Our Man in Havana (opera) explained

Our Man in Havana
Composer:Malcolm Williamson
Librettist:Sidney Gilliat
Language:English
Based On:Graham Greene's 1958 novel Our Man in Havana
Premiere Location:Sadler's Wells Theatre, London

Our Man in Havana is an opera in three acts composed by Malcolm Williamson to a libretto by Sidney Gilliat based on Graham Greene's 1958 novel Our Man in Havana. Williamson's first full-scale opera, it was premiered on 2 July 1963 at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London.

Its first performance in East Germany was in Karl-Marx-Stadt (today Chemnitz) in May 1966, with Renate Härtel, Eva Lehoczky, Elisabeth Fuchs, Peter Slawow, Konrad Rupf, Egon Schulz, Gerhard Scherfling, Manfred Drescher, conducted by Gerhard Rolf Bauer.[1] The opera was presented at the Csokonai Theatre in Debrecen, Hungary, in May 1967, with Jozsef Csongor, Gyorgy Trefas, Magda Marsay, Janos Gazso, Gyorgy Siklos, Zsuzsa Marczaly, Kriszta Tibay, Miklos Albert, Jozsef Toth, Mihaly Viragos, conducted by .[2]

After years of neglect it was revived in 2016 by Lyric Opera of Melbourne at the Melbourne Athenaeum theatre.[3] [4]

Roles

!Role!Voice type!Premiere cast, 2 July 1963[5]
Conductor: James Loughran
Dr HasselbacherbassOwen Brannigan
BrambletenorRaymond Nilsson
LopeztenorStanley Bevan
MillysopranoJoyce Millward
SegurabaritoneRaimund Herincx
HawthornebaritoneEric Shilling
Beatrice (Mrs Weston)sopranoApril Cantelo
CarterbaritoneDavid Bowman
Chorus

Notes and References

  1. "Brief Chronicles. Germany (East)". Opera, July 1966, vol. 17, no. 7, p. 580.
  2. "Brief Chronicles. Hungary". Opera, vol. 18, no. 8, p. 684.
  3. [Shmith, Michael]
  4. Stephen Plaistow. Summer 1963. 944155. Our Man in Havana. Tempo. 65. 16–17.
  5. [Arthur Jacobs|Jacobs, Arthur]