''Oberon Old and New'' or ''Oberon Past and Present'' is a book containing a new libretto written by

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his dystopian satire ''A Clockwork ...

in 1985 for

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas, ...

's last opera ''

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairies in medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania, Queen of the Fairi ...

'' (1826). The libretto was commissioned by

Scottish Opera Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Founded in 1962 and based in Glasgow, it is the largest performing arts organisation in Scotland. History Scottish ...

, and first used in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

on 23 October 1985, in a performance conducted by Sir Alexander Gibson and directed by

Graham Vick Sir Graham Vick (30 December 1953 – 17 July 2021) was an English opera director known for his experimental and revisionist stagings of traditional and modern operas. He worked in many of the world's leading opera houses and was artistic d ...

, with production design by Russell Craig.Roger Lewis. ''Anthony Burgess.'' Thomas Dunne Books, 2004. Although the composer was German, the original libretto by

James Robinson Planché James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

is also in English, and included in the book. Complaints about Planché's libretto have been common over the years, with

Donald Tovey Sir Donald Francis Tovey (17 July 187510 July 1940) was a British musical analyst, musicologist, writer on music, composer, conductor and pianist. He had been best known for his '' Essays in Musical Analysis'' and his editions of works by Bach ...

going so far as to call it a "pig-trough"; in performance it has usually been replaced with the German version by

Theodor Hell Theodor Hell ("Theodore Bright") was the pseudonym of Karl Gottfried Theodor Winkler (9 February 1775, Waldenburg, Saxony – 24 September 1856, Dresden), a court councillor (''Hofrath'') in Dresden from 1824, who was the centre of literary ...

. In August 2004, Scottish Opera staged several of Weber's operas, including ''Oberon'' (on 18 August), shortly before disbanding its chorus in order to meet budget cuts. However, Burgess's libretto was not used. One critic observed that: :Scottish Opera has not volunteered to revive its 1985 production of Oberon at Edinburgh. This version was commissioned from the novelist Anthony Burgess, who not only replaced the archaic expressions and ersatz Shakespeare of Planché's original, but also updated the story to involve hijackers and hostages in a futuristic Middle East. A staging that parked an aeroplane on the roof of Glasgow's Theatre Royal on the opening night only seemed to sink the already preposterous plot further into the mire, although Burgess was so taken with the music that he went on to arrange the overture to Oberon for guitar quartet. A year later, Frank Dunlop, in the third of the Edinburgh Festivals he directed, created an imaginative semi-staging of the opera on a tilting disc erected on the platform of the

Usher Hall The Usher Hall is a concert hall in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has hosted concerts and events since its construction in 1914 and can hold approximately 2,200 people in its recently restored auditorium, which is well loved by performers due to its ...

.Lynne Walker. "Tales of suspense: Carl Weber's operas are rarely staged, but that hasn't deterred Scottish Opera from taking on the challenge." ''The Independent.'' Monday, 16 August 2004.

References

Bibliography

* Alan Fischler. "''Oberon'' and Odium: The Career and Crucifixion of J. R. Planché." ''The Opera Quarterly'' 1995 12(1):5-26; {{Oberon media 1985 books Books by Anthony Burgess Opera libretti Hutchinson (publisher) books Adaptations of works by Christoph Martin Wieland