''Antony and Cleopatra'', Op. 40, is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

in three acts by American composer Samuel Barber. The libretto was prepared by

Franco Zeffirelli Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, ...

. It was based on the play '' Antony and Cleopatra'' by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and made use of Shakespeare's language exclusively. The opera was first performed on September 16, 1966, commissioned for the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. After an unsuccessful premiere, the opera was extensively revised by Barber and Gian Carlo Menotti into an edition first performed in 1975.

Performance history

For the world premiere—also the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera House—no expense was spared, with the creative team including Zeffirelli himself directing and designing the production. The team included revolutionary choreographer

Alvin Ailey Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center ...

, conductor

Thomas Schippers Thomas Schippers (9 March 1930 – 16 December 1977) was an American conductor. He was highly regarded for his work in opera. Biography Of Dutch ancestry and son of the owner of a large appliance store, Schippers was born in Portage, Michiga ...

, and a top rate cast headed by

Leontyne Price Mary Violet Leontyne Price (born February 10, 1927) is an American soprano who was the first African American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, where she was the first Af ...

as Cleopatra. Condensing Shakespeare's text from five acts in over forty scenes to three acts over three hours, Zeffirelli preserved much of the speaking style of the original tragedy. The stage design and costumes were elaborate; the cast was enormous including 22 principal singers, a full chorus, dozens of extras and a troupe of ballet dancers—a company of 400 performers on stage. Quickly utilizing the limits of the cutting-edge technology of the new opera house, the mammoth production was not without problems. A technical error during early rehearsals broke the house's new

turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

, causing the entire production to be restaged with movable scenery units. A large hydraulic pyramid of steel, brass, and aluminium dominated the stage with fold up sides that famously trapped Price during the dress rehearsal. The opera was poorly received by the press, and not enthusiastically received by the public. Among the reasons cited for the opera's lack of success were an "inflated production with problematic technical apparatus, gaudy costumes, overcrowded stage forces, and a press overly attentive to the social glitter of the occasion". Less kindly, the 1966 premiere was retrospectively described as "a hair-curlingly awful production. … The night has gone down in the annals of opera as a landmark of vulgarity and staging excess. Mr. Barber’s score, as we discovered from subsequent exposure to revised excerpts in concert and on records, was to a great extent an innocent victim of the over-all fiasco". The opera was dropped from the Met's repertory after the initial eight performances of the production. The radio broadcast of the premiere, rarely heard after the initial broadcast, was released in 2016, upon the 50th anniversary of the premiere. Barber later revised the opera, with text revisions by Gian-Carlo Menotti, Barber's partner and the librettist of his first opera, '' Vanessa''. This version was premiered under Menotti's direction at the Juilliard American Opera Center on February 6, 1975. It was given its European premiere in 1980 in concert version at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, as part of the "Saison Lyrique de Radio France" under its Music Director, Jean-Pierre Marty. There were further productions at the

Spoleto Festival USA Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, is one of America's major performing arts festivals. It was founded in 1977 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who sought to establish a counterpart to the Festival dei Due ...

and Festival dei Due Mondi in

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome. History Spolet ...

, Italy, in 1983, and the

Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria ...

in 1991.

Roles

Recordings

Two complete commercial recordings of the opera exist (one of the premiere of the original version, the other of the revision), as well as two scenes sung by

. *''Samuel Barber: Two Scenes from Antony and Cleopatra, Op. 40'' Give Me Some Music" and "Give Me My Robe" ''Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24''.

, soprano; New Philharmonia Orchestra,

, conductor, recorded 1–2 June 1968 (LP recording, stereo,

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

Red Seal LSC-3062, 1969) *''Antony and Cleopatra'' (complete 1975 edition). Esther Hinds, soprano, Jeffrey Wells, bass; The Spoleto Festival Orchestra and Westminster Choir (Joseph Flummerfelt, chorus master), Christian Badea, conductor. Recorded during the 1983 Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy (2-CD set, stereo,

New World Records New World Records is a record label that was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to celebrate America's bicentennial (1976) by producing a 100-LP anthology, with American music from many genres.Thomas Schippers Thomas Schippers (9 March 1930 – 16 December 1977) was an American conductor. He was highly regarded for his work in opera. Biography Of Dutch ancestry and son of the owner of a large appliance store, Schippers was born in Portage, Michiga ...

, conductor. Part of "The Inaugural Season: Extraordinary Met Performances From 1966–67" box set, 2016 (Warner Classics)

References

External links

New World Records
Notes and credits for 1983 recording {{DEFAULTSORT:Antony And Cleopatra (Opera) Operas by Samuel Barber Opera world premieres at the Metropolitan Opera 1966 operas Operas Works based on Antony and Cleopatra Depictions of Cleopatra in opera Operas based on works by William Shakespeare English-language operas Cultural depictions of Augustus

Performance history

Roles

Recordings

References

Further reading

External links