Saint-Saëns’ Henri VIII will be staged at Bard

[edurban]

Starting July 26 there will be a run of staged performance of Saint-Saens' grand opera.  Eleven years ago, Botstein led a gripping concert performance of this fine work (somewhat let down by an inadequate Henry), we hope for even better this time.  Tickets go on sale to the public March 9.

[scarpia]

I remember the concert performance. I was a bit disappointed in the music. Not top tier Saint-Saëns imo. I will see the staged performance though. Maybe I will like it better staged.

[Revilod]

"Henri VIII" is much more of a music drama than an opera. It is far less "commercial" than "Samson et Dalila" and lacks that opera's fabulous melodies. It needs a few hearings, then. It is enormously rich musically and dramatically, though, and should be ranked alongside "S and D" rather than behind it.
These two works are, I believe, streets ahead of Saint-Saens's other operas.

[Alan Howe]

I would agree with that assessment - with the exception, maybe, of Ascanio:
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8473956--saint-saens-ascanio
https://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,6483.0.html

[Ebubu]

Starting July 26 there will be a run of staged performance of Saint-Saens' grand opera.  Eleven years ago, Botstein led a gripping concert performance of this fine work (somewhat let down by an inadequate Henry), we hope for even better this time.  Tickets go on sale to the public March 9.

There will also be this spring a run of staged performances at Brussels' Monnaie, directed by Olivier Py.  Probably a recording for the Palazzetto Bru Zane too.

[Alan Howe]

I'll just mention here that Botstein's 2012 performance is available as a download:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009HWHPYQ/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3ID1RGTE4WISA&keywords=henry+viii+saint-saens&qid=1679004038&sprefix=henry+viii+saint-saens%2Caps%2C167&sr=8-3

[adriano]

The (live) recording of Saint-Saëns's "Henry VIII" from Rouen of 1991 (harmonia mundi/Le Chant du Monde - Radio-France) has some exellent singers and it is well conducted by Alain Guingal. The booklet contains an interesting article by Sabina Teller Ratner, mentioning a.o. that the composer was quite proud of his work - and that he could not explain why it could not find a way to the repertoire.

[DK]

The Bard production is going to be videostreamed on 26 and 29 July; tickets are available for purchase here:  https://tickets.fishercenter.bard.edu/events?k=SU_OperaStream

The Olivier Py production from La Monnaie is also available to watch on demand:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDpXkpZHoZ8

[scottevan]

I attended the premiere last night at Bard; definitely worth seeing if you're in the area. Alfred Walker, in the title role, was indeed an improvement from the concert performance at Bard some years ago. Amanda Woodbury's Catherine of Aragon, by far the most sympathetic character, received the largest ovation. The chorus, orchestra and staging were also up to the Bard standard, a high bar compared to opera companies in most major cities.

And, thank God, it was set in the accurate time period!

[edurban]

I go next Sunday, so I'm relieved to hear that Henry will not be dressed as a space alien.

[Finn_McCool]

I signed up for the livestream and I was able to catch only bits and pieces of the performance as my family and I were on vacation at the time.  What I was able to see/hear matched the reports of very fine singing.  The staging was kind of mimimal and forlorn from what I could tell, but maybe it looked better in the theater (it's always better in the theater).  Things did get very colorful at the end, so maybe the parts I missed were also a little more dynamic visually.  I certainly miss seeing Bard performances in person, but the livestream is the next best thing. The singers did look/sound pretty intense, so I wish I could have seen the whole performance. It seems like a lot of past Bard Summerscape operas end up on the Fisher Center website and YouTube channel, so hopefully I will get another chance to see it at a later date.  My favorite part was when I was trying to catch the overture while my son was learning to milk a cow at a petting zoo.  He was enjoying himself ("I could milk that cow all day!", he exclaimed) and went back for a second try and that's when I was able to sneak my first peek at the opera.  I caught some more later in the taxi on the ride home and my son watched a little bit with me.  He thought it was alright.  One of these days, I'll take him to Bard to see the opera in person.  He's seen opera performances before, but I think the Bard experience is its own thing.

[CelesteCadenza]

It seems like a lot of past Bard Summerscape operas end up on the Fisher Center website and YouTube channel, so hopefully I will get another chance to see it at a later date. 

The Fisher Center just released a video of Henri VIII a couple of weeks ago here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noqrywV79LM
The program book is here: https://fishercenter.bard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/NEW-FC-Opera-Program-final-v-Nov-15.pdf