''Lord Byron'' 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

Virgil Thomson Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclass ...

to an original English libretto by Jack Larson, inspired by the historical character

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

. This was Thomson's third and final opera. He wrote it on commission from the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

for the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

(Met), but the Met never produced the opera. The first performance was at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

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 ...

on April 20, 1972, by the music department of the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

with John Houseman as stage director, Gerhard Samuel as the conductor and

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 ...

as the choreographer. A performance of a revised version, by the composer, took place in 1985 with the New York Opera Repertory Theater. The composer himself had great affection for this opera. The premiere production received mixed reviews, with one particularly negative one from

Harold C. Schonberg Harold Charles Schonberg (29 November 1915 – 26 July 2003) was an American music critic and author. He is best known for his contributions in ''The New York Times'', where he was chief music critic from 1960 to 1980. In 1971, he became the fi ...

, including this description:

"....a very bland score, distressingly banal (all those waltzes!) and frequently gagglingly cutesy."

The opera has not yet received a full-scale professional production. Monadnock Music performed the opera in September 1991.

Synopsis

The opera is set in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

from 1812 to 1824. In the nave of Westminster Abbey, Lord Byron's friends, wife and sister have arrived to present a statue of Lord Byron to the Dean of the Abbey, and to lobby for the poet's burial there. They learn that Byron had written his memoirs, which causes them concern for his reputation. The statue of Byron arrives, which sets off memories in the minds of Byron's relations and friends. These include the courtship of Byron with his future wife. However, the memories also include that Byron committed incest with his half-sister Augusta Leigh and fathered her daughter, which led to Byron's self-exile and Byron's wife insisting that he must never see Augusta again. While they have not read Byron's own manuscript, their memories cause enough fear that they burn the memoirs. The Dean of the Abbey arrives, and upon learning that the relatives considered Byron's memoirs unfit for reading, he denies permission to have Byron buried in Westminster Abbey. At the end of the opera, the shades of the poets in the Abbey's Poets' Corner welcome Byron among them.

Recording

* Koch: Matthew Lord, Jeanne Ommerle, D'Anna Fortunato, Richard Zeller, Richard Johnson, Gregory Mason, Stephen Owen, Adrienne Csgenery, Thomas Woodman, Louisa Jonason, Donald Collup, David Murray, Jorg Westerkemp, Martin Kelley, Ted Whalen, John Holyoke, David Stoneman, Debra Vanderlinde, Marion Dry; Manadnock Festival Orchestra and Chorus; James Bolle, conductor In addition, excerpts from the opera, called "Five Tenor Songs from ''Lord Byron''", have been recorded, with the following artists:

Martyn Hill Martyn Hill (b. 14 Sept 1944) is a British tenor. Life and career Hill was born in Rochester, Kent on September 14, 1944. He studied at King's College, Cambridge, followed by the Royal College of Music. He pursued further vocal training with Aud ...

, tenor; Budapest Symphony Orchestra; James Bolle, conductor.Rodney Lister, "Virgil Thomson: A Portrait of His Music (As Glimpsed in Recent Recordings)". ''Tempo'' (New Ser.), 175, pp. 18-22 (December 1990).

References

External links

Yale University link about the Virgil Thomson Papers, Irving S. Gilmore Music Library

{{Authority control English-language operas Operas by Virgil Thomson Operas 1972 operas Operas set in the 19th century Operas set in London Operas set in England Operas about writers Cultural depictions of Lord Byron