Felix Mendelssohn: Ruy Blas Overture Context After reading (and hating) Victor Hugo’s Ruy Blas, Felix Mendelssohn was asked to write an overture based on the grim story in 1839. The play, based in 18th-century Spain, tells the story of Ruy Blas, a servant who is tricked by his master, Don Read more…
Alan Menken: Overture from Beauty and the Beast Context When originally released in 1991, Alan Menken’s score for Beauty and the Beast was regarded as one of his best. The Oscar-winning score, with lyrics by Howard Ashman, was then recreated in the 2017 live-action version of the film. This new Read more…
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Don Giovanni Overture Context Composed in 1787, Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts. Its popularity when it premiered shot it into immediate success, and in the modern day it still remains as one of the most popular operas of all time. Don Giovanni cleverly intertwines both serious drama and comedy Read more…
Dmitri Shostakovich: Festive Overture Context Commissioned by the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow at the very last minute for the 37th anniversary of the 1917 Revolution event in 1954, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Festive Overture was composed in a matter of days. The premiere took place in November 1954, performed by the Bolshoi Theatre Read more…
Leonard Bernstein: Overture to Candide Context Leonard Bernstein composed the music for the operetta Candide in 1955-56. The operetta is based on the 1759 novella of the same name by Voltaire. The premiere was unsuccessful and after some revisions and creative changes, Candide has become a very popular show. The Read more…
Ludwig van Beethoven: Coriolan Overture Context Composed in 1807, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture was used in Heinrich Joseph von Collin’s tragedy of the same name. The overture received its concert premiere in 1807 at a private concert for Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz. At the same concert Beethoven also Read more…
Mikhail Glinka: Ruslan and Lyudmila Overture Context Composed between 1837-42, Mikhail Glinka’s opera Ruslan and Lyudmila is based on Alexander Pushkin’s poem of the same name. Split into five acts, the opera’s libretto was written by Valerian Shirkov, Nestor Kukolnik and N.A. Markevich. Seldom performed as a full-scale opera today, Read more…
Jacques Offenbach: La Vie Parisienne Overture Context Jacques Offenbach’s famous comic operetta La Vie Parisienne was premiered initially as a five-act production at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in October 1866. Soon after Offenbach revised the operetta into the four-act version we now know (the original fourth movement was removed).The revised Read more…
Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Wasps Overture Context Ralph Vaughan Williams composed the incidental music for a production of Aristophane’s The Wasps in 1909. The music is quite lengthy, with there only being a handful of full recordings of the full production. The overture, however, has gained more success as a Read more…
Bedřich Smetana: The Bartered Bride Overture Context The Bartered Bride is a comic opera that was composed between 1863-1866. The music was composed by Bedřich Smetana, with the libretto by Karel Sabina. The opera gave its first performance at the Provisional Theatre in May 1866. The opera is set in Read more…