PC challenge for any producer today! (I'm a non-smoker.)
More suggestions:
Marschner Hans Heiling and/or Der Vampyr
Eugen d'Albert Tiefland.
Puccini Le Villi
Also - a general point - if you go to the trouble of rare revivals can we at least hear them complete. I saw a Les Huguenots at ROH, in the 70's I think, which was full of cuts including the (musically) important duet in Act 3 for Marcel and Valentine, presumably cos the tonedeaf director thought it was dramatically superfluous.
[I have been trying to send you a message, but I'm not sure if it was actually posted, so I'll try again]
I agree with previous comments, particularly Halevy and lesser-known Verdi. Other suggestions:
Roberto Gerhard La Duena; Mendelssohn Die Hochzeit des Camacho; almost any lesser-known Donizetti; Dallapiccola Il Prigioniero, Ulisse; Charpentier Louise, Schumann Genoviefa; Berthold Goldschmidt Beatrice Cenci, Der gewaltige Hahnrei; lesser-known Mascagni; Weill Royal Palace, Der Zar, Silbersee, Lost in the Stars; Kenneth Leighton Columba; Granados Goyescas; Busoni Arlecchino, Turandot. I would be very interested indeed if you presented any of these operas.
Rossini's Othello. And please, record it on video and broadcast it.
Manuel del Pópulo García's "Il califfo di Bagdad".
Albert Herring, but with a full company on the main stage. First saw it when I was 12 and was blown away by the May feast scene; the meat pies were even steaming. More Britten, please!
La Fiamma by Respighi. Of special interest to a film scholar like myself since it shares a plot with Carl Dreyer's classic of Danish cinema, Day of Wrath.
I'd second quite a few of the suggestions above. But rather than list my personal enthusiasms, why not actually ask all Covent Garden operagoers?
Could you not propose a current wish list of lesser-known works which ROH are considering for possible future stagings, and ask us all to vote in order of enthusiasm?
Traditionally intendants keep their ideas close to their chests, but a poll circulated to everyone on your mailing list, all the Friends, and more widely, would give you some indication of public demand - and would encourage opera lovers to know that you care about their opinions.
Please Rossini's La gazza ladra...
Please, Arthur Bliss - The Olympians ...
How about a new production of Louise, with Sonya Yoncheva in the title role? (What's the use of having rarely staged operas if you don't cast them properly? Hint, hint...)