Esmeralda

[giles.enders]

I was recently in Paris looking at the new bells for Notre Dame.  It got me wondering how many works there were based on Esmeralda. Most of them seem to be in the 'also ran' category.

[Christopher]

I can think of two offhand:

Dargomyzhsky wrote an opera "Esmeralda"

Pugni wrote a ballet "Esmeralda" that was reworked by Gliere and Vasilenko.  It shows quite often in Moscow - here are some clips:

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt84YTShuHQ

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZ5nSNxe-_c

Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4C7jy13yyg


The complete score can be heard here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_uUfH32MDw - it's from the Bolshoi so I believe must use the redactions of Gliere and/or Vasilenko even though it's not mentioned.  See also  http://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/343/details/   for more details and also - http://www.bolshoimoscow.com/classical_ballet/stanisl_esmeralda/info/sid=GLE_1&play_date_from=01-Jun-2013&play_date_to=30-Jun-2013&playbills=22351 .

[Mark Thomas]

... and Louise Bertin's opera La Esmeralda, which was discussed only recently here.

[eschiss1]

Arthur Goring Thomas, 1883. (came up quickly on a websearch, that one, after I told Google to ignore the others mentioned.) (Hrm, seems we used to have a broadcast of it or parts of it- missed that. And a thread devoted to him which was short-lived; Naxos however has recorded at least one of his works, which the public library where I work has, I think.) (hrm. Naxos has released some collections containing brief works of his, but the CD I'm recalling is a lengthy opera by someone else... erm... hrm... !!! ) (Oh, it was "Edward Thomas, Desire under the Elms". A very recent thing. Sorry...)

[eschiss1]

RISM online turns up Vincenzo Battista (1823-1873), opera/melodrama in 4 acts "Esmeralda" (or Ermelinda), premiered 1851 in Naples. Or is this on a different topic? (Hrm. The novel is from as early as 1831, so... could be.)

(Even earlier,
Mazzucato (Alb.) Esmeralda. Melodramma in 3 Atti. | Milano, Ricordi 30 Fr. | October 1838. | Page 140 (from HMB.) (Bazzini it seems based a fantasy on motives from this opera.)  (see Wikipedia (Italian).
Campana, Fabio. Esmeralda. Dramma lirico. Piano reduction published by Ricordi in 1877.

[Jimfin]

Hardly any Goring Thomas seems to be available, though the recent Somm release of British Opera Overtures includes his to 'The Golden Web'. The Esmerald extract was released on an LP done by a group called Opera Viva, but I don't think it has ever been released on CD. It's a glorious piece and makes me want to hear the whole opera