''Feramors'' is an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

in three (first version) or two (second version) acts by

Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein (; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who founded the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. He was the elder brother of Nikolai Rubinstein, who founded the Moscow Conservatory. As a pianist, Rubinstein ran ...

to a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

Julius Rodenberg Julius Rodenberg (originally ''Julius Levy''; 26 June 1831, Rodenberg – 11 July 1914, Berlin) was a German Jewish poet and author. He studied law at the universities of Heidelberg, Göttingen, Berlin, and Marburg, but soon abandoned jurisprud ...

. The story is based on ''

Lalla Rookh ''Lalla Rookh'' is a romantic work by Irish poet Thomas Moore, first published in 1817. The title refers to the fictional heroine of the frame tale, depicted as the daughter of the 17th-century Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. It consists of four n ...

'' by the Irish poet

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852), was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist who was widely regarded as Ireland's "National poet, national bard" during the late Georgian era. The acclaim rested primarily on the popularity of his ''I ...

. The opera was composed in 1862.

Performance history

The opera was premiered at the

Semperoper The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the Th ...

in Dresden on 24 February 1863, and had subsequent stagings in Vienna (1872), Milan (1874), Berlin (1879), and Danzig (1880). Its first production in Russia was an amateur performance in Saint Petersburg in 1884. The first professional production there was on 18 August 1898 at the

Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre (, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic opera house in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces ...

, conducted by

Felix Blumenfeld Felix Mikhailovich Blumenfeld (; – 21 January 1931) was a Russian and Soviet composer and conductor of the Imperial Opera St-Petersburg, pianist, and teacher. He was born in Elisavetgrad, which was in 2016 renamed to Kropyvnytskyi (in pr ...

. The reason for its late appearance on the Russian stage was competition from an

opéra-comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...

on the same subject by

Félicien David Félicien-César David (13 April 1810 – 29 August 1876) was a French composer. Biography Félicien David was born in Cadenet, and began to study music at the age of five under his father, whose death when the boy was six left him an impoverish ...

Peter Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

, who heard the opera at the Berlin 1879 staging, liked the opera and wrote to

Nadezhda von Meck Nadezhda Filaretovna von Meck (; 13 January 1894) was a Russian businesswoman who became an influential patron of the arts, especially music. She is best known today for her artistic relationship with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, supporting him fin ...

that "it comes from the period in which Rubinstein did all his best work, that is 20 years ago". Perhaps the same Berlin production of 4 March 1879 produced an interesting report in the ''

Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' was an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer's Musical Times and Singing Circular'', but in 1844 he sold it to Alfr ...

''; "Rubinstein's opera ... was successfully produced on the 4th ''ult.'' at the Royal Opera house at Berlin, the principal ''rôles'' being taken by Herr Niemann and Madame Mallinger; in consequence, however, of the latter having refused to sing certain portions of her part, the composer abstained from personally conducting his work."

Roles

Synopsis

Lalla, the princess of Hindustan, is engaged to marry the King of Bokhara, but falls in love with the minstrel Feramors, who turns out to be the King in disguise.

Recordings

There are a number of recordings of the ballet music from the opera, which includes a 'Torch Dance' and a 'Dance of Bayaderes', both written in the composer's style of exotic orientalism.

Notes

External links

* {{Authority control Operas German-language operas Operas by Anton Rubinstein 1863 operas Operas set in India Operas based on literature Opera world premieres at the Semperoper